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Peanut Brittle Bars

You might find yourself wondering if I like Maida Heatter. If you are, you must be very bored. This also must be the first time you are visiting Baking Bites.

These are Peanut Brittle Bars. The recipe comes from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Cookies(thank you Cathy). Maida says these remind her of peanut brittle candy. I know how addictive peanut brittle is, so once I saw how simple these were, I immediately set about baking a batch.

Once I was done, I noticed that Maida used a picture of them on the cover of the book. The bars are salty, crunchy, buttery, peanutty and dead easy. They are a bit more reminiscent of shortbread than brittle, so they tend to crumble as you eat them instead of snapping. You’ll probably get a slightly chewier cookie by using brown sugar, but why mess with perfection? Go crunchy and use a napkin.

Peanut Brittle Bars

from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1 cup roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped and divided

Preheat oven to 375F.
Cream together butter and sugar. Gradually add flour, mixing at low speed, until fully incorporated. Stir in 1/2 cup of the peanuts.
Turn batter into ungreased jelly roll pan (10×15) and, after flouring your fingertips, press batter into thin layer. Evenly sprinkle remaining peanuts into the pan. Cover dough with a piece of wax paper and press peanuts into the dough, smoothing the mixture into an even layer. Remove wax paper.
Bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown.
Let cookies cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then slice into bars. Let the bars cool completely in the pan. They will be quite firm when completely cooled. Store in an airtight container.
Makes 24 bars.

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17 Comments
  • Amy
    September 12, 2005

    These sound so unusual and look so delicious. I love desserts that use that salty/sweet contrast (like Payday’s!). Thanks for this!

  • Jennifer
    September 12, 2005

    Your photo is wonderful! Be sure to enter it in next month’s Does My Blog Look Good In This? My mouth is watering!

  • Cathy
    September 12, 2005

    I’ve had my eye on that recipe! It’s still a little ways off, but I can’t wait. Your photo is beautiful and they look delicious!

  • joey
    September 13, 2005

    Looks yummy and easy (my favorite combination) 🙂 I haven’t read any of Maida Heatter’s books but am duly impressed with all the wonderful creations you are churning out from them…could you recommend a good one to start with?

  • Ana
    September 13, 2005

    These look so delicious. This is my favourite type of cookie. It is a cokkie but bakes like a cake (I mean only one pan in the oven). These I will definitely try.

  • Pille
    September 13, 2005

    Yummy – these sound & look delicious and I like recipes with just a few key ingredients. Mmmm. Another mental bookmark made for a recipe to try asap!

  • Nic
    September 13, 2005

    Amy – Mmm… Paydays…

    Jennifer – Thank you! I wonder what I should enter in this month’s contest.

    Cathy – I think they’ll be a hit, unless Phil doesn’t like Peanuts.

    Joey – You can’t go wrong with any of her books. Start with a cookie collection if you like cookies and start with one of the dessert collections if you can’t make up your mind and prefer a little variety.

    Ana – Thanks. I like one pan things, too.

    Pille – If it only has four ingredients, I’ll try it no matter what!

  • Samantha
    September 13, 2005

    YUM! I am SO making those Nic! Thanks for the great recipe.

  • the baker
    September 13, 2005

    Ooooo peanuts! i love all nuts. this sounds really yummy. i gotta make some myself. i actually baked some peanut butter cookies over the weekend… what can i say, nuts rule.. 🙂

  • Sara
    September 13, 2005

    2 weekends ago I had to make your recipe for the emglish muffin bread. Now I’ll have to make the bars this weekend!

  • Luisa
    September 13, 2005

    I think I may be searching for roasted, salted peanuts tonight. This combined with My Little Kitchen’s brownie post has convinced me – I need a copy of Maida’s book!

  • violet
    September 13, 2005

    wait. is your little user pic a cup of coffee with butter in it? butter?!

  • Nic
    September 13, 2005

    What!? No! It’s a mocha coffee with a marshmallow in it.

  • J
    September 13, 2005

    hi nic, utterly perfect choice of recipe, as always! i adore maida heatter’s cookie book – so far, it’s never ever failed me…have yet to try the peanut brittle bar recipe, but your post makes me hungry for some salty-sweet peanut crunch right now…

  • Riana
    September 16, 2005

    Nic, thanks for coming by blog. I’ve been a fan of your blog, so it’s an honor!
    Btw, this peanut brittle bar looks yummy, I’ll give it a try. I love all kind of nuts.

  • BrittleKitchen
    May 20, 2006

    Looks very good

    http://www.brittlekitchen.com/

  • gina
    November 5, 2007

    these look delicious. what are your thoughts on using honey-roasted or butter-toffee peanuts? too sweet?

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