A Wickedly Delicious Brittle Packed With Pepitas

Every so often, we scour the site for cool recipes from our community that we then test, photograph, and feature. This wickedly delicious brittle comes from long-time Food52 member Jennifer Engle (AKA gingerroot), just in time for your Halloween parties.

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Eating candy is easy. Making it? Now that might scare some people. Not Engle, though, who couldn’t resist trying her hand at candy-making after discovering Fany Gerson’s My Sweet Mexico in 2011’s Piglet.

“I love Halloween but I am not a big candy eater,” she shared. Inspired by a lonely bag of pepitas in her freezer, as well as a quick internet search, Engle decided to make a nutty, honey-butter brittle for her first foray into confection-making.

“While orange and black may conjure up Halloween jack-o-lanterns, green pepitas and black sesame makes me think of wicked witches,” she said.

The brittle has a honey-butter caramel base, with crunches of creamy macadamia and nutty pepita and black sesame throughout. The seed combination tastes delicious, plus the black sesame seeds provide a nice visual punch. For additional warmth, Engle added Ras el Hanout, which imparts a subtle, but haunting, flavor.

Like all candy-making, you'll need to pay attention to your kitchen's humidity and coat everything (even the spatula!) with non-stick spray. Otherwise, you'll be plagued by a sticky mess.

Are you making candy for Halloween? What your favorite treat (or trick!)?