Easy Microwave Peanut Brittle

5 from 44 votes

This easy peanut brittle recipe is made in the microwave in just a few minutes and turns out crisp and delicious every time.

Prep Time5

Cook Time8

Total Time13

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Peanuts

Servings: servings

Calories: 215kcal

Prepare a baking sheet with tin foil and coat with a thin layer of oil or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix the sugar and corn syrup together in a casserole dish or large microwaveable bowl. Microwave for 4 minutes on high.
Remove, stir in the peanuts and microwave for 3 minutes.
Remove, stir in the butter and vanilla extract and microwave 1 minute.
Remove and quickly stir in baking soda and pour onto the prepared tinfoil lined baking sheet. This needs to be done quickly before the mixture begins to harden.
Let the brittle harden for at least 30 minutes. Once cooled, break into pieces.

Don't over stir! The bubbles are very important to the success of this recipe.
Once you've added the baking soda and it bubbles up, don't stir it anymore.
Once you start to dump the mixture out onto the baking sheet do it quickly. The mixture will start to harden making it hard to scrape it all out of the bowl.
Don't use a spatula or spoon to spread the candy on the tray. Just dump it out onto the tray and leave it.
Every microwave is different, so you might find that you need to cook your sugar for less or more time. The candy needs to reach 300° F(149° C) on a candy thermometer and be a dark golden color before you add the baking soda and pour it out.
If you've cooked it for too long, the candy will begin to turn dark brown and smell burned.
If you don't cook it long enough, it won't be a golden color yet.
You can pour the candy onto a silicon mat to avoid the tin foil.
There's no need to put the candy into the refrigerator or cool it off. It will become brittle at room temperature.
It's important to have all of the ingredients at the ready for this recipe, because each step needs to be done quickly.