Having decided to make myself some Coffee Rum & Walnut Brittle Ice Cream, the first step was to make the brittle. I knew I had a bag of French walnuts sitting in the airing cupboard, gathered from the grounds of a friend’s home in Corrèze, dried in the sun and delivered to me as a very kind gift last year.
Walnut Brittle
Ingredients
- 230 g shelled walnuts
- 360 g sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Line a baking tray with a silicon baking sheet or a sheet of parchment paper.
- Break the walnuts into small pieces, though take care not to crush them as you’re not trying to make powdered walnut!
- In a large, heavy-based pan dry fry the walnut pieces for a minute or two to give them a slightly toasted flavour. Take care not to burn them. Remove to a bowl and set to one side.
- Wipe the pan clean of walnut skin and then spread the sugar and salt evenly over the surface and heat over a medium flame. Don’t stir the sugar, just leave it alone to melt. Stirring tends to result in clumps that don’t melt evenly, as I remember all too well from previous caramelising efforts!
- As soon as the sugar melts and takes on a rich golden brown colour, remove from the heat and stir in the walnuts. Work really quickly as the mixture will cool and harden fast and you need to distribute the walnuts evenly throughout the caramel.
- Transfer the mixture onto your lined baking tray and spread it out quickly.
- Leave it to harden.
- Once set, break intro manageable pieces and store in an airtight container.
- You may like to ask someone to hide the box from you so that you don’t eat the lot in one sitting.
You may also like this recipe for Coffee Rum & Walnut Brittle Ice Cream!
Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!26 Comments to "How To Make Walnut Brittle"
Think I’d need to ask someone to hide the box for me. This looks so delicious. I’ve made caramalised nuts a few times now, but a) have not thought to use walnuts and b) have not thought to use salt. Just wondering if I might find some time to make some ice-cream – haven’t made any or entered your challenge for ages.
You know, I don’t know what suddenly prompted me to add salt, but I just thought it would bring out the flavours and counter the sugar just the tiniest bit. It’s not an obvious saltiness but I think it does add something. Hope you have time to make ice cream! 🙂
Never mind hide the box, what about hide this recipe? We ate a ton of nut brittles in Burma and you can never just have one piece….
It’s difficult! I gave some away to save me from temptation! 🙂
Like I’m going to bother making ice cream once I’ve made these beauties?! Ha ha! They are going to be all for me and scoffed greedily when no-one else is around. They look fantastic!
Hope you enjoy them, Snig!
WOW this looks amazing!! I am so making this. Love the idea of date ice cream, how genius!
Thanks Rej!
This looks really good but I find walnuts so expensive at the moment. Even in my local Turkish shop the prices are ridiculous. Any suggestions on where to buy more cheaply?
Aah, I’m not sure. Mine are from last year… Are other nuts cheaper at the moment? Think this would also be tasty with cashews, but would have to try to be sure…
I adore any kind of nut/caramel/praline/brittle combination and this looks like no exception, yum!
So good! They work together so well!
I am so excited to have found a new type of brittle. I have never tried this classic treat with walnuts, but I will be doing so now. I know that I will not be able to stop at just one piece.
You are welcome, it’s very hard to stop at one piece, for sure!
HI there
Just wondering if there is a typo in the recipe and it should be 460g sugar?
No it’s not a typo, this is the ratio of sugar to nuts that I use, but you can add more sugar if you prefer.
I think the reason for wondering about the typo is your instructions say “Weight your nuts, use double that amount of sugar, and adjust the amount of salt accordingly.”
I made it with 230g of nuts and 360g of sugar and it was more than enough!
Oh yes you are right I see what you mean! I’ll adjust that note as I did use 360 grams when I made it!
I’d like to make these as a gift for my friends this Christmas. If I make them at the end of November and keep them in vacuumed sealed bags will they last?
Apologies for missing this question Iain. I have never tried to keep them that long, so I can’t answer with any definite knowledge. I would imagine they should keep in vacuum sealed bags but I cant guarantee it.
Loved this method worked well better than the others and didn’t use water or baking soda
Love it
Really pleased you enjoyed the recipe Martha!
by not stiring the sugar burns over medium heat . next batch i’ll try over low flame but doubt it will melt sugar. kind of a waste
I’ve made this recipe several times and it’s never once burned on a medium heat without being stirred. I’m sorry it didn’t work for you.
I love the finished product. I did have a little trouble caramelizing the sugar but that was just my fear of burning it 🙂 other than that it’s an awesome recipe and I appreciate it greatly thank you
So pleased you enjoyed it, Diane!