Last night was a friend’s birthday potluck party downtown and while debating whether to make an entrée, hors d’oeuvre, or dessert, I figured that I’d make a dessert because my cupboards are overflowing with baking supplies – and I just really love to bake.  However, I was going to make lemon hazelnut cookies, but the hazelnuts (albiet old) that I had had gone horribly bad.  Searching for plan B of what to bake I remembered a recipe for spiced pumpkin seed brittle that I had seen on Etsy a while back.  I had all the necessary ingredients for that, so decided I’d take my first leap at making brittle.  Although their recipe called for chipotle chili powder, my kitchen was lacking that ingredient, so I threw in curry powder in it’s place.  I also veganized their recipe.

This recipe turned out to be so quick and simple, with a small yield for a foodie infested dinner party, so I decided to also make another brittle with curried cashews.

These were so tasty, easy, fun, and quick to make that I am no longer afraid of what I thought was more of a daunting process – I’ll definitely be making a lot more brittle much more often in my future   Hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I did!

Curried Pumpkin Seed Brittle

1 cup raw cane sugar
3/4 cup hulled pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas; feel free to use any tree nut/seed you’d prefer)
2 tablespoons soy free earth balance
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon himalayan sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Candy thermometer

Curry Cashew Brittle

1 cup raw cane sugar
3/4 cup chopped curried cashews
2 tablespoons soy free earth balance
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon himalayan sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder (although in a rush I forgot this step during this 2nd brittle making… it was a bit off in texture, but in the end it all still got gobbled down and was very tasty)
Candy thermometer

Directions:

1. Grease a cookie sheet with butter and set aside.

2. In a small, heavy-bottomed pot over a medium low flame, melt the butter with the cinnamon, chile powder, ginger and sea salt.

3. Add the sugar and stir thoroughly. Continue to stir sugar almost constantly to prevent burning.

4. When the temperature of the mixture reaches 280 degrees, add the nuts. Continue stirring almost constantly.

5. The sugar will slowly begin to clump and melt. Keep stirring! At 300 degrees, remove from heat and quicky stir in the baking powder.

6. Working quickly, pour the brittle onto the greased baking pan, spreading with a spatula. Let stand until thoroughly cooled and hardened. (You can expedite this by putting it into the fridge.)

Yield: About 6-8 servings/brittle recipe