Keto Salted Caramel Almond Brittle
Making keto Salted Caramel Almond Brittle came about about because of a date night at the movies.
Many years ago my husband was a theater manager and one of the perks was as much popcorn and soda as you wanted. As you can imagine it was part of the theater experience to have treats long after he’d given up his theater job and was employed writing full time.
On this low carb WOE I found myself stepping quickly past the candy counter at the theater. This saved us money but we both missed our treat.
Wandering around Pinterest I hit upon the idea of making brittle. I found quite a number of recipes and suggestions online.
My first attempt was a disaster. The recipe I tried to follow wasn’t, well…shall we say, precise. I ended up with a hot mess. A burned hot mess. 🙁
The second time I allowed the mixture to boil for just 2-3 minutes and then poured it into the prepared pan. I also added a lot more vanilla and a couple of sprinkles of coarse sea salt.
The picture above is how it should look while it cools. When cool it won’t be as hard as it’s carby cousin. But it won’t be soft either.
While it was setting up, I was so impatient to taste it that I burnt my tongue on the wooden spoon. (Don’t you do that!)
The whole house smelled like caramel. It made me think of Christmas.
As the candy cooled and set up, it lightened up in color and it looked perfect to me. I broke it up and divided up into 8 generous servings as evenly as possible.
(Next time I will pour the mixture into a parchment-lined pie pan to help with dividing up the candy.)
Hmmm… maybe in the future I will try this with cashews or the more traditional peanuts too.
The crunch factor of this candy is fantastic. And yes if you are wondering…I took a small bag with us to the movies and my husband was delighted. 🙂 Enjoy! — Laura
Get it here | Make it at home
Swerve Sweetener
Coarse Sea Salt
Raw Almonds
Keto Salted Caramel Almond Brittle
Ingredients
- 1 cup almonds
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup Swerve sweetener
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛-1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt optional
Instructions
- Line a 9″ x 9″ cake pan or 9″ pie pan with baking parchment.
- Pour swerve, butter, vanilla and ¼ tsp. salt into a small 8″ non-stick skillet.
- Heat over medium heat till all ingredients are dissolved.
- Add the almonds to the candy mixture.
- Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a boil.
- Allow to boil 2-3 minutes till it becomes a light golden brown. Remove from heat.
- Carefully pour it into prepared pan. (It is very hot!)
- With back of spoon, spread almonds evenly through hot candy.
- Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, if using.
- Allow to set 1 hour or until completely cooled. ( you can finish cooling it in the refrigerator, if you wish.)
- Break into pieces and divide into a 8 servings.
- Will stay crisp and keep well in a tightly sealed container for 2 weeks.
Notes
Thank you to these inspirations:
Yum!!! I’m very big on low carb lately, I’ll have to make this!
Thanks! I hope you really enjoy it as we have.
1/2 butter – is that cup or tbsp?
Thanks for letting me know about my mistake. It should be 1/4 cup.
you said it should be 1/4 cup butter , but the recipe says 1/2 cup.
Could you tell me which it is?
I just found your site and can’t wait to try this.
Sorry about the confusion. The correct amount is 1/4 cup butter. I think i started to write 1/2 stick of butter in the recipe and then said cup. My fault entirely. I’ve corrected the recipe. Thanks for letting me know.
I think I over cooked it. It was a darker brown and tasted grainy. It also left a odd cooling effect to the taste. Is that the swerve?
The cooling effect is the swerve. I believe it’s the Erythritol in it. So sorry about the overcooking. It doesn’t take very long at all to cook up. As you know, I burnt my first batch. 🙁
As one who loves brittles, this sounds fabulous, and I’ll have to try it. But there is one statement that made me laugh–there is no way this will last two weeks, because I’d be apt to eat it all in one or two days of playing online games :-). Since there is only me to eat it, I’m going to savor it and enjoy it for as long as it doesn’t last!
Lol! No doubt you are right. Enjoy!
Oh some sweet treats! And the brittle looks really great! And thanks for the advice about the “burnt my tongue on the wooden spoon”. I’m assuring you I will not do it. I just hope mine will turn out great too. Wish me luck! And thanks for sharing this! 🙂
You are so welcome. I hope your first batch turns out beautifully!
Wow is all I can say about this recipe- knocked my socks off! I used cashews instead of almonds and then I ground Himalayan pink salt coarsely over the top. Salty and sweet is my favorite flavor combination and this brittle is so intensely sweet and so intensely salty that I died and went to heaven right there in my kitchen…..burnt tongue and all! Thank you so very much for posting this lovely treat! I have a feeling I know what just made my Christmas baking list 🙂
Thank you Angie! So glad you like it! I adore cashews and will be trying out your variation soon.
Isn’t there an ingredient you can add to keep it translucent? Cream of tarter?
It is something I have to add to popcorn balls to keep the syrup clear.
Thank you for the tip about popcorn ball syrup. This mixture calls for butter which is why it carmelizes. Also, I don’t know if Swerve will stay clear when cooked.
Mine did not harden up. Any idea what I did wrong? Thanks!
It is difficult sometimes to know why candy doesn’t turn out as it should. It sounds like it may have needed to cook a bit longer. The weather, elevation and temperature can all make a small difference as well as the moisture in the room. I would try experimenting again and allow it to cook a bit longer –30-60 seconds. As for the pictured batch, I made it on a dry, sunny day. I’m at around 4500 feet elevation. Hope that helps!
What can I use in place of the fake sugar? Brown sugar,white sugar, honey???
I apologize, but to change the sweetner would change cooking length and temperature etc. you will need a different recipe, sorry!
Can I use granulated Splenda? It’s all I have today and MUST make it now! Sounds fantastic.
I do ‘t think splenda will work. ?
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Could you substitute coconut oil for the butter? Do you use raw or roasted almonds?
I haven’t tried the coconut oil. It should work but will change the flavor. I used raw almonds, but roasted would be good also.
Thank You for a real treet. It turned out great. I used walnuts but will do again when I get almonds. I did have to guess when it was golden because when I put the 2 tsp van. in it was dark in color.
Did you use white van. or how did you get that golden color?
Thanks
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. I add the vanila after I turn off the heat, which may account for the difference in color.
I never heard of swerve. Where would I find it?
Swerve can be found at Organic/Health food stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts. It can also be ordered from Amazon.
Will this recipe work with truvia baking sweetener ?
It is dependent on on the erythritol (swerve) to make it work.
Hi Laura, Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Hi Dorene,
I use salted butter. It’s just my preference, though. You should use the one you prefer.
If I use xylitol or coconut sugar, will it set up like this (crunchy)?
I havent tried it with other sweeteners and so i truly don’t know.