The internet is full of fabulous facts about everything from current events to the history basket weaving. As we research for our daily content on food trucks, food carts and street food, we stumble upon some items of knowledge that we just did not know.

We have decided when these fun facts pop up, that we would share them with our readers in our section titled “Did You Know?”

For today’s Did You Know we will look at Peanut Brittle fun facts.

Peanut Brittle Fun Facts: Brittle, is a type of confection, consisting of flat broken pieces of hard sugar candy embedded with peanuts.

• Some believe that peanut brittle originated in the American South. The fact that Civil War soldiers survived on peanuts because of its protein content, coupled with the Southern peanut farming boom in the 1900’s.
• Another version credits a Southern woman for inventing the candy purely by accident in 1890. While attempting to make taffy, she inadvertently added baking soda to the recipe instead of cream of tartar.
• The term brittle first appears in print in 1892.
• Traditionally, brittle is a mixture of sugar and water is heated to the hard crack stage corresponding to a temperature of approximately 300 °F.
• In parts of the Middle East, brittle is made with pistachios, while many Asian countries use sesame seeds and peanuts.
• January 26th is National Peanut Brittle Day.
• A snake nut can or snake peanut brittle can is a practical joke device that closely resembles a can of nuts, but contains a long wire spring covered by a cloth or vinyl sheath, printed like snake skin, which leaps out of the can and startles the unsuspecting victim. The item was invented by Samuel Sorenson Adams of the S.S. Adams Co. circa 1915.

Peaut Brittle Fun Facts We Missed

Let us know if we missed any peanut brittle fun facts in the comment section below. We always love to add to these lists. If we can verify that the facts is just that, a fact, we will give the reader credit in the article.

Reference: Wikipedia: Fun Facts about Brittle.

Find all of the National Food Holidays to spice up your food truck menu specials throughout the year.