Cashew Brittle that'll shatter your diet

 

Gesundheit!

With the holiday season upon me, I'm back in the kitchen with the traditional recipes. Not surprisingly, I've already made my first batch of English Toffee, and a heap of cookies from the family files. Today, though, I had to go online for a lab-tested recipe to deal with my temporary surplus of cashews... and there it was, from Betty Crocker: the baseline brittle candy, designed just for my needs.  I gave it a stab, and it's a keeper. Not only is this cashew brittle tasty, the instructions are straightforward, sufficiently detailed, and clear. 

The process, as I followed it, yielded – as promised – two large cookie sheets' worth of candy. 

Due to my own kitchen idiosyncrasies and my having forgotten that the glass cooktop is ornery, I ended up with one half of the batch slightly darker brown than the other, but managed to move quickly enough to avoid burning the bottom of that half. And now I'm not sure which I like better, for flavor or texture. 

Whichever way, there is one true thing in all of it: at the end of a day making this stuff, you'll walk away coated with the most delightful perfume.