Name: Microwave Peanut Brittle
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 cup granulated sugar; 1/2 cup light corn syrup + 2 Tbsp; 1 1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts; 1 1/2 tsp. butter; 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract; 1 tsp. baking soda

Microwave peanut brittle is an easy 15 minute candy recipe perfect for the holidays. It’s a family favorite sweet at every Christmas!

Easy Homemade Peanut Brittle Recipe

This Microwave Peanut Brittle recipe has been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. My mom makes it every single Christmas and everyone always loves it. It has a light melt in your mouth texture with a sweet and salty flavor that is to die for!

Whether you are making a batch to share with your family at the holidays or looking for an easy homemade gift idea, this microwave peanut brittle is perfection.

Microwave peanut brittle broken up on sheet pan

Peanut Brittle in the Microwave

I had been telling my mom that she needed to get a new microwave since I was a teenager. It took FOREVER to heat things up. I knew it was old and loosing power but she wouldn’t hear it.

Needless to say, 10 years later when she finally moved to a new home and tried to make her microwave peanut brittle recipe in her new microwave it burnt! The cook time was far too much in a fully powered microwave. HAHA!

The old microwave happened to be located in our basement yet seeing we are the ones who bought their old house. After her first failed attempt, she immediately requested her old microwave back. She could gladly have it.

Now every Christmas season, my Dad has to haul the old microwave upstairs from the basement storage room just so Mom can make her amazing Microwave Peanut Brittle!

Microwave wattage for Peanut Brittle

So this presents an issue that is common with making any sort of desserts in the microwave. Whether you are whipping up a batch of Microwave Caramel Corn or Snack Mix, it is important to have a grasp on the power of your small appliance.

The cooking times for this Microwave Peanut Brittle Recipe are for a 1,000 watt microwave.

If your microwave has a different wattage, keep a close eye and nose during the final steps of cooking. It may take you one or two tries to perfect it depending on the wattage and age of your microwave. As microwaves get older, they tend to loose power.

But once you get the recipe down, tuck it away in a special cookbook and keep it for the life of your microwave, because its that amazing! I promise you it is worth the potential failed attempt, because once you master the cooking times of your microwave, it is such an easy recipe that you can crank out batch after batch with ease.

This may all sound overwhelming, but it really is such an easy recipe. The effort doen’t even compare to how much work it is to make peanut brittle on the stove with a candy thermometer.

Microwave peanut brittle recipe poured on pan

How to Make Peanut Brittle in the Microwave

After testing this Microwave Peanut Brittle recipe for my new KitchenAid 1,000 watt microwave multiple times, I am excited to share it with you!

Everything comes together in a glass casserole or mixing bowl. The first step is to stir the corn syrup and granulated sugar together and microwave for 3.5 minutes. Next, stir in peanuts and microwave for 3 more minutes, until light brown. Add the butter and vanilla to mixture and stir until well combined. Microwave for an additional 1.5 minutes.

How do you make Peanut Brittle

You will need to work quickly for the next step, so be sure to have your buttered baking sheet already to go. Add the baking soda to the mixture and gently stir until light and foamy. Do NOT over stir. Only stir enough to mix in the baking soda in, in more of a folding motion.

The baking soda adds air to the mixture, which creates more of that melt in your mouth texture. If you stir too hard or too much, it will break down the air bubbles and the brittle will be thin and hard.

Quickly pour the foamy mixture onto the greased cookie sheet. Do NOT use a spoon to spread the mixture around. Instead, gently rotate the pan to spread the mixture around until it is about 1/2 inch thick.

Let the peanut brittle cool for 1/2 hour. When it is cooled, break the candy into small pieces and store in air-tight container.

peanut brittle broken apart on baking pan

Peanut Brittle Candy

I remember the stress of first time I made microwave peanut brittle myself very well. Not only was I worried it wouldn’t turn out like Mom’s, but I stared at the bowl with crusted on caramelized sugar when I was all done and thought “Oh crap, I am never going to get this clean!”

The good news is that you just need to soak your glass bowl with soap and water and it all comes off super easy. Just be sure not to add cold water to a hot glass bowl or you will have broken glass!

More delicious holiday sweets!

If you are looking for more great treats for the holidays, check out some of these fantastic dessert recipes!

Eggnog Fudge

Notes

Cooking times are for a 1000 watt microwave. If your microwave has a different wattage, keep a close eye and nose during the final steps in cooking. It may take you one or two tries to perfect it depending on the wattage and age of your microwave. Soak your cooled glass bowl in soap and water and it will come clean very easily.