• Homemade junk food, part two: candied peanuts

    Posted on May 27th, 2009 Saver Queen 7 comments

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    I found this wonderful recipe from David Lebovitz: delicious candied peanuts. I made a batch of these at Christmas time, and again a few days ago when I had a craving for some salty, sweet goodness.  This recipe is also incredibly cheap to make - all it requires is a bag of raw peanuts, sugar, and a bit of salt.  If you buy your peanuts from a bulk food store, it will cost just cents to make.

    Carmelized peanuts

    Ingredients:

    2 cups (275g) raw peanuts (or almonds)
    1 cup (200g) sugar
    1/3 cup (75ml) water
    a sprinkle of coarse sea salt (or smoked salt)
    optional: ground cinnamon or chili powder

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    Directions

    “In a wide, heavy-duty skillet, mix the peanuts with the sugar and water. Cook the ingredients over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the liquid seizes up. It will take a few minutes. At this point, the peanuts will get crusty and the sugar will crystallize.

    The peanuts will become dry and sandy, which is perfectly normal. Don’t worry; you didn’t mess up. Lower the heat and keep going, scraping up any syrup collecting in the bottom of the pan and stir the peanuts in it, coating them as much as possible.

    As you go, tilt the pan, removing it from the heat from time-to-time to regulate the heat and the syrup, so you can coat the nuts with the liquid as it darkens without burning the peanuts or the syrup. This is the only tricky part—I like to get the peanuts as deeply-bronzed as possible. if the mixture starts to smoke, remove it from the heat and stir.

    Right before they’re done, sprinkle the peanuts with a sizable pinch of flaky salt (and pinch of cinnamon or chili powder, if you want), stir them a couple of times, then tilt the peanuts out onto a baking sheet or a marble countertop.

    Let the peanuts cool completely, then break up any clumps. Store in an airtight container, where they’ll keep up to a week.”

     
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    Might I say that this snack goes perfectly with a beer?

    The Saver Queen

    Recipes
     

    7 responses to “Homemade junk food, part two: candied peanuts”

    1. Maddy May 27th, 2009 at 18:04

      That looks really tasty! I can’t wait to look forward to making my own!

    2. Maddy May 27th, 2009 at 18:05

      … wow. I am brain scrambled… I both can’t wait *and* I look forward to making my own :p

    3. Christine May 28th, 2009 at 10:52

      Thanks for the reminder of the deliciousness of candied peanuts. You know… they taste fabulous as almonds with lots of cinnamon. ;)

    4. Erran May 28th, 2009 at 13:21

      You drink beer?? But I have such an angelic image of you… Hehehe

      They don’t call them beer nuts back in the day for nothing. They were great at Jets games. Thanks for bringing up a craving for beer nuts…grrr…

    5. Saver Queen May 28th, 2009 at 13:27

      Erran, if you have a craving, why not whip up a batch when you get home from work?

    6. Erran May 28th, 2009 at 13:38

      I’m such a bachelor with a poorly equip kitchen! I got zero bakeware…or serving bowls…or food processors/blenders…or knives. I do got me one of dem Henckle knifes (expensive one) that I can’t seem to let it breathe air. Lol. I’m hoping to rumage garage sales for some nice essentials. :)

    7. Saver Queen May 28th, 2009 at 13:53

      All you really need for this is a big wok - do you have one? Definitely start going around to garage sales - it’s a great way to get kitchen stuff for cheap.

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