scrumptious peanut clusters

Last week I pieced together something which turned out to be the best experiment I've had in a long time. The chocolate-covered candy I made last year was good, but it seemed to be missing some vital element. Therefore, I went digging...and determined that the lacking note was a little thing called butterscotch.

I preferred to not use packaged butterscotch chips, so I poked around some more, and came up with a recipe for butterscotch sauce. It called for brown sugar, butter, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. I've found that Rapadura and Sucanat are excellent substitutes for brown sugar, so I decided to go for it. I used Sucanat which I had powdered for a few minutes in my food processor.

The butterscotch sauce turned out beautifully! As for the chocolate, I followed Kimi's recipe for a wonderful honey-sweetened, dark chocolate coating. As soon as the chocolate was ready, I mixed in my butterscotch sauce. I then stirred in the peanuts, and dropped them in clusters onto waxed paper, and chill. So easy!

And so delicious. They turned out far better than I ever imagined. Now, the only challenge will be making them last until our guests arrive next week!

I didn't measure all the amounts, but this is approximately what I used:

10 oz chocolate sauce
8-10 oz butterscotch sauce
3 cups peanuts

I will absolutely be making these again. Definitely homemade Christmas candy at its best!

healthy peanut brittle

Yes, Virginia, there is a healthy way to make peanut brittle!

It's not all about the candy. But very same week that I posted my plea for a corn syrup-free peanut brittle recipe, one of my favorite bloggers answered my cries. Not that I have any reason to think that she reads my blog. In fact, I'd be surprised to hear that she does. Nevertheless, the timely answer thrilled me down to my toes.

Ultimately unable to wait for my weekend grocery shopping trip, I ventured out yesterday and bought some more peanuts. I was dying to try this recipe. And this morning, I did.


It takes a bit of time (you must stay at the stove to stir constantly), as candy-making often does, but it was quite easy. And best of all, it has a stellar list of ingredients. Not so much as a drop of corn syrup, refined sugar, or other unsavory stuff. I am tickled pink, I tell you.


And I assure you, it's been a big hit around here today. I love it, and my boys are wild for it. In fact, Kyle told me that he likes this peanut brittle "better than Halloween candy." Score one for this beaming mama!


To view the recipe in all its glory, head over to Passionate Homemaking by clicking HERE.

I want candy.

Homemade candy. I want chocolate-covered almonds, peanut clusters, almond bark candy, and peanut brittle. I want my mom's famous Yum-Yums. I want fudge.

There's something about December that brings out the chocolate lover in me. Although, of course, I'm not exclusively about chocolate.

For some of the things I'm wanting to make, I've found great new recipes. This Delicious Fudge recipe from The Nourishing Gourmet is wonderful. I made the peanut clusters in this photo using this recipe as my guide. I found that a stretch of uninterrupted time was a big help, but it was so easy.

There are many recipes out there that I want to try, but for now I have a question. It's a burning question, actually. Are you ready? Because I really want to know.

Is it possible to make peanut brittle without corn syrup? I have been unable to find any good recipes. Surely peanut brittle wasn't dreamed up after they created that horrible stuff? If anyone can help me out here, I'd be eternally in your debt.

I hope you're enjoying the season!