Pumpkin Seed Brittle

There are a lot of things I've never had before because of my peanut/tree nut allergy. Peanut brittle is one of them. Luckily, these days it seems like people are coming up with alternative ideas to traditional recipes, many of which use sunflower or pumpkin seeds instead of nuts. When I saw Martha Stewart on the Today show a while back, she featured Pumpkin Seed Brittle, which I found very exciting. I've since seen in around a lot - even at Williams-Sonoma! I thought this recipe was really good, although I can't compare/contrast it to peanut brittle obviously. I took this to a party and people seemed to like it. The one comparison I heard was that it's not quite as hard as traditional peanut brittle (maybe because of the honey). This recipe was so simple to prepare, especially since I had already roasted pumpkin seeds the week before (using THIS method).

Pumpkin Seed Brittle

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for baking sheet or dish

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds, toasted as desired

Directions:

1. Butter an 11 x 17-inch rimmed baking sheet or Pyrex dish. Set aside.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar and honey. Bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until mixture is medium amber and a candy thermometer registers 280F, about 6 minutes.

3. Stir in the pumpkin seeds. Cook until mixture reaches 300F, about 2 minutes.

4. Pour into prepared pan. Let cool completely. Break into pieces.

Source: Adapted from Martha Stewart