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It only takes 6 ingredients to make this easy Microwave Peanut Brittle. It’s sweet, salty, crunchy, and a great holiday treat or homemade gift. The secret is in the baking soda: it foams up the corn syrup and butter making the candy light, airy, and brittle.
Meggan’s notes
Candy-making can be intimidating, but I’m here to show you fun and easy it can be. As a classically-trained chef with plenty of candy-making experience under my belt, I’ll show you this easy peanut brittle recipe made right in your microwave.
A mixture of corn syrup and granulated sugar gives the perfect amount of sweetness to balance the salty peanuts, while butter adds richness and warmth. The trick to that light, airy, crispy texture? Baking soda. It foams up and infuses the brittle with pockets of air so every bite is crunchy and very brittle.
A touch of vanilla adds extra sweetness, and the whole batch comes together in about 15 minutes (plus cooling time) in your microwave. It’s perfect for homemade gifts, your holiday treats plate, or anytime you’re craving something salty, sweet, and crunchy.
Table of Contents
Easy Peanut Brittle Ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
- Peanuts: For best results, start with raw peanuts. Otherwise, they might overcook and scorch in the microwave.
- Baking soda: Adding baking soda to the hot sugar syrup makes lots of tiny air bubbles that give the candy the porous, honeycomb texture it’s famous for.
How to Make Easy Peanut Brittle
- Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. In a deep microwave-safe bowl, combine sugar and corn syrup.
- Mix thoroughly and microwave on HIGH for 4 minutes.
- Stir in peanuts and microwave on HIGH until the mixture is light brown, about 3 to 5 minutes longer.
- Stir in butter and vanilla until combined. Microwave on HIGH until peanuts are lightly browned, about 1 to 2 minutes longer.
- Stir in baking soda until mixture is light and foamy.
- Pour onto prepared pan and cool 30 minutes.
- Break into pieces to serve and store in an airtight container.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 1 pound of peanut brittle.
- Storage: Store covered at room temperature for up to 2 months.
- Grease the pan: Butter a baking sheet or line it with parchment so the brittle doesn’t stick.
- Let it flow: Don’t try to spread it with a spatula; just let it flow like lava.
- Clean-up: Spray the bowl and the spoon or spatula with a non-stick cooking spray before you use them. It will make the hot brittle less sticky and make clean-up a little easier.
- Microwaves: Each appliance is a little different, and your results may vary.
- Chocolate peanut brittle: Sprinkle a layer of semi-sweet chips as soon as you pour the hot brittle onto the pan. Then wait a minute for the chips to melt and gently spread the chocolate over the surface. Amazing!
- Without corn syrup: Unfortunately, there isn’t a good method for microwaving peanut brittle without corn syrup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Adding baking soda when making peanut brittle makes the hot sugar syrup foam, creating lots of tiny air bubbles that give the candy the porous, crispy honeycomb texture it’s known for.
I suggest raw peanuts for peanut brittle since you’re cooking them in the microwave. It’s the same idea as using toasted nuts in homemade granola – you’d be double-toasting the nuts, so you use raw nuts in granola.
If your peanut brittle is light in color and chewy, it was not cooked long enough. If it is too dark and brittle, it was microwaved too long.
More holiday treats
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Peanut Butter Balls Recipe
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Peanut Brittle (Microwave)
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup raw peanuts (see note 1)
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (see note 2)
Instructions
- Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. In a deep microwave-safe bowl, combine sugar and corn syrup. Mix thoroughly and microwave on HIGH for 4 minutes.
- Stir in peanuts and microwave on HIGH until the mixture is light brown, about 3 to 5 minutes longer.
- Stir in butter and vanilla until combined. Microwave on HIGH until peanuts are lightly browned, about 1 to 2 minutes longer.
- Stir in baking soda until mixture is light and foamy. Pour onto prepared pan and cool 30 minutes. Break into pieces to serve and store in an airtight container.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Peanuts: For best results, start with raw peanuts. Otherwise, they might overcook and scorch in the microwave.
- Baking soda: Adding baking soda to the hot sugar syrup makes lots of tiny air bubbles that give the candy the porous, honeycomb texture it’s famous for.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 1 pound of peanut brittle.
- Storage: Store covered at room temperature for up to 2 months.
Well, that was easy and turned out well.
What an amazing recipe! Since retiring in July, the hubs has been into cooking and baking. I found this recipe and, after one unsuccessful attempt that made my house smell like burnt horribleness, he got it right!! This will definitely be our go-to peanut brittle recipe!! The best tip? Heat the pan that you’ll be pouring the brittle onto – GENIUS!! And the Chocolate Peanut Brittle is amazing!! Great job and thank you for sharing!!
My first time making it in a microwave and it was easy and fast! I like the tips!!!
Super easy recipe. I also poured chocolate over it. My husband loves chocolate peanut brittle. Thanks
Absolutely amazing recipe. It is so easy and fast. I recommend staying with the recipe exactly as the author intended. DO NOT USE RAW PEANUTS. I cannot stress this enough. The peanuts will be rubbery I guarantee it. Use roasted or Spanish (leave skins on to add great flavor and their beautiful in the final product). The salt from roasted or Spanish peanuts also add great flavor and dimension. The peanuts will not burn if you do not vary from the original recipe. Please try this recipe its fantastic!
Thank you so much Janice! I’m glad you like it! -Meggan
I’ve made this same recipe for years but from other sources. Sometimes it was chewy or tried to pull out my fillings, but your recipe worked perfectly!
Btw I have a 900 watt microwave and did 4 mins, 4 mins, 2 mins and it’s perfect. I also use dry roasted peanuts and haven’t had them burn. I pour onto parchment on a baking sheet and tilt to thin it out. Throw it right into the fridge to cool, makes it snap nice too.
I have used this recipe for a long time. Only thing different is i use 1 1/2 tsp butter and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla. I don’t time mine either. I eyeball it. It is absolutely amazing. Never had 1 complaint. And it doesn’t last very long in our house. Thank you for this recipe.
What watt is your microwave?
I really want to try this. All of the writing says 50% power, but the recipe says high power. I’m confused, I feel like I’m missing something. Which do I do?
Hi Sarah, I’m so sorry about that. I have been retesting this recipe and updated the recipe card, but not the text in the post! I used to have the recipe at 50% power, but people (including me) had a lot of trouble with it. After retesting, I believe 100% power is the way to go. When I make it that way, it starts to smell burnt towards the end, but it doesn’t TASTE burnt. Not sure if that stokes your feelings of confidence. 🙂 Overall microwave peanut brittle is really challenging because everyone has a different microwave, and it’s really easy for everything to be a disaster. But, I’ve had good luck with the 100% power version (and corresponding shorter cooking times). I’ll fix the post. Sorry again! Thanks. -Meggan
Hi Meghan I just dumped a batch of burnt peanut stuff “YUCK” I followed another recipe then I saw yours ,going to give another try @ 50% . Thanks