Allergen Free Buttery Peanut-less Brittle with sunflower and pumpkin seeds

Inspiration

Today’s creation, buttery peanut-less brittle, is inspired by the tastes of my number one fan – my mom. Happy Birthday, mom (as I know you likely are reading this on your birthday)!! One of my mother’s favorite candies is peanut brittle, a Southern treat filled with items unfriendly to those of us touched by food allergies – e.g., lots of butter and peanuts. So, I thought it would be fun to take a stab at creating butter-less, peanut-less, corn-free, top 8 allergen free buttery brittle with sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

My parents are dedicated readers of my blog, with my mother sharing it with everyone from her patients to random folks she meets in the grocery store. That has always been my mom – so excited about her kids that she shares their stories with complete strangers. My mom is such a fan of her kids that she (surprisingly) figured out how to open a Twitter account just to enter my blog giveaway last month. And ironically, when PunchTab randomly selected the winner (out of 104 entries), the first name picked was none other than my mom – who I had to disqualify. (Sorry mom.) I never understood my mother’s love and pride until I became a mom myself, and now I’m that lady sharing with the man in line behind me at the checkout counter how my daughter’s first word was her big brother’s name or retelling my son’s latest joke to a coworker.

I also thought peanut-less brittle would be a good treat to make since it keeps well, and I can actually share it with my mother when I head to the Delta South this coming weekend. I had the crazy idea that it would be fun to travel solo (without the help of my husband) and take a couple flights (with transfers) so my almost 4 year old and almost 1 year old could spend the last week before school starts with their G-Parents (they go by G-Ma and G-Pa).  While I expect it will be fun for everyone to spend time together, I am not at all looking forward to task of traveling.

I am nervous about flying solo with my (just taking steps) daughter and (full of bouncing energy) son. I am worried about the short period of time that we have in between flights, knowing that we likely will be the last ones off our first flight, and then I’ll have to handle potty breaks and diaper changes before making it to the second leg of our flight. I just pray that our connecting flight isn’t at a gate too far from where we land. And that no one has a poopy diaper or needs to use the restroom while we are airborne. How would I fit both kids and myself into one of those tiny airplane bathrooms?

Note: Due to my upcoming travel, there will be a short lapse in new recipe postings. Although I will be traveling the Sunday before Labor Day Monday, I hope to post the next new recipe that week regardless. Perhaps another Southern-inspired treat?!

FREE Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown rice syrup
• ¼ tsp ground sea salt
• ¼ cup water
• 1 ½ cups dried raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds (like Go Raw Organic Simple Seed Mix)
• 2 tbsp dairy free, soy free buttery spread (like Earth Balance)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• additional buttery spread for greasing pan

Method (or Mistakes)

Since this peanut free, dairy free, allergen free peanut-less brittle is for my mom, it only makes sense that it’s based off a recipe called Mom’s Best Peanut Brittle from allrecipes.com, which I changed a bit due to my tastes and dietary restrictions.

Grease a large cookie sheet (I used a 12×16 inch) with buttery spread, and then set aside. Start warming an oven to 275° F as you measure your ingredients. Once warm, place buttered cookie sheet inside oven to keep warm (this well help with spreading your brittle later).

Measure out all of your ingredients. (As the author of the original recipe recommends, you need to move fast and will not have time to measure ingredients in between steps.)

In a medium (at least 6 cup) saucepan, over medium heat, add sugar, rice syrup, salt, and water. Stir until well combined and sugar has dissolved. Stir in seeds, and then set up candy thermometer.

Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. (Boiling will cause the mixture to rise in saucepan and turn amber in color.) Continue cooking and stirring mixture until temperature reaches 300° F (after about 6-8 minutes cooking, you may need to raise temperature a bit above medium heat).

Remove pan from heat and immediately stir in buttery spread, baking soda, and extract. Quickly, take warmed cookie sheet out of the oven, and pour mixture onto it. Using 2 metal forks, pull and spread mixture across cookie sheet. (If mixture cools too much before you have finished spreading, return cookie sheet with mixture to preheated oven for about 30-45 seconds).

Top 8 Allergen Free Peanut-less Brittle

Let cool completely. Once cooled, pick up sheet of candy by one end (it should lift easily), and then snap candy into pieces. Share and enjoy!

Brittle keeps best in airtight container or Ziploc bag. Refrigerate or freeze for even longer life.

NOM YUM

This dairy free, nut free, corn free, allergen free peanut-less brittle was delicious!! I like adding pure vanilla extract to my caramel, and I am glad that I also chose to add some to this brittle, as it helped enhance its caramel flavor. The Earth Balance buttery spread gave the candy a tasty buttery flavor that would fool most people into believing it wasn’t dairy free. I mostly enjoyed the roasted, caramelized sunflower and pumpkin seeds in this brittle. I think cooking the seeds longer than the original recipe cooked the peanuts added a rich flavor of the seeds.

This buttery peanut-less brittle tasted as good as the brittle my mom shared with us growing up! (Maybe even better since I never have been too excited about peanuts.) Even my husband who is not a brittle or toffee fan (he doesn’t like candies that stick to his teeth) enjoyed the flavor of this YUMmy peanut-less brittle!

Mom, don’t worry, we were sure to save most of this allergen free peanut-less brittle for you! And since this recipe is so quick and simple, I easily can make more for you when we are down your way. (Like many allergy moms I am packing allergy friendly foods and ingredients from home to take on our trip, as I am concerned that there won’t be as many allergen free options at my destination.)

As a reminder, due to my upcoming solo air travel with both kids (Please, wish me luck!), there will be a short lapse in new recipe postings. And even though I likely will be exhausted from traveling alone with my bouncy toddler and taking steps infant the Sunday before Labor Day Monday, I will try my best to post another YUMmy Southern-inspired recipe that Monday. In the meantime, I invite you to check out a few other favorite Southern-inspired allergy friendly recipes – Baked Macaroni Cheese with a Creamy White Cheese Sauce and Creamy Red Potato Salad with Red Quinoa.

Happy allergy friendly eating!

Featured on Gluten Free Friday

Linked to Allergy Free Wednesday, Gluten Free Fridays, Full Plate Thursday, Friday Food, Allergy Friendly Friday

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