BS' in the Kitchen

I made this delicious and crunchy Almond-Hazelnut Buttercrunch Toffee as part of my Christmas baking. As a per warning, do NOT store this brittle in a cold place like a garage where Dad’s are known to hang out, as you’ll go to decoratively wrap it and notice that a large piece of the brittle is missing…. yet “no one” has been snacking on it….

Let’s get to the recipe:

• 1 cup hazelnuts (chopped and toasted)
• 1 cup almonds (chopped and toasted)
• 4 tbsp water
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 10 oz chocolate, chopped

Once the nuts are done toasting, spread half of them onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with wax paper and gently sprayed with cooking oil.

In a large pot, combine the butter, sugars, salt and water. Let it come to a roiling boil, stirring as little as possible, for approx 8-10 minutes until it comes into a nice caramel color (or 275° F on a candy thermometer). Once it’s had a chance to caramelized, stir in the vanilla extract and the baking soda at the last minute. Pour onto the cookie sheet (note that it should just be a central circle-ish shape on the cookie sheet) over top of the nuts.

Sprinkle the chopped chocolate over top of the brittle mixture while its still hot – this will make the chocolate melt. Top with the remaining nuts and allow to cool. Once the brittle has completely cooled off, break into pieces, serve or wrap up and give to friends!

Carlene

(Originally adapated from this recipe)