Homemade Salted Hazelnut and Pistachio Chocolate Brittle
The answer on how to make anyone smile is this easy homemade salted hazelnuts and pistachios chocolate brittle! The caramel layer is sweet and salty thanks to all the nuts. You can use just hazelnuts but you know I love pistachios so much and they add another layer of nuttiness to this recipe. Each bite is full of caramel notes and the chocolate makes everything smoother and of course, better! That’s what chocolate always does, right?!
Anyone is happier with candy, and if it’s homemade candy even better. That’s why I was very happy when I finished up this recipe and had a bunch of hazelnut caramel chocolate candy at my hands! I’ve been trying and testing this idea for a while now. After some fallouts, burnt fingers, crumbly caramel and too many sugar rushes I’m happy to report I made it. And just in time for Mother’s Day! I’m sure I would love some homemade chocolate candy made by the people I love. That would be the best gift ever!
I’m going straight to the details because, even if this is a pretty simple recipe, it requires a bit of preparation beforehand. It’s simple but kind of needy, so it requires your undivided attention for some parts, especially while cooking that caramel. So let me walk you through my process.
How to make homemade salted hazelnut and pistachio chocolate brittle
For making the caramel I serve all the ingredients and have them accesible before I start making the caramel. Cooking caramel is pretty precise, so this is not the time to do things while the sugar is cooking. You barely have three minutes to check Instagram, but that’s about it!
I mix the sugar, butter, water and corn syrup and heat in medium heat to melt the butter. As soon as the butter is melted I attach the thermometer to the pan and cook until the temperature reaches 300°. You don’t need to stir the mixture, just let it be. Before it starts bubbling heavily wipe down any undissolved sugar that’s on the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush.
This next step happens really fast. When the mixture is already at 300° I stir the baking soda and salt (put them together in the same bowl) and immediately stir in the skinned and toasted nuts (see below how I removed the hazelnut skins). By this point the mixture is becoming stickier and thicker so I dump everything on a baking sheet with a silicon mat (or parchment paper) and spread the caramel as thin as I possibly can. After it looses the strong heat, I use rubber cleaning gloves to spread it more. At this stage it is still malleable. I let this layer cool down completely before adding the chocolate, about 30 minutes.
Right before melting the chocolate, I turn the brittle upside down so the chocolate glides on a flat surface and the popped nuts are kept on display.
To melt the chocolate, I place the chocolate chips in a large glass bowl and insert it over a large saucepan filled with some water. The water should not touch the bowl, so fill about 1/4 of the saucepan. If you have a double boiler you can use it for this step.
To properly melt the chocolate, I set aside about ½ cup of the chocolate. Then I melt the remaining chocolate in the double boiler setting. I remove the bowl from the heat source, making sure no water enters the bowl. If any drop of water touches the chocolate, it will seize and there’s no way you can fix it. If needed, wipe with a dry kitchen towel the outside of the bowl. I then add the reserved chocolate and stir until melted, then return the bowl to the heat source and keep stirring for one minute, until every piece of chocolate has melted. Tempering the chocolate is important to get a soft and shiny texture when it cools down and hardens.
After that layer cools down, I melt a bit of extra chocolate to make some drizzles on top, then I sprinkle finely chopped pistachios and sea salt flakes while still wet for a crunchy texture and to add color!
To break the brittle, use a sharp large knife and use gentle strokes. Some areas will separate, it’s a brittle after all! But if you use a gentle motion most of the brittle will remain intact.
How to skin hazelnuts
Preheated your oven to 365°. In my experience 350° is not that hot but 375° is too aggressive for the delicate nuts. This temperature is just perfect.
Toast them for about 10 minutes. Transfer them to a dry kitchen towel and wrap them up tightly for about 3 minutes. The steam will help release the skin. Use one hand to secure the towel closure and with both hands rub the hazelnuts vigorously a few minutes, rubbing over the counter as well. You can rub the hazelnuts individually through the towel too.
For this recipe, return hazelnuts to baking sheet. Decrease oven temperature to 350°. Sprinkle some fine sea salt on top and roast for 8 to 10 minutes.
Transfer hazelnuts to a bowl and arrange pistachios in baking tray. Toast for 5 to 7 minutes, until they barely start to get fragrant.
So, I know I’m giving you a lot of details here, but I promise this is extremely easy to make, just pay attention to the details through the process. It will be so worth it!
Please share with me if you make this one! Hope you love it as much as I do!
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Salted Hazelnuts and Pistachios Chocolate Brittle
Ingredients
Toasted Hazelnuts and Pistachios
◯ Shelled hazelnuts - about 1 ½ cup
◯ Shelled pistachios, roughly chopped - ½ cup
◯ Fine sea salt
Salted hazelnuts and pistachio brittle
◯ Natural granulated sugar - 1 cup
◯ Water - ¼ cup
◯ Unsalted butter - ¼ cup (½ stick, 4 TBSP)
◯ Light corn syrup - 3 TBSP
◯ Fine sea salt - ⅛ Tsp
◯ Baking soda - ¼ Tsp
◯ Hazelnuts and pistachios, toasted, salted and skinned - 1 ½ to 2 cups
Chocolate layer
◯ Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 2 cups + ½ cup for drizzling if desired
◯ Sea salt flakes and finely crushed pistachios to sprinkle on top if desired
Details
Yield:
12 to 15 large candy pieces
Total time:
2 hours, including cooling times
Active time:
30 minutes in intervals
Equipment:
baking tray, silicon mat or parchment paper, medium or large heavy bottomed saucepan, candy thermometer, double boiler or a large glass or metal bowl to insert over a large saucepan
Steps
To prepare the nuts:
Preheat oven to 365°. Have a dry kitchen towel open at you counter.
Place hazelnuts in a baking sheet. Roast nuts for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately drop in the kitchen towel. Close towel tightly as much as you can and let the hazelnuts steam for 3 minutes.
In the meantime, decrease oven temperature to 350°.
Securing the towel closure with one hand, rub your hands with the hazelnuts in between for a few minutes, rubbing hazelnuts individually as much as you can feel through the towel. You can rub over the counter as well. Open the towel and keep rubbing and peeling any skin that hasn’t come off, returning peeled hazelnuts to the baking tray. Some skin in the hazelnuts is ok.
Sprinkle a dash of fine sea salt over hazelnuts and roast for 5 to 8 minutes, until they smell fragrant and are golden brown.
Remove hazelnuts from baking tray and place pistachios sprinkled with a dash of salt. Roast just for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and mix them with the hazelnuts so they are ready to add to the caramel layer.
To make the hazelnut and pistachio brittle:
Have a pastry brush in a small glass of water by your side and a baking sheet with a parchment paper or silicon mat in place.
In a large heavy bottomed sauce pan combine the cup of sugar, the ¼ cup of water, the 4 tablespoons of butter and the 3 tablespoons of the corn syrup. Heat over medium heat and using a silicon spatula stir until butter has melted. As soon as butter melts, put in place the thermometer. Shake excess of water from pastry brush and brush down any sugar granules on the sides of the pan, leaving the edge clean and dipping the brush in the water to clean it up in between if necessary. Cook until the thermometer reaches 300°.
As soon as the thermometer reaches the 300°, stir in the salt and the baking soda (the mixture will foam so you need to keep stirring). Immediately stir in the nuts and dump in the baking sheet. Spread with the back of your spatula as much as you can. You can wait a couple of minutes to let the mixture loose the heat and using rubber cleaning gloves stretch it more if necessary. Let the caramel cool down completely.
Before melting the chocolate, carefully turn whole brittle upside down in the baking sheet.
To make the chocolate layer:
(See how to’s above for how to melt chocolate)
Place about 1 ½ cup of the chocolate chips in a bowl or double boiler. Heat until almost all chips are melted. Carefully remove top bowl or pan, making sure no drops of water enter the chocolate. Stir the remaining ½ cup of the chocolate until melted. Return to heat source and stir for one minute. Pour and distribute over brittle. Let the chocolate cool down and harden completely. You can sprinkle some sea salt flakes and some finely chopped pistachios at this point if desired or do it in the next optional step.
If desired, melt the extra ½ cup of chocolate in the same way you did before and drizzle over chocolate. Sprinkle here the sea salt flakes and chopped pistachios.
Use a very sharp large knife to gently cut the bark. Using a gentle stroke when cutting is key for preventing chocolate getting separated from the caramel. A few spots will separate but that’s ok. Most of the bark should remain whole.
