Homemade Peanut Brittle

This recipe caused quite a conversation on a Facebook thread when posted by Aaron Sher in response to my request for someplace to buy quality peanut brittle, a favorite snack in my family during the Christmas and New Years holiday. The recipe was obtained by Aaron from a friend, who got it out of an old copy of "Mrs. Field's Cookbook".


Ingredients
1 1/2 C Peanuts
6 tbsp butter
1 C white sugar
1/4 C water
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Spread nuts in one layer in a well greased 9x13 glass dish

1. In a 2 qt. saucepan combine butter, sugar, water.
2. Over med. heat, stir until sugar dissolves.
3. Let stand covered for 2 minutes
4. Uncover and increase heat to high
5. Cook without stirring until turns golden brown.
6. Quickly remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla
7. Pour immediately over nuts in glass dish
8. Spread to a thin layer if necessary
9. Cool to room temp.
10. Break and store in airtight container

Comment from Aaron: "It does this cool thing when you add the baking soda - it's a clear-ish syrup, and then suddenly it turns into marshmallow. They say "pour immediately" because it gets fairly sticky and if you let it cool down at all it's a pain to get out of the pan. I'd suggest washing the pan right away unless you have chisels in your kitchen. :-)"

Notes from the conversation condensed:
1) You can soak the baking dish in hot water to clean it.
2) You can line the baking dish with foil or parchment paper and grease that, it makes for easier clean up.