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My mother and I share a secret (well maybe not so secret) indulgence. Sesame brittle. Our local health food store almost always has it available, and sometimes we’ll make a trip to that store to buy whatever, it doesn’t matter, the real reason is to satisfy a hankering for sesame brittle.
Now that I’ve discovered how easy it is to make, I think mom and I are doomed.
Before, we at least had to make the effort to drive a few miles to get our fix. Sigh. Well at least I’ll have someone to share it with when I make a batch!
Speaking of which, this must be one of the easiest things in the world to make. All you really need is raw sesame seeds, sugar, and honey.
A pinch of salt will add a little sparkle, as will a little nutmeg, butter and vanilla. A little baking soda will help create tiny pockets of air, making the brittle a little lighter.
You can easily make a batch in less than 15 minutes, with maybe another 15 or 20 to cool. You don’t even have to toast the sesame seeds first. Cooking them in the honey and sugar will brown them sufficiently.
Sesame Brittle Recipe
Adding a small amount of baking soda to the hot mixture right before pouring it out will cause the mixture to foam up a bit, as the baking soda reacts with the acid from the caramelization of the sugar. This creates bubbles of carbon dioxide which helps produce a slightly lighter, more porous texture for the brittle, making it easier to eat.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1 Tbsp water
- 1 cup raw sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
Method
1 Heat sugar, honey, water, salt, nutmeg: Put the sugar, honey, salt, nutmeg, and water into a small (1 1/2 quart), thick-bottomed saucepan. Heat on medium heat and stir until a smooth slurry is formed.
2 Stir in the raw sesame seeds.
3 Cook the sesame seed mixture, stirring often, until the mixture turns an amber caramel color, about 5 to 10 minutes.
If you have a candy thermometer, the temp should be 300°F. At this point, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the vanilla extract and the butter.
Once the butter has completely melted into the mixture, stir in the baking soda. The mixture will foam up a bit after you stir in the baking soda, as the baking soda reacts with the acid from the caramelization of the sugar.
4 Pour the mixture out onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet. (If you don't have Silpat, no worries, pour directly onto a buttered metal baking sheet and use a metal spatula to separate brittle from the pan once cooled.)
5 Once completely cooled and hardened (about 15-20 minutes), break into pieces.
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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Sesame Brittle
Question – want to make this for my vegan son. Do you think the butter is essential? If so, can I use coconut oil instead? How about vegan butter substitute? I’d rather skip the oil/butter substitute if the recipe will still work.
Hi Laura, Elise says you can leave out the butter entirely if you want. Happy cooking!
Can I put these in the freezer? Or…how long will they last in an air proof container?Thanks!
Hi Laurie, here’s a comment Renee left about freezing this recipe: “I store mine in the freezer in a freezer safe container. That keeps it from turning chewy/rubbery. For how long, I’m not sure. It’s the freezer, so probably as long as you would be able to store any sugar-based candy. No worries about it fusing together. And it comes to room temperature fairly quickly, though I like to eat mine cold. More snap.” If at room temperature, the brittle’s shelf life has a lot to do with how humid it is. The honey makes this more susceptible to getting tacky than other brittles. Hope that helps!
Thanks for your advice!
Gorgeous recipe. Great for lunch box snacks. I mixed in pumpkin and sunflower seeds with toast cashew nuts
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Sounds like a really tasty variation, V!
Tastes nice but it didn’t go brittle it’s very chewy
What did I do wrong?
Hi Tricia, good question! It could be that you made your brittle on a humid day. That’s happened to me before. Also, the honey in this recipe makes it a little more susceptible to getting sticky/tacky/chewy. I see in an older comment one reader likes to keep this in the freezer to prevent that from happening.
The other possibility is that your cooking brittle did not quite hit 300 degrees. Did you use a candy thermometer? And lastly, are you able to enjoy the brittle at all in its chewy state?
So quick and easy – I threw semi-sweet chocolate chips over the top of half of it while hot and spread them when they melted so I could have a chocolate covered version and regular
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Great idea, Lisa, thanks for sharing!