Do you make peanut brittle during the Christmas holidays? It’s such a special treat, I wonder why people don’t make homemade peanut brittle more often. Well, there’s a reason why I’m sharing this Easy Microwave Brittle with Fruity Cheerios, Pistachios & Ginger recipe outside the holiday season. It’s a recipe I created when I was invited last month to General Mills to learn how they’re taking the artificial colors and flavors out of cereals like Fruity Cheerios. Instead, they’re using natural foods like beets and carrots and fruits to color and flavor their cereals.
In addition, Cheerios is going gluten free. Several of the flavors – including Original, Honey Nut, and Frosted – are currently gluten free – and the plan is to take make the whole line safe for anyone with a gluten sensitivity. Why are they doing this? Because their customers are asking them to!
Making brittle candy at Chef Justin’s Cereal Challenge
But back to my microwave brittle recipe! While I visiting along with a group of other food bloggers, I got to cook in the Betty Crocker Kitchens in Chef Justin Warner’s Cereal Challenge. You may know Justin Warner from Food Network. He gave us a demo of how he uses General Mills cereals like Trix, which now has no artificial flavors or colors, in everything from freezer pie desserts to cocktails.
Then we given free reign to come up with our own recipes using one General Mills cereal and a natural flavoring from a spice kit we were given.
The inspiration for my Easy Microwave Brittle with Fruity Cheerios, Pistachios & Ginger recipe were some Indian chikki candies that my husband brought home. Chikki are similar to peanut brittle in texture and color, but contain a mix of almonds, cashews, and pistachios. The chikki were flavored with ginger and cardamom and contained bits of purple, orange, and yellow dried edible flowers. 
For my Easy Microwave Brittle with Fruity Cheerios, Pistachios & Ginger, I choose Fruity Cheerios to mimic the color of the chikki and cinnamon for the taste. I also picked pistachios, candied ginger, and some grated some orange peel – again, all to echo the flavors and colors of the chikki brittle candy.
Why I chose to make brittle candy in the microwave
I knew my time was limited in the Cereal Challenge, so I planned to hurry up the cooking process making the brittle in the microwave. In the short time I had to develop my recipe, I came across several online recipes for microwave peanut brittle like this one from Mom Advice and another from Julie’s Eats & Treats. The staff at the Betty Crocker Kitchens also helped me figure out microwave brittle cooking times by consulting the current copy of the Betty Crocker Cookbook, which has recipes for both stovetop and microwave peanut brittle.
On my first try making microwave brittle, I wasn’t completely happy on how dark the brittle was and how you couldn’t see the pretty colors of the Fruity Cheerios! Luckily, the staff was going to redo all our recipes the next day for a photo shoot in the General Mills studio (pictures above).
So I worked with one of the kitchen professionals. We felt that shortening up some cooking times, going with a white sugar (I’d originally chosen turbinado sugar) and adding the ginger and cinnamon later would work better. The results you see are in these pictures.
Tips for making homemade microwave brittle
Remember time is of the essence, so:
- Read the recipe carefully. You may even want to practice “first I do this, then I do that.” You can’t go back if you skip a step or leave out an ingredient.
- Be prepared. Butter your baking pan before starting to cook. Have all your ingredients measured ahead of time. Set out your silicon spatulas so they’re within reach, too.
- Safety first! The brittle ingredients coming out of the microwave will be HOT! Have your oven mitts ready and keep the kids away. This is not the time to be tripping over pets either.
- Keep an eye out. Microwaves are all different so don’t walk away during the cooking process. Keep an eye on what’s cooking and don’t overcook the sugar and corn syrup. You want it to be golden brown, not dark brown!
- One batch at a time. Don’t double the batch as it’s too hard to work with more. Plus, doubling the cooking time wont’ be accurate. This brittle recipe takes no time at all. So once you have one batch cooling, start another!
- Humidity makes sticky candy. Try making Easy Microwave Brittle with Fruity Cheerios, Pistachios & Ginger on a less humid day.
- Gluten Free? Use Frosted Cheerios instead, which are certified as gluten free. (Fruity Cheerios aren’t at this time.) Learn more about how they make sure Cheerios are gluten free.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 cup Fruity Cheerios (can substitute gluten free Frosted Cheerios)
- 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
- 1 tablespoon butter (plus extra for greasing baking pan)
- 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Directions
- Generously butter baking sheet and set aside.
- In a 2-1/2 quart glass microwave safe mixing bowl, stir together sugar and light corn syrup. Microwave on high for 5 minutes.
- Stir in Cheerios, chopped ginger, pistachios, butter, orange zest, cinnamon, and sea salt. Stir until butter is melted.
- Place bowl in microwave and cook on high for 2 minutes until the brittle is a golden brown.
- Stir in baking soda. Mixture will be foamy. Pour on to the prepared baking sheet. Quickly and lightly spread the brittle mixture with your spatula. (The more you spread it, the thinner it will be. Patting it down will remove the bubbles the baking soda reaction makes, so don’t handle it too much.)
- Allow the brittle to cool at room temperature. (You can also place it in the refrigerator to speed this up.) Then break into pieces.
- Serving size: varies
General Mills sponsored the blogger trip to their headquarters. All opinions are my own.
Event photos courtesy of General Mills. To learn more about General Mills, go to generalmills.com.
Farberware Nonstick Bakeware 3-Piece Cookie Pan Set, Gray
OXO Good Grips 3-Piece Silicone Spatula SetCrystallized Candied Ginger Chunks-Unsulfured, 1 poundPyrex Prepware 2-1/2-Quart Glass Mixing Bowl
