This Chai Spice Pecan Brittle is a unique twist on the traditional brittle you see around the holidays – this version features buttery pecans and a bold chai spice blend.
Every year around the holidays, I fall in love with making candy all over again, and wonder why I don’t make candy all of the time. It’s definitely not for everyone – making candy requires patience, precision, and a little bit of love.
It can be awfully finicky – melting sugar doesn’t always want to cooperate, and too often candy ends up undercooked, burned, or crystallized. It’s not that candy making is hard, it’s just that you have to dedicate about 10-20 minutes to doing just that: making candy.
No running off to the other room to change the laundry, or starting another batter while the sugar melts. Spend a little time with your candy, because the temperature will start to rise slowly, but will shoot up quickly at the end. You need to be on top of things, ready to go, and in return for your dedication you’ll have homemade brittle that’ll impress all of your friends.
Being the food nerd that I am, I love watching the sugar boil and go through phases as the water slowly burns off and then quickly darkens in color. For this chai spice pecan brittle, you add the key ingredients – chai spices and pecans – about halfway through the sugar’s cooking process.
This gives the spices enough time to bloom and become super fragrant (for real – your house will smell AMAZING) and the pecans to get toasty, but doesn’t give them enough time to burn. Once the mixture hits 300°F, or hard ball stage, you quickly stir in some butter and baking soda, which makes the mixture bubble up and keeps it from being break-your-teeth hard.
Then you’ll quickly pour/stretch/pull the pecan brittle into a rectangle shape on a baking sheet and let it harden. I sprinkled a bit of flaky sea salt on top of my brittle when it was still hot to add a little saltiness – I recommend this, but it’s not necessary. Let it harden completely, break it up into pieces, and try not to eat it all before you share with your friends.
This Chai Spice Pecan Brittle is bursting with warm chai spices and toasted pecans – it’s a holiday candy your friends will ask for every year! Take a few minutes to make some candy – the result is so worth it. Enjoy :)
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Chai Spice Pecan Brittle
Save Print Cook time 30 mins Total time 30 mins Author: Rachel Conners Ingredients - 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup water
- 1½ cup pecans
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Flaky sea salt, optional
- Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside.
- In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, spices and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. When candy hits around 240°F, add the pecans.
- Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300°F or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.
- Remove from heat. Quickly stir in butter and baking soda and pour onto cookie sheet. With 2 forks, lift and pull the candy into rectangle about 14x12 inches. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Cool completely. Snap candy into pieces.
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