Ballgame Peanuts

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Once upon a very long time ago, when I was but a wee bit of a girl, my parents took me and my little brother to semi-professional ball games at a local park. It was a way to cool off in the evenings since we lived in Florida and had no air-conditioning in those good old days.

To us kids, those parktime excursions were wondrous, not only for the star quality of the young athletes in their dashing uniforms, but for the air of excitement and the vendors who went up and down the stands hawking, “Get your hot dogs here! Get your peanuts here!”

And Dad would buy us each a bag of warm wonderful peanuts. I think they were maybe 10 cents a bag. But what I recall is the delightful aroma.

The memory of those rich fragrant little bags of nuts stayed with me for years until I found out how to make my own replica in my own kitchen. Since then I have been giving tins of them for gifts, offering them up when company comes (before and hopefully after Covid), and keeping batches of them in my freezer.

Now, if you are allergic to peanuts, feel free to burn this page. But if you are not, just follow the recipe for Dor’s Home Roasted Peanuts.

DOR’S HOME ROASTED PEANUTS

INGREDIENTS:

One pound of Raw Blanched Peanuts (I get mine at a local Farm store, but I am sure you can order them online too).

Regular salt and if you have it,

Seasoned salt (usually more powdery than regular salt so it sticks better to the peanuts)

1 1/2 teaspoons butter (I use coconut oil but butter is fine too – it’s just to give the salt something to stick to).

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Pour all the raw peanuts into a rimmed pan. I use the bottom of my broiler pan.

Put the pan full of nuts into the oven and the timer on for 6 minutes.

After 6 minutes, stir them up and move them around for more even baking.

Time them again for 6 minutes. Repeat.

Repeat the 6 minute timing and shuffling for a total of 3 or 4 times.

When the peanuts look golden and brown enough, immediately remove from oven and stir in the butter all around to give the peanuts a light coating (just enough for the salt to stick to). If you use 2 teaspoons of butter it will probably be too much.

Now simply start salting to taste. I start with the stickier Seasoned Salt, generously apply and stir around. Then the regular or sea salt – apply and stir.

Serve warm or serve right out of the freezer. Mostly, ENJOY!

The taste of these peanuts is totally different than anything store bought. They are as close to the Ballgame Peanuts of my childhood as I have ever found.

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Peanuts! Get Your Roasted Peanuts Here!

“The relationship between peanuts and baseball goes all the way back to when a peanut company bought ad space on the back of scorecards in 1898.  The snack was a big hit in stadiums, and only a few years later, in 1908, the song, “Take Me Out to the Ball game” featured the line, “buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks”, which has forever united the two American traditions in the public mind.”   From WRAL.com

I can still hear the peanut man calling!

When I was a young girl my family went to evening baseball games at a local park.  There was always a man climbing the bleachers and calling out in a singsong voice.  He had a carrier full of warm delicious peanuts. The aroma alone was to swoon for.  And twenty-five cents would buy a little brown bag.

Years later I discovered I could roast my own peanuts and duplicate the flavor.

If you are a new guest at our house, you might mistake the peanuts for garden variety supermarket Ho- Hums, but if you politely taste one, guaranteed you will be asking questions.

Apologies if you are allergic though!

The recipe is simple but start with shelled, blanched, raw peanuts.  I get mine at a place called “The Cheese Shop” in Stuarts Draft, Virginia.  You have probably guessed they carry a lot more than cheese.   

And Bill and I are going there tomorrow to stock up!

Recipe for Dor’s Home Roasted Peanuts  Ingredients:  1-2 lbs shelled, raw, blanched peanuts; 1 tsp butter (or I use coconut oil); Salt to taste.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Spread all the peanuts in a rimmed pan (I use the bottom of my oven broiler pan).
3. Bake on middle rack for about 6 minutes and then stir everything around. 
4. Bake 6 minutes more and stir again. 
5. Repeat #4 two more times. 
6. Peanuts are done when they are a deep golden brown color. 
7. While still hot add the butter (don’t be tempted to add more than a teaspoon or they will be too greasy).  The purpose of the butter is to provide a coating the salt can stick to. 
8. Salt to taste. 
9. I freeze mine and bring them out in small quantities as needed. 

 

 

 

 

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Peanut Brittle the Old Fashioned Way

There is nothing like homemade peanut brittle, if you are not allergic to peanuts that is!  My neighbor gave me a box many years ago and I was immediately addicted.  The problem was that everybody in my family was addicted too!  So, that luscious stuff was gone in a matter of minutes.

I begged  my friend to give me the recipe.  “There is no recipe,” she said – an obvious fib, so I kept up the campaign.  I suppose she tired of the nagging because, she finally said, “O.K., you can come to my house and watch.”

Did I mention that I now make ten pounds of that peanut brittle every Christmas?   Here’s how I learned to do it in my friend’s kitchen:

DOR’S HOMEMADE PEANUT BRITTLE 

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup Corn Syrup (Light)

1 Pound Raw Blanched Peanuts Note: These are sometimes difficult to find.  I get mine at an Amish country store.

1 Tbs. Butter

1 tsp Vanilla

¼ tsp Salt

1 generous tsp Baking Soda (have it measured out, in the spoon, and waiting to be added at the last minute).

Grease a cookie sheet.

Put the sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt in a big saucepan and bring just to the bubbling point.

Add the peanuts and Stir.

Bring the mixture back to bubbling and  reduce the heat to a slow simmer.

This is the Easy Part:

Set your timer for 20 minutes.

Stir every couple of minutes.

Plan on stirring frequently, but you can leave for a minute or so at a time. I do little things to keep me busy so I don’t get bored – like putting things away or tidying up the counter, or filling the dog’s water dish.  Between each little chore, I STOP AND STIR.  That’s the key to “pretty peanut brittle.”   

O.K. – 20 Minutes have gone by and you have done your job stirring.

Now comes the hard part.

Look at your mixture and assess its readiness.  Is it a beautiful golden brown color?  Or does it look too light?  If it’s too light, keep simmering and stirring a bit more.  Now, does it look just right?   YES?  Then it’s time to work – and you must work FAST!

1)       Turn the heat off!

2)      QUICKLY dump in the teaspoon of baking soda and stir it in as fast as you can!

Spread it Thin and
Aim for the Edges

3)      QUICKLY spoon the mixture onto the pan as evenly as possible.

4)      Use your spoon to spread the mixture around,  trying to reach the outer edges of the cookie sheet.  You are aiming to thin and flatten so you don’t wind up with great big thick chunks.

Breaking It All Up

Whole Slab of Peanut Brittle
Came Out of the Tin

Allow the peanut brittle to thoroughly cool.  You can probably pick up the whole sheet  at once.  Swipe the bottom with a paper towel to remove any excess butter.  Now just begin to break up the slab into bite sized pieces and store them in a beautiful holiday tin.

Best wishes to you and yours for  a HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!   I hope  your brittle will be brittle and a lovely honey colored brown.

 

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