Amish Cashew Crunch is a Christmas favorite
By Kevin Williams
There was an old question and answer board game from when I was a child (the name escapes me), but one of the questions was: Name a nut that sounds like a sneeze.
The answer: cashew
Homemade Cashew Squares
So I’ve never been able to see or eat a cashew without thinking of a sneeze sound. But this stuff is amazing: cashew crunch. I’m not sure how the recipe caught on among the Amish, but it really has. Some even call it “Amish crack.” And it is good stuff. This is some cashew crunch I recently got at an Amish bakery in Highland County, Ohio. Below is an Amish recipe for the stuff that comes from an Amish woman in Tennessee. Yum, give it a try! And bless you! (um…joke…cashew=sneeze sound)
The recipe is popular around Christmas and is a great gift for your kids teachers, the mail-carrier, or your boss. Make it and put it in a beautiful tin with a raffia bow and you’re all set.
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Serves: 10 servings
- 1 cuup butter
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 1 tbsb light corn syrup
- 2 c. cashews
- Lightly butter a cookie sheet.
- In a heavy pan cook and stir the butter, sugar and corn syrup over low heat until the butter is melted and the mixture comes to a boil.
- Cook until it starts to turn golden brown (290 degrees F on a candy thermometer) like peanut brittle.
- Remove from heat. Quickly stir in cashews.
- Pour out onto prepared cookie sheet. Cool completely.
- Break up into pieces. Store in airtight container.
8 Comments
Catherine Pond
AMISH CRACK! I love it! Thanks for the recipe! We have an Amish family in nearby Crab Orchard, KY who make and sell this. I like to buy it at Christmas and have been wanting to know how to make it. So much better than peanut brittle. Also, she dips some of it half-way in chocolate (only in winter). Which reminds me: she said, and other friends have said, that you can only make it in dry weather. Humidity will affect the production quality.
Enjoying your blog very much. Thank you!
Jill
We have an Amish bakery up north that makes this and the toffee is very smooth and almost soft (it still has crunch to it but it’s not typical hard toffee) It just melts in your mouth as opposed to normal toffee that gets stuck in your teeth and is super hard. Which one is this similar to? Thank you!!
Kevin
This recipe is for a smoother, less sticky type…thanks for stopping by, Jill, what Amish settlement are you near?
pat
is it the same recipe
Lew
I have made a recipe similar to this for many years that I got from an Amish candy maker here in Wisconsin. That recipe was …. a cup…. a cup…. a cup butter, sugar, and cashews. It didn’t call for corn syrup. What purpose does 1 Tbs. of corn syrup serve?
Kevin
The corn syrup just acts as a bit of “binder” for all the ingredients, it’s good stuff!
Janie
Do you use raw or roasted cashews?
Thank you Kevin for the wonderful work you have done over the years. I look forward to your posts every day. I am 74 yes. Old and from Harrisburg, PA.
Kevin
Thanks, Janie, I know your area well…Patriot-News country, used to be an amazing newspaper.