Candied peanuts are my husband's favorite snack.
When I first start stirring the sugar and nuts, I use medium-high heat; (I have a gas stove that gets hotter than an electric stove) to begin the caramelization process. Pour your sugar, vanilla, water into a big pan; you can add all sorts of spices too. I haven't figured out how much chilly powder and hot spices yet. But I want to try some sweet, spicy chili powder nuts. Stir constantly until the water begins evaporating and turn the heat to medium. Keep on stirring until the liquid sugar starts getting powdery looking.
Turn your heat to low and stir until the sugar turns into a sticky brown liquid. If the sugar starts smoking, remove from the heat, keep stirring, and return to heat until the sugar melts into a brown liquid and coats the peanuts. Remove from heat.
Spread out the peanuts on a cookie sheet and break up the clumps of peanuts. Add your salt during this time. Let the nuts cool, and be careful candy peanuts are addictive. I think this process takes around 20 minutes. I keep forgetting to track the time.
I changed the recipe; you can find the original here.
