Brittle! I made candy! What even IS 2025.
I have zero desire to be a candy maker, or to even make candy on a regular basis. But! I did promise a couple of recipes out of the back of First Frost, and Bev’s here to deliver on that promise.
(third person obnoxiously included)
I have to say, I found this process soothing. I’ve lit-rally never made a candy like this before, where you’re melting water and sugar, adding another element, letting it crystalize, remelting, shaping and breaking. Science is so weird!
I’ll also say that having a candy thermometer randomly in my gadget drawer was the key. I have no idea when or where we got a candy thermometer, but it has all the stages on it, so I had some remote idea of what was happening.
Let’s look, you will freak. But probably not because you’ve already made candy in your lifetime.
Okay, first off – I could NOT find pepitas. The actual recipe called for shelled pumpkin seeds, and to me that’s basically pepitas. Is there a shortage of pepitas right now? Not sure, but shelled pistachios it is.
I went ahead and chopped them up for a bit of texture.
We’ll melt some water and sugar and salt together – then keep it at a medium boil until it hits this handy dandy candy soft ball stage. Not sure what that even means, but Claire Waverly does and we are channeling her in her beautifully magical kitchen and stirring some dang soft ball caramel.
Off the heat we’ll add our chopped pistachios. And this is what blew my MIND. I’m following along the instructions and it says to stir until it crystalizes, twoish minutes. And I’d sort of forgotten what that meant, to crystalize. And then it DID and you should have heard me. I’m laughing already thinking about it.
“It CRYSTALIZED! It really happened! What is science, I am so confused! Am I a wizard?!”
All of the above. To no one.
Theeeeen you’ll pop that heat back on and the mix will melt AGAIN and take on a deep brown color. It’s all toasting now and becoming that brittle, baby. Isn’t it crazy?
Once it melts, you’ll move swiftly and get it poured onto some parchment paper. Slap another piece right on top and roll out the brittle as quickly as you can before it hardens.
Like that. I’m no pro, so ignore that weird extra thing at the top. Not sure how that happened.
You’ll let it cool just a few minutes, then break it up because it’s BRITTLE.
Are you kidding me with this? We made brittle! And it tastes good!
I was embarrassingly giddy, you have no idea. #alsoneedsfriends
Then you can just pack it up all cute like and surprise a friend. Or a neighbor. Or your kids. Or yourself.
It’s brittle, I’m still so shocked.
Have you made brittle before? Is this a thing?
Make it a fun winter project! Brittle, who knew.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- Pinch of sea salt
- 3/4 cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Bring the water, sugar and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then keep it at a medium boil until it reaches the “soft ball” stage. I had a candy thermometer in the pan the whole time. This takes bout ten minutes.
- Off the heat, add the chopped pistachios and stir to completely coat. Keep stirring until it crystalizes, just a couple of minutes. It happens fast!
- Turn the heat back on and stir the mix until it melts again, taking on a deep brown color, 4-5 minutes.
- Moving quickly, carefully pour the hot caramel mix onto a sheet of parchment paper. Top with another sheet and use a rolling pin to roll it out as thin as you can. It hardens very quickly, so you’ll have to move fast.
- Remove the top sheet and let this cool about five minutes. Pull the brittle up from the bottom sheet and break into pieces. Simple as that. You have brittle!
- I’m not sure how much this actually makes, but it’s fun.
- *recipe taken directly from First Frost, but I subbed pistachios for pumpkin seeds.
Here’s that step-by-step video for ya!
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