Grandma's Cinnamon Spiced Peanut Brittle- A must for this Christmas

Know What You Eat: Jaggery (Panela) not only tastes great, easy to make and very easy on your waist line.It is a "natural" sweetener made by the concentration of sugarcane juice WITHOUT the use of any chemicals / synthetic additives or preservatives. It contains an enormous wealth of minerals / protein / vitamins and iron. On the other hand there are lot of blogs bluff about the usage of Agave Nectar, but if you read a bit that its spiking the triglyceride levels...whats the use of such as a substitute in your daily preparations, instead stick to natural products like Jaggery than having experiments done on your family just because you are influenced with the good talks. Peanuts make a classic brittle, but you can substitute it with your favorite nut like cashew almond or even pistachios. Offer these treats at holiday time for guests to enjoy with coffee or tea. Or give them out as gifts, broken into uniform pieces or uneven shards, wrapped in cellophane bags. You might also give lucky recipients a small hammer and let them do the cracking. Its not only fun, its loaded with all the goodness and a bit of holiday flavor making it just perfect for this Christmas. Here's how I made.

Ingredients:

• 2 C Peanuts, chopped & toasted
• 1-1/2 C Indian Jaggery (Panela)
• 1 Tbsp Ghee/Butter
• 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp Ginger powder

Method:

• Butter a rimmed baking sheet; set aside. (Dont worry you dont have to bake anything here..its only to yield perfect pieces)
• In a toaster oven toast peanuts for 5-8 minutes stirring in between till they are crisp.
• Once peanut is cool enough to handle, chop them into small pieces and keep it aside.
• Now heat a pan, add jaggery to dissolve it, start stirring and heat it till it bubbles, becomes thick and almost double the volume.
• Remove pan from heat. Stir in butter/ghee,cinnamon & ginger powder along with toasted peanuts. Immediately transfer peanut mixture onto buttered baking sheet.
• With a rolling pin or greased spatula quickly spread mixture to 1/2 inch thick. Keep it aside for 2 mins, with a knife shape up the brittle in square pieces. Once it is slightly cool, about 10 minutes. Break brittle into shapped pieces and enjoy these cinnamon & ginger spiced guilt free snacks.

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