FOOD - MACADAMIA NUT BRITTLE

When I was growing up in Hawaii, I didn't appreciate a lot of the local foods until I moved away and realized I couldn't get them anytime I wanted.  One of these things is macadamia nuts.  They are just so delicious (but really fatty)!  My wonderful mother recently sent me a care package filled with Hawaiian and Asian goodies I can't get in NY and a lot of macadamia nuts were apart of that.  I have never had macadamia nut brittle before making it, but I assumed it would be delicious and I was right!

What you will need:

- 1 can of Mauna Loa dry roasted macadamia nuts (4.5 oz)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light corm syrup
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp softened butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1baking soda
- candy thermometer

How to make macadamia nut brittle:

Measure out the butter, vanilla, and baking soda.  Set aside.

Chop macadamia nuts in half or quarters if they are really big.

In a 2 quart saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup, water and salt.  Stir till the sugar is evenly distributed, then do not stir while the sugar combination is cooking.  Insert candy thermometer.  Cook the sugar combination till it reaches 275 degrees then add the macadamia nuts.  Keep cooking the sugar combination till 300 degrees.  Take off the heat and very quickly mix in the butter, vanilla, and baking soda.  Be careful, it will foam up a bit.

Pour mixture onto a a cookie sheet with a silpat mat or greased parchment paper.  (A silpat mat will make it a lot easier to break apart later.)

Let cool then break up brittle into desired sized pieces.

Enjoy!