Pistachio Brittle Recipe - Celebration Generation (2024)

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With the holiday season approaching, it’s about time to start sharing some recipes for the seasonal candy makers out there!

I recently posted my updated Banana Walnut Brittle, and a while back I shared my Jalapeno Beer Peanut Brittle.

Today, I have another version of a more traditional standby!

While peanut brittle is always great, my husband ADORES pistachios - this brittle is a holiday favorite at our house, and we always have to put on a big batch when we make it.

It even looks festive, IMHO: The chunky, vibrant green pistachio nuts look great when encased in the smooth texture of the golden brown toffee.

This candy is tasty as-is, and adds a delicious, concentrated crunch when crushed up and served on top of ice cream.

It makes a great gift, also!

Bag it up to wish a Merry Christmas to your friends and service providers, or hand it out as a party favor at your holiday get togethers!

Ingredients

This recipe uses only a few, super simple ingredients that you should be able to find in any grocery store.

You will need:

Shelled Pistachio Nuts
Granulated Sugar
Light Corn Syrup / Golden Syrup
Unsalted Butter
Pure Vanilla Extract
Baking Soda
Kosher Salt
Nonstick Spray

Optional Ingredients

Consider sprinkling a little Coarse Sea Salt, Fleur de Sel (French sea salt), or Sel Gris (Grey sea salt) over your candy before it hardens, for a nice salty/sweet combo in the final product.

It also helps cut the richness of the nuts and candy.

Also, Orange Blossom Water or Rose Water make great substitutions for the Vanilla Extract - I’ll usually double the amount, though.

Tips for Making Brittle

Brittle is easy to make, but also easy to screw up - IF you don’t follow a few best practices.

Here are some tips to ensure your success!

Prepare!

Have everything you need close at hand, measured out, and ready to go.

You have to move FAST when it comes to temperature, so don’t waste any time on things that can be done beforehand!

Heat Your Sheet

Once you stir the pistachios into your brittle, you have to move VERY fast to spread it out, as it will start hardening quickly.

You can buy yourself a little more wiggle time by heating your baking sheet, as you’re cooking the candy.

A cold - or even room temperature - baking pan will kick start the cooling/hardening process, where a warmed one will not.

I set my oven on the lowest temp, spray a pan, and pop it in there until RIGHT before I’m ready to dump the candy. It really helps!

Heat Your Ingredients

If you’re making this in colder months - or if you’re like me, and like to keep your house at walk-in-fridge temps during the summer! - heating your ingredients can be helpful, as well.

Much like a cold pan will kick start the cooling and hardening, so can stirring cold ingredients into the candy.

So, if there’s a cold concern... measure the pistachios into a heat-safe dish and put them in the oven with your pan.

Use a Candy Thermometer

Pretty straightforward - using a candy thermometer is a great way to ensure success when making candy.

Just be sure to watch it, and actually take the candy off when it’s the right temperature.

Too soon, and it won’t set up right. Too late, and it may burn, taste weird, have an off texture, etc.

Spreading the Brittle

There are a few ways you can spread your brittle. How you do it is largely a matter of personal preference:

- You can use two buttered forks to spread it, basically pulling apart large globs of brittle. This is the traditional way.

- You can use a silicone spatula to spread it out. This is my preferred way.

- You can place a piece of parchment paper over it, and use a rolling pin to spread it out. This is a good way to get an even, flat brittle.

- You can use heat-proof gloves (kitchen safe, never used for anything gross, please!) to basically push it down / stretch it out.

Watch the Humidity!

Sugar in general is hydrophilic - it loves water, it attracts it.

... and never is that more the case, than for sugar that’s been cooked to the brittle stage. It will pull water from the air and liquify.

This can make your brittle do anything from go a bit sticky on the surface, to “melt” into a sticky mess.

So... let it harden, break it up, then *immediately* get it into a dry, airtight container, and store it in a dry place. Always keep your brittle as dry as possible!

Also, note: If it’s humid when you’re making the brittle, you may end up with sticky brittle, no matter what you do.

Toast the Pistachios

This isn’t a requirement, but it does make for a nicer finished product.

Before getting the brittle started, toast the pistachios. Just put them in a dry pan and cook over medium-low heat - stirring frequently - until they’re aromatic.

This gives a more complex, roasty flavour to the finished candy.

How to Make Pistachio Brittle

The full recipe follows in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is a pictorial walkthrough for those who enjoy them!

Set oven to “warm”, “low heat” or lowest temperature.

Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper. Place inside warmed oven.

Note: I like to spray AND line with parchment. The spray sticks the parchment to the pan, holds it in place a bit!

Place sugar in a heavy, medium saucepan (2 quart), along with the corn syrup, salt, and cold water.

Whisk sugar mixture with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula (I like to use a silicone spatula) to combine.

Bring to boil over medium-high heat - stirring until the sugar dissolves. - then attach a candy thermometer to the saucepan.

Continue cooking - without stirring - until the candy thermometer registers 300 degrees F (150 degrees Celcius).

The candy will be pale brown at this point.

KEEP A VERY CLOSE EYE ON IT after about 280 degrees, as the temp has a tendency to race up at that point.

If you turn your back, you could burn it!

At 300 degrees, remove the pan from heat, add baking soda and butter, stir until incorporated.

Remove sheet pan from oven, and pour brittle out onto it, giving a few gentle shakes to distribute the caramel a bit.

Use 2 buttered forks, a silicone spatula, and/or parchment & a rolling pin to pull the brittle mixture out from the center, till it is thinly spread and relatively even.

Alternatively, you can lay a second sheet of parchment paper over it, and use a rolling pin to flatten the brittle between the sheets of parchment paper.

Sprinkle sea salt over the slab of warm candy, if you’d like.

Cool completely to room temperature, then break into pieces.

You’ll want to break it and transfer to an airtight container as soon as possible after it’s fully cooled, as it can absorb water from the air and go sticky.

Store in a dry place until ready to serve.

More Candy Making Recipes

In the mood to melt some sugar, make some gummies, or play with chocolate? I've got you!

Bananas Foster Pralines
Banana Walnut Brittle
Candy Apples
Clodhoppers
Dill Pickle Gummy Worms
Festive Easy Fudge
Ginger Molasses Sponge Toffee
Homemade BCAA Gummies
Homemade Crunchie Bars
Homemade Jolly Rancher Candies
Hop Flavoured Beer Lollipops (LolliHOPS!)
How to Make Marshmallow Cones
Jalapeno Beer Peanut Brittle
Milk Chocolate Chai Truffles
Peppermint Patties Recipe
Sponge Toffee
Ube White Chocolate Fudge
White Chocolate Almond Amaretto Truffles

Share the Love!

Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!

Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense. Well, the published nonsense, anyway!

Finally, if you love this recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and/or a comment below, and maybe even sharing this post on social media!

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