Pine Nut Brittle with Rosemary

This pine nut brittle is made with only 5 ingredients plus salt. And you may already have them on hand. Sugar, pine nuts (also called piñón or pinoli), unsalted butter, fresh rosemary and sea salt.

It’s a candied holiday treat that’s easy to make, a huge hit with all ages, and is the perfect holiday gift. And it takes just 30 minutes to make.

Jump to:

• 🤷‍♀️ What are pine nuts?
• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🧅 Pine Nut Brittle Ingredients + Notes
• 🔪 Recommended Equipment
• 📝 Instructions Overview
• ⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
• 👩‍🍳 Preparation Tips
• 🤷‍♀️ Pine Nut Brittle FAQ
• Pine Nut Brittle with Pumpkin Seeds and Rosemary (recipe)

This brittle is a popular treat all year round, but especially around the holidays. I made pine nut brittle holiday gifts years ago, and found the recipe for it last weekend. For this version, I cut back a little on the pine nuts, and added pumpkin seeds. It will be in this years gift boxes, and you may want to add it to yours too.

🤷‍♀️ What are pine nuts?

Also called piñón, pinola and pignola, pine nuts are the edible seeds from pine cones. The squirrels are onto a good thing when you see them tearing up cones in the late fall.

But before you head to your back yard to harvest your own, most pine trees produce pine cones that have seeds (pine nuts) that are too small to be worth harvesting for human consumption. Out of all the pine varieties, only the pine cones from 20 types of pine trees are harvested for us.

And they're expensive, which is one of the reasons I decided to cut back on pine nuts and add much more economical pumpkin seeds in this brittle. Harvesting the seeds is very labor intensive, as they're nestled between the scales of pine cones.

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• It super easy to make. If you've never made candy before this is a great recipe to start with since you won't need a candy thermometer.
• It makes a great hostess gift and holiday gift for friends and family.
• Eat this pine nut brittle on its own, or break it up over ice cream, or add to a parfait.
• You only need 5 ingredients, plus sea salt.
• It keeps well on your counter in an air-tight container for as long as 3 weeks.

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📝 Instructions Overview

Detailed instructions for making this pine nut brittle are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!

Step 1

Melt the sugar. Add the sugar to a heavy bottomed pot like a Le Creuset Dutch oven (linked above under Recommended Equipment), and heat it until it completely melts into a liquid. Continue to heat until it turns a caramel color.

Step 2

Add the seeds and butter. Stir in the pine nuts and pumpkin seeds. Immediately add the butter. Stir using a wooden spoon, until the butter is completely absorbed into the caramel.

Step 3

Add seasoning. Stir in ½ of the fresh rosemary and sea salt.

Step 4

Press into a baking sheet. Dump the gooey caramel mix onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Work fast with a wood spoon to flatten and spread the candy over the surface. Sprinkle the remaining rosemary and sea salt over the top surface.

Step 5

Rest. Let the candy cool on the countertop. When cooled, break it up into pieces.

⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time

• This recipe moves quickly, so have the baking sheet already prepared with parchment paper, and the rosemary minced before starting to melt the sugar.
• Don't push around the sugar too much as it will clump. The clumps won't melt at the same rate as the rest of the sugar, and the caramelizing can get away from you. Once you see it melting, nudge it around a little into the melting portion.
• Once the sugar melts, it caramelizes quickly. So don't leave it unattended while you chop the rosemary.
• When pressing the candy into the baking sheet, work fast as it hardens up quite fast. Use the bottom of a wooden spoon to flatten the candy to a sheet.
• Don't worry about getting the edges even, since you'll be breaking it up into pieces. It's more important to get an even thickness.
• If you're not able to flatten it all before it begins to harden, rewarm in the oven.
• After cooling for an hour, you should be able to break it into pieces very easily. If that doesn't happen, it could be because you're in a very humid climate. Just slide it into the refrigerator for 15 minutes, and try again.

👩‍🍳 Preparation Tips

My biggest tip is to work fast - both when stirring the pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and butter into the caramel, and when pressing it flat into a baking sheet to cool.

If you don't work fast enough when stirring everything into the caramel, the sugar could caramel too much, making it bitter. The caramel should be a dark golden color when you take it off the stovetop and dump it onto the baking sheet.

🤷‍♀️ Pine Nut Brittle FAQ

What's the best way to store this pine nut brittle?

I've kept it in an air tight container on the counter for 3 weeks without a problem.

How will I know when the brittle is done?

It will be a dark golden color.

Can I use other nuts?

Yes. Just make sure the volume is about the same, or you won't have enough (or too much) caramel.

Don't have time to run to the grocery store? Order the ingredients for this recipe using Instacart (affiliate link). Just click on the Instacart button in the recipe card below, and the ingredients will all be organized for you on their site. Plug in your zip code, choose the store you prefer, and select the ingredients you want delivered to your home.