Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth in a Hurry--Make Peanut Brittle in the Microwave

I'm deep in the throes of another book deadline--501 Time-Saving Tips Every Woman Should Know. These last few weeks have been tough as I do little else but write and edit. My house is a disaster, my yard is even worse, and cooking meals has gotten to the point where I'm simply opening up jars of home-canned food and heating and eating. (Thank goodness for my stash of good eats!)

BUT...

Today I had such a hankering for something sweet that I absolutely had to satisfy the urge. My first thought was to make cookies. But when I say that book deadline is looming, I really mean it. So I felt I didn't have time to make an entire batch of anything. And then I remembered a simple little recipe that is so quick and easy to throw together that I felt I could justify the small amount of time it would take to whip it out. So that's just what I did. And now I'd like to share the recipe with you.

Quick and Easy Peanut Brittle

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 cup salted peanuts
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Lightly grease or butter a baking sheet that has sides.

In a 1 1/2  - 2 quart microwavable bowl, mix together the sugar and corn syrup. It will look like this:

Microwave this mixture uncovered on high for 4 minutes.

Add the peanuts, stir, and then microwave for another 3-4 minutes.

Add the butter and vanilla and stir until well blended. (Although you'll have to work fast because it's very sticky.) Microwave for another 1-1 1/2 minutes.

Now sprinkle the baking soda over the top and then stir to mix. The peanut brittle will turn light and foamy. Quickly pour the peanut brittle onto the prepared baking sheet and let cool until hardened. Like this:

Then break into pieces and enjoy!

Can you believe how quick and easy this is? It really only takes a few minutes to complete, and it's about as foolproof as anything you could possibly make.