• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Olives for Dinner

Vegan Recipes for Those Who Love to Cook and Eat

  • Recipes
  • Work with Us
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
Home » Dessert » Vegan Chocolate Peanut Brittle

December 16, 2012

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Brittle

Jump to Recipe
Chocolate-Covered Peanut Brittle with Habanero

One of my favorite places to go for spices and hard-to-find ingredients is Christina’s Spice & Specialty Foods, located in Inman Square in Cambridge. This small and unassuming shop has a vast array of unique dried spices like mango powder, methi, alfalfa powder, liquorice root and juniper. I’m not sure what I would do with many of these things, but I do love to go into this fragrant, pleasantly cramped and overstocked shop just to see (and smell) what is there. The last time I went, I bought some saffron, chia seeds and a jar of neon orange habanero powder, all with handwritten labels and accompanied by very cheap price tag. This habanero powder was a fantastic find because of its deeply spicy, complex and perfectly balanced quality—and because it tastes especially amazing with chocolate.

I’ve combined peanuts, chocolate and a spicy element in a dessert before with surprisingly good results, so I thought I try it again in a brittle this weekend. I wanted it to be rich and almost toffee-like, so I used a combination of coconut cream and soy lecithin to achieve that quality. This created a buttery and fatty note, which was perfectly balanced out by the crisp and subtly shocking habanero powder. A final dredge in some melted and slightly sweetened raw chocolate sealed everything together here nicely, creating an addictive and unique melt-in-your-mouth brittle.

Chocolate-Covered Peanut Brittle with Habanero

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Chocolate-Covered Peanut Brittle with Habanero

CHOCOLATE-COVERED PEANUT BRITTLE WITH HABANERO


  • Author: olivesfordinner.com
  • Yield: 4-6 servings
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup corn syrup
  • 1 TB soy lecithin (optional)
  • 1/4 cup coconut cream (skim the heavy stuff off the top of the can)
  • 3/4 cup of roasted and salted whole peanuts
  • 1/2 teaspoon of habanero powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 TB Earth Balance
  • 1/4 cup raw virgin coconut oil, melted
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate powder (I used Ghirardelli brand)
  • 2 TB raw agave
  • extra large-crystal salt

Instructions

  1. Line a baking sheet with a silpat. Set aside. Place the first five ingredients into small saucepan over medium heat. Clip a thermometer to the side of it and set it to 300 degrees. (I used this.) Constantly stir the mixture until well combined with a rubber spatula and it starts to slightly bubble. Add in the peanuts and stir to combine.
  2. Making sure the end of the thermometer is fully submerged but not touching the bottom of the saucepan, stir continuously until the temperature reaches 300 degrees. Remove the saucepan from the heat, then stir in the habanero powder until combined. Now, add in the baking soda and stir. It should be very bubbly and rise if you stop stirring it for a few seconds. Now add in the vegan butter and stir again. It should be very fluffy and almost marshmallow-like in texture.
  3. Pour the contents onto the silpat-lined baking sheet using the rubber spatula. Lift and tilt the baking sheet from side to side so the mixture sets evenly. Let it cool for about 30 minutes.
  4. Melt the coconut oil in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Whisk it together with the cocoa powder and raw agave in a medium-sized shallow square vessel.
  5. Break the brittle into pieces and dredge then in the chocolate, returning them to the silpat to slightly harden. Sprinkle immediately with a little large crystal salt. Place into the freezer for about 10 minutes to set, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This brittle tastes best after a few hours of chilling in the refrigerator.

Did You Make This Recipe?

Tag @olivesfordinner on Instagram ... we'd love to see it!

You may also like:

Mixed Berry Salad with Sweet Lime Dressing
Vegan Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
Vegan Doughnuts (Deep-Fried)
Vegan Mixed Berry Cobbler

Filed Under: Chocolate, Dessert Tagged With: coconut milk

We hope you enjoy this content!

We'd love for you to leave a comment below. For recipes, we would also love it if you gave it a rating. Thanks so much!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. LittleMonsterx14 says

    December 16, 2012 at 4:29 pm

    i have always wanted to try spicy chocolate!

    Reply
  2. Alice | Smokin Tofu says

    December 16, 2012 at 9:32 pm

    I love chilli and chocolate together, and this looks great.

    Reply
  3. Caitlin says

    December 17, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    i always love your sweet and spicy combos! brittle is on my list of things to make this week, and i'm definitely inspired by yours 😉

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      December 18, 2012 at 12:45 pm

      Thank you Caitlin! Making brittle is so much fun, one of my favorites to make around the holidays.

      Reply
  4. Rachel @ Bakerita says

    December 17, 2012 at 6:51 pm

    Sounds amazing – love the combo of deep chocolate with a little kick. This bark looks so good!

    Reply
  5. christine says

    December 18, 2012 at 12:13 pm

    chilli and chocolate go so well together, this looks like the ideal gift to make for those hard to please friends who have everything – great:)

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      December 18, 2012 at 12:46 pm

      Thanks Christine! I hope you have a fantastic holiday! : )

      Reply
  6. theroadtoserendipity says

    December 18, 2012 at 7:13 pm

    What a great way to use coconut cream (instead of butter)! I will be giving this wonderful looking treat a go this Christmas season and will use macadamia nuts rather than the peanuts to give it a seasonal touch 🙂

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      December 18, 2012 at 7:24 pm

      I hope you enjoy! It really does give a melty yet crunchy feel to it. I love your idea of using macadamias for this!

      Reply
  7. Babette says

    December 18, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    I'm bookmarking this. I rarely make my own chocolate fromt scratch, but why not!

    Two questions… as far as you know :

    * Can I use lecithin granules instead of the liquid form?
    * Can I use anything instead of corn syrup?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      December 18, 2012 at 10:23 pm

      Hi Babette! I've never used lecithin granules, so I am not sure. Unless they can melt down nicely into a liquid, I would just leave it out. I've also never tried making a corn syrup replacement, but there are tons of corn syrup-less brittle recipes online.

      Reply
  8. Mihl says

    December 19, 2012 at 3:16 pm

    I love this idea! Habaneros are my favourite chillies, I think they have such a great flavour.

    Reply
  9. Sofia - As We Travel says

    January 9, 2013 at 6:33 am

    A few ingredients I've never heard of before, what's earth balance? Looks nice though.

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      January 9, 2013 at 11:07 am

      Thanks Sofia — Earth Balance is vegan butter — I've linked to the product in the recipe list to be more clear.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

Primary Sidebar

Hi! I’m Erin Wysocarski. Glad you’re here.

I create vegan recipes for those who love to cook and eat. My husband Jeff photographs them. We live in Boston with our rescue dog, Harper. More about Erin →

Follow Me!

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

As Seen On

Popular Recipes

Pasta, artistically draped around a fork on a table.

Pasta with White Wine Sauce

Two hands holding a glass mason jar of coffee sugar scrub

Homemade Coffee Sugar Scrub

Two hands framing a plate of curry on a dark background.

Cauliflower and Mushroom Curry

A whole head of firecracker cauliflower, basted with sauce in a cast iron pan against a dark background.

Firecracker Cauliflower

A top-down shot of sweet potato tempura and avocado vegan sushi rolls with pickled ginger against a dark background.

Sweet Potato Tempura and Avocado Rolls

Vegan Shrimp

Vegan Shrimp

Two hands holding a bowl of bang bang cauliflow

Vegan Bang Bang Cauliflower

A bagel loaded with carrot lox, red onion, capers and vegan cream cheese on a wooden board.

Carrot Lox

Footer

About

Olives for Dinner is a vegan food blog for those who love to cook and eat. You'll find fresh, creative and delicious recipes here, all made with plants!

Search for recipes

VIEW ALL RECIPES

Interviews

Timothy Pakron of Mississippi Vegan
Amanda Logan of the My Goodness Kitchen blog.
Joni Marie Newman of Just the Food

Sign up to get new recipes via email.

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
HOME ∙ ABOUT ∙ CONTACT ∙ PRIVACY

Copyright© 2023 · Brunch Pro Theme by Shay Bocks