Nearing the end of the first month of the 2020s, the constant battle between sugar cravings, snacking and healthy leads one to explore alternative options. Keeping the sugar, sodium and fats intake to a limit isn’t always an easy task. As for all those health snacks, keeping the hidden sugars in the range is always the catch. Exploring the healthy snack recipes, adding a little sugar to the nuts makes the traditional brittle a healthy snack, especially for the cold hungry wintry evenings.
One of the earliest confectionery types, brittle is essentially flat broken pieces of hard sugar candy embedded with pecans, almonds or peanuts, or simply a mixed range of nuts. Depending on the local availability, the mix can be of walnuts, pistachios (Middle Eastern) or even sesame seeds. While peanut brittle still stays high on the radar, variations and mixes are a local delight. To name a few variations include the French croquant, Greek pasteli, Punjabi chikki or Indian gachak, Chinese Huasheng tang to name a few.Ā
“An Excellent Receipt for Groundnut Candy
To one quart or molasses add half a pint of brown sugar and a quarter of a pound of butter; boil it for half an hour over a slow fire; then put in a quart of groundnuts, parched and shelled; boil for a quarter of an hour, and then pour it into a shallow tin pan to harden.” —The Carolina Housewife, Sarah Rutledge, facsimile copy 1847 edition, with an introduction by Anna Wells Rutledge [University of South Carolina Press:Columbia] 1979 (p. 219) (1847)
Most of the traditional recipes calls for first caramelizing the sugar, corn syrup or honey and then the nuts are mixed with the caramelized sugar with the spices or leavening agents added last. While some result in a liquid like consistency which is poured out and troweled to uniform thickness; other recipes may have a grainy consistency of which the brittle is then prepared into tiny balls. When the brittle is cooled, it can be had as tiny bite sized snacks.
An interesting variation is the Paraguayan “Ka’Ć Ladrillo”, a typical dessert made mainly with peanuts and molasses. This high protein snack needs toasted peanuts and molasses. Few varieties include a tinge of sour orange or grapefruit juice to give a bittersweet taste to diminish the excessive sweetness.
Keeping the sugar and fat content in sights, sometimes modifying the good old traditional mixes gives an easy, pack-able as well as feasible options. For life in bite-sized portions saves for some memorable experiences.
“Peanut Brittle I
Sugar, 2 cups
Water, 2/3 cup
Cream of tartar, 1/4 teaspoon
Molasses, 2 tablespoons
Salt, 1/2 teaspoon
Cream, 2 tablspoons
Baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon
Peanuts, shelled, 1 cup
Combine sugar, water and cream of tartar in a heavy saucepan. Plce over low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved; cook without stirring to 280 degrees F. (brittle). Wipe down crystals from sides of pan with a damp cloth wrapped around the tines of a fork. Add molasses, salt and cream. Cook slwoly to 290 degrees F., stirring slowly but constantly. Remove from stove. Quickly stir in soda and peanuts. (Be sure that soda is free from lumps. Pour onto an oiled surface–a shallow pan or marble slab–in a very thin layer. When cool enough to handle, the brittle may be grasped at the edges and stretched into a very thin sheet. When cold break into medium-sized pieces. Note: If peanuts are raw, add a sirup at 250 degrees F. instead of at the end. Makes about 1 pound.”
—Woman’s Home Companion Cook Book [P.F. Collier & Son:New York] 1942 (p. 788-789) [NOTE: Peanut Brittle II consists of sugar, baking soda and peanuts only. This book also offers recipes for coconut brittle, Chocolate-Nut Brittle and Bran-Nut Brittle.]
Sugar And Spice... Among Other Things 
