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Harriet Beecher Stowe: Maple Popcorn Peanut Brittle







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Maple popcorn peanut brittle recipe

In early recipes for brittle, peanuts and popcorn were used interchangeably to give candy texture and crunch. Fifty years later, Cracker Jack would blow minds (and fill stomachs) at the Chicago World’s Fair by using both—a strategy that Catharine endorsed early on. “Whole popped corn made into cakes with candy is excellent,” she writes in her cookbook. She also suggests adding saleratus (an early version of baking soda), which “makes it tender and crisp.”

This follows Catharine’s original recipe closely, and would have been similar to what Harriet would have sampled as a girl in her sister’s kitchen. It’s a perfect Halloween treat—after all, as Catharine writes, “all children are fond of this.” Adults too, in my experience.

(Loosely adapted from Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt-Book)

1/2 cup maple syrup (grade B preferred)
1/4 cup lightly salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1/8 cup kettle corn (popped), coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of sea salt


2. In a small saucepan, heat maple syrup over medium heat. Simmer, stirring constantly, until it reaches 300 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

3. Stir in peanuts, kettle corn, baking soda and salt, then immediately pour onto the prepared baking sheet. Use a spatula to spread into a thin layer

4. Let cool 30 minutes, then break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.