Pumpkin seed brittle

Oh, pumpkin seed brittle... how I love thee....

It's easy, delicious, addictive, and possibly a little dangerous because if you are like me, you'll find it difficult to not eat it all at once. I think I know where the rest of my pumpkin seeds will be ending up this fall...

Recipe from, Joy of Baking:

Here's what you need:

1 1/2 cups raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature.

Here's what you do:

In a large skillet, over medium heat, toast the raw pumpkin seeds until lightly brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

Have ready the baking soda, vanilla, and butter. Also spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat bring the water, corn syrup, and sugar to a boil, stirring constantly. Then using a candy thermometer, bring it to the crack stage (don't stir) - 285 degrees F, or 140 C.

Then stir in your toasted pumpkin seeds, and while stirring so the seeds don't stick to the bottom of the pan, bring the temperature to the hard crack stage - 300 degrees F or 149 C. Trust me, it's super easy. I did this while sitting in a chair.



Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the baking soda, vanilla extract, and butter - the candy will puff up so be careful. Stir until the butter is melted. Then quickly pour it out onto your baking sheet and let it run towards the edges so that it spreads out, you might need to help it by moving the pan around a bit so the candy will run.

Then impatiently sit and wait while it cools and hardens.



I got super excited and started seeing if mine was going to lift off the pan (if it doesn't you didn't have it at the right temperatures or spray your pan well enough) and was beyond excited when I saw that it was working. It made me feel like even though I've been out of commission for a while, I haven't lost my touch. Kevin agreed I had not lost my touch but he did think I had lost a few extra screws.



and when it's ready, crack it into smaller pieces and voila! Delicious brittle. The best brittle ever if you ask me. This would be awesome in little gift bags to give to friends, but I doubt you'll have any left to give away. You can store this for up to 2 weeks at room temperature. But you won't need to, so don't worry about it.