This recipe for brown butter nut brittle without corn syrup was one from my early days of blogging. I had no idea how to structure a recipe and my directions needed a little (read: a lot) work. Now that I know these things, it was time for a nut brittle glow up.

This nut brittle is gluten free, low lactose and can be nut free, if needed. It’s a delicious festive treat that everyone will love.

A close up aerial image of a slab of nut brittle without corn syrup. The nut brittle is topped with sea salt flakes and dotted with a generous amount of toasted peanuts.

Brown butter nut brittle without corn syrup

I chose to make this nut brittle with rice malt syrup, because corn syrup is not common here in Australia. Mistakenly believing corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup were the same thing, I didn’t want to use corn syrup anyway.

This brown butter brittle uses light brown sugar, rice malt syrup, maple syrup and brown butter to form a delicious and rich nut brittle without corn syrup. It is gluten free and has a number of low FODMAP options, which we will go into below. The brittle can be made nut free by using seeds instead of nuts.

Brown butter nut brittle without corn syrup snapped into pieces atop a white marble table

Is it possible to make brittle without corn syrup?

Yes! It is very easy to make a delicious nut brittle without corn syrup. Excellent news for those of us who don’t have easy access to corn syrup.

Rice malt syrup is the substitute for corn syrup in these recipe. In Australia, rice malt syrup is generally easy to purchase at the main supermarkets. It is normally either found in the health food section or the baking section.

Why use maple syrup AND rice malt syrup?

I used maple syrup and rice malt syrup in this recipe because I like the stability and thickness of rice malt syrup, but I find the flavour too plain. It isn’t as sweet as maple syrup, and I found that brittle made with rice malt syrup only lacked a little of complexity.

The version made with 1/2 cup maple syrup is delicious and has a sweeter, more complex flavour, but it makes a thinner brittle. All in all, it really depends what you prefer.

That said, you can absolutely make this brittle with a single liquid sugar. If you have a sweet tooth, you can use all maple syrup.

A side on view of a stack of pieces of peanut brittle without corn syrup. The brittle is filled with roasted peanuts and topped with flaky sea salt. It sits atop a white speckled ceramic plate in harsh sunlight, creating dark shadows at the top of the image

How to make brown butter nut brittle without corn syrup

To prepare for the brittle, place your nuts in the oven to gently roast and heat up. Adding cool nuts to the hot caramel causes the caramel to seize up and the temperature to lower. We need the caramel to be at 149C/300F in order to reach hard crack stage and have that lovely snap.

Next, brown the butter in a large pot – ideally a dutch oven or something heavy bottomed. The caramel will bubble up when the baking soda is added at the end, so it’s best to be overly cautious. Nobody wants to clean hot sugar off their stovetop.

Once the butter is browned, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine over a low heat. The mixture will gradually begin to bubble.

Continue cooking the mixture until it reaches 149C/300F on a thermometer. See the section below on making this brittle without a thermometer.

Be patient in allowing the candy to come up to temperature. If you are using a Thermapen or hand held thermometer, don’t measure the temperature of the bottom of the pan. This will not give you an accurate reading of the brittle itself, so make sure it hovers in the mixture.

Once the mixture has reached temperature, sprinkle over the baking soda and stir to incorporate. The mixture will puff up and form lots of little bubbles. It will also lighten the colour of the caramel a bit, too.

Working quickly and carefully, add the hot nuts to the brittle mixture and stir to incorporate, before quickly pouring the mixture onto a large baking sheet. You might need to use a spoon to spread it out. Don’t worry too much if it’s a little thick, as you can pull the caramel a little (with gloved hands) once it cools.

A close up macro image of slices of peanut brittle without corn syrup stacked against a black backdrop. The brittle is filled with roasted peanuts, and slices are topped with flaky sea salt.

Tips for your nut brittle

Heating the nuts in the oven while you make the candy ensures they won’t cool the candy too much when you add them. Cooled candy will not set up firmly – it needs to reach 149C or 300F to reach hard crack stage.

There is no point rushing the process here. If your candy isn’t at the hard crack stage, you will be wasting all those nuts. The candy will be soft, bendable and chewy.

A thermometer really helps, but you can make this brittle without one. I have a Thermapen these days and I am obsessed.

I found that making this brittle in a dutch oven was much quicker and more seamless than making it in my steel soup pot. I assume this has something to do with how well it conducts heat.

A side on view of 5 slabs of peanut brittle stacked on top of each other on a white table against a white backdrop.

Can I make this brittle without a thermometer?

Yes, you can, but with a few caveats. Firstly, it’s a bit trickier to make brittle without a thermometer, because you don’t have that super accurate information to aid you. This makes it more likely (but not a given) that you will end up with chewy, undercooked or overcooked brittle.

Some brittle recipes can be made in the microwave, which is really cool. I have not tested this recipe in the microwave yet, but I will update the post when I do.

An aerial view of variously sized slabs of peanut brittle without corn syrup on a small white ceramic plate on a dark steel backdrop. The brittle is golden brown, casually arranged and sprinkled with flaky sea salt

Cold water test

To make this nut brittle without corn syrup without a thermometer, we need a bowl of iced water and a spoon. As the caramel cooks, intermittently drop a small amount of caramel into the ice water. Hard crack stage is when the caramel (surprise surprise) hardens and cracks immediately as it enters the water. It will likely form spindly, brittle threads as it drops down. This indicates the caramel is roughly at hard crack stage, which means we are ready to proceed to adding the baking soda.

This article from Spruce Eats has an incredibly handy chart that identifies the stage and approximate temperature for different results of the cold water test. I’d recommend having a read if you plan to make this brittle without a thermometer.

An aerial image of slabs of snapped peanut brittle atop a white marble table. The centre piece of brittle is topped with a light sprinkling of flaky sea salt

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