Red Peanut Patties

The last time I was in Texas I flew into Dallas to interview for a Plastic Surgery fellowship at UT-San Antonio. It was cheaper to fly to Dallas and Rent a car and plus it gave me a little opportunity to see some people and some of the state.

I stopped off in Salado to buy my wife a piece of pottery. I also had a little lunch at a Texas Pit style BBQ place. After dinner I stopped for gas and bought a red peanut patty. It was a super tasty end to an excellent dinner. I forgot about them until just recently. On the way back to Dallas from the interview I stopped in Temple at Clem Mikeska Bar-B-Que. That was some tasty BBQ!

The other week one of the residents came in with a red peanut patty! I asked him about it and he said he has them shipped in from Texas. They looked pretty simple to make so I did a little research, found a recipe and made some.

Red Peanut Patties

3 cups granulated sugar
3 cups raw peanuts
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Few drops red food coloring

Lay a large piece of wax paper on a dishtowel on a counter.
In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, peanuts, corn syrup and water. Cook the mixture to soft ball stage (240 degrees F), stirring constantly over medium heat.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the remaining ingredients, adding enough food coloring to get a very bright red shade. Stir the mixture frequently for approximately 20 minutes, or until it cools to about 125 degrees F. (I actually cooled it to about 145 and it worked fine). The mixture will become very thick and creamy opaque, and the peanuts will be suspended.
Immediately pour the mixture on the sheet of wax paper.

Let the peanuts sit for at least 1 hour before cutting them into circles using a biscuit cutter. I let mine sit about 2 1/2 hours and it worked very well.

Wrap them in plastic wrap for storage.

I had a little taste test this morning and got a big thumbs up from the Texas resident. I'm going to try the recipe with other nuts like macadamias and pistachios.