I have a confession to make, I seem to have gone all Martha Stewart this holiday season and decided to make some Christmas gifts!  I first saw this peanut brittle recipe in a magazine a few months ago and thought it would make a really sweet gift. Truth be told when I saw the little hammer with the peanut brittle I knew it was something I needed to make, there’s something quite satisfying in smashing something up and devouring the little bite size pieces of sweetness.  It’s an incredibly simple recipe, but if you’re not used to dealing with incredibly hot sugar ( and I certainly wasn’t) it can be quite daunting. Definitely not recommended with little fingers around, this stuff burns and sticks like you wouldn’t believe.

Anyways you can give them as pieces already smashed up or as I did ( thanks Martha for the idea!) and give your friends a slab of brittle with their very own little hammer giving them the pleasure of smashing the brittle up for themselves. Enjoy and happy holidays xxx

Ingredients

1. Butter a rimmed baking sheet; set aside.
2. Stir together sugar, 1/2 cup water, and the salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over high heat, without stirring (this is very important ) until sugar begins to melt and turn golden, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally ( not too much stirring), until sugar has melted and mixture turns golden dark amber, about 10 minutes. If you have a sugar thermometer you need to heat it until a ‘hard crack’ which is approx 300F.
3. Remove pan from heat. Stir in peanuts and vanilla.  Immediately pour peanut mixture onto buttered baking sheet. Quickly spread mixture to 1/2 inch thick using an oiled metal spatula. Let cool completely, about 15 minutes.
4. Melt the chocolate and then drizzle over the brittle and let it set.
5. Break into pieces or if using foil baking sheet then go mad with the decorating.