How to Make Fantatic Old Fashioned Coconut Brittle From Scratch

I love brittle, and this take on peanut brittle really does a nice job - super easy and quick. Looks gorgeous if you dip pieces in melted chocolate on one side and allow to cool. Perfect for a quick gift too. Add some nuts and you got a new naughty you need to avoid! hehe Enjoy!


Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cookie sheet with sides
One pot with high sides to cook brittle in
candy thermometer (or wide glass of iced water to check for candy stages)

Directions:

Combine corn syrup, water and sugar in pot on top of stove on low heat.
Stir till sugar has completely dissolved.
Once sugar has dissolved, cook without stirring to hard ball stage - 265 degrees.
Add salt and butter and continue to brittle stage - 300 degrees (if you are using the iced water method to check for candy stage, brittle stage is when you pour a little of the mixture into the water, it creates threads that easily break when you pull it out of the water)
While this mixture is cooking on stove, toast up shredded coconut in oven on cookie sheet. Take out and let cool.
Remove brittle mixture from heat, carefully add coconut and vanilla extract and stir till combined.
Next, grease up cookie sheet with butter, an pour brittle mixture into cookie sheet.
When cool enough to handle brittle, take by the edges and stretch into a thin sheet.
When brittle is completely cooled, break it up into irregular pieces.
You can also add toasted or even roasted chopped mixed nuts or just one type of nut like cashews for an amazing extra flavor!
Makes 1 pound.

Leahs Coconut Jerked Shrimp

Now if you haven’t yet made your own coconut shrimp, this recipe couldn’t be easier. I adore coconut shrimp, and since it is so easy to make at home, I can save my money on something else with the way prices are soring these days from everything like eggs to gas. This is great to make as a party appetizer as well!

Ingredients:

4-6 shrimp per person- deveined, cleaned, shells removed, tails intact
2 large eggs
1/8 cup corn starch
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 good shakes of red chili peppers
2-3 tablespoons jerk seasonings
1 teaspoon freshly cracked tri-colored pepper
1/4 to1/2 cup water
1-2 cups of shredded coconut, spread out in shallow pan
Vegetable oil to fry shrimp in
wax paper and plate or plater that can go into freezer
paper towels for draining shrimp after cooking
Fresh lemon wedges to serve with shrimp
Dipping sauce of your choosing – I used my ‘Best Homemade Tartar Sauce’ (already posted)

Directions:

After cleaning shrimp, drain and place on paper towels to pat shrimp dry.
In Bowl, put all other ingredients except coconut to make batter, With whisk, stir till all well combined. Let sit for five minutes so ingredients can ‘get to know’ one another. If batter is too thick, you may add more water to thin it out, it should be less thick than pancake batter, yet not thin like crepe batter.
Line your plate or platter that will go into freezer with wax paper and place next to bowl with coconut.
Dip shrimp holding to tail into batter, let excess drip off, then place battered shrimp into coconut. Flip over once, so that coconut has coated shrimp. Use fingers to gently throw coconut onto batter on shrimp to coat.
Next place shrimp onto waxed paper. Continue with all other shrimp.
Once compete, place coated shrimp that is sitting on platter with wax paper into freezer to ‘set up’ for one hour or more.
I used my wok to fry the shrimp since it would allow me to fry six at a time – have at least 1/2 inch of oil.
Heat up oil to 350 degrees – or to test if oil is hot enough, place a small cube of bread in, and see that it browns quickly.
Cooking times may vary depending upon size of shrimp you are using.
So add shrimp carefully to hot oil, and let cook for about 4 minutes on each side depending upon the size of your shrimp – the shrimp I cooked were the colossal sized ones and extra huge, so you may want to adjust the time accordingly.
Once each shrimp is done, using tongs or slotted spoon, take out of hot oil, let drain a bit and then place on paper towels on a plate to further drain.
Serve your shrimp up with fresh lemon wedges and your dipping sauces could be anything from a mustard apricot jam concoction, to my tarter sauce (already posted) which is what I did. This dish I served last night also includes with Notyourmomma’s Garlic French Fries with added rosemary and Leah’s French Fried Onion Circles (just posted) as photo shows.