This is a great recipe and can be found in various forms on lots of sites. I have cooked for seven and a half or even seven minutes, total, with my eight year old microwave and had successful results. I cook the sugar/corn syrup mix for three minutes, add in (jarred) roasted, lightly salted nuts, cook for two and a half minutes, then add the butter and vanilla, mixing well after each time out of the oven. Then, after the last two to two and a half minutes is up, quickly add in the baking soda, beating while everything foams. Having all your ingredients ready is key while I find the pre-heating of your pan doesn't really make a difference to the "spreadability" of the hot brittle. Use Pam or similar for coating your pan, then put aluminum foil down and spray again. And, spray your spoon used for stirring. I use a pan specifically made for the micro and heavily spray that, also. And, I use the dark Karo syrup which doesn't affect the taste, but makes a lovely colored brittle!

Turned out perfect, does anyone know if you double it how long to adjust the times for ?? I also made it with macadamia nuts, can you say " Awesome" !!

Outstanding and simple! Like other reviewers suggested, I adjusted the cooking time based on the power of my microwave. Stir at four minites and add one minute thereafter until it bubbles and gets a bit of color, but don't go longer than 8 minutes or it might burn the peanuts. I was interrupted by a phone call in the middle of making this and forgot to add the butter. It tasted great without it, but your results may vary. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!

I think foolproof should be tempered with the comment you may need to adjust to your microwave's particular power/wattage. The first batch I made was overcooked at 8 minutes total The way I read the recipe it is a total of 10 minutes cooking time. At just over 8 minutes my first batch was moderately burnt. Second batch at about 7 total was about right. I lost my regular recipe and the ingredient proportions on this seemed the same, so it's a great basic recipe just experiment with the time. If you like coconut a little toasted coconut is a nice touch at the end.

What type of utensil is best for stirring, and a word of warning. DO NOT attempt to use your finger to clean the utensil you are stirring with. OWIIIEEEEEE!!!

My husband loves it with pecans instead of peanuts, too.

I have used the original recipe for many years with great success. I also make a few batches with pecans!! I had to purchase a new microwave last year and I was happy it was a 1200 watt... guess what... that is toooo hot for this recipe. I could not find the right time adjustment!! My sister successfully found the right time: mix, cook 3 mins., stir, cook 3 mins; add final ingredients and cook 2. Perfect again. My family is so happy!!!

It is so unnecessary to grease a cookie sheet! Just roll out 2 foot of aluminium foil on a counter. Nothing needed on the foil. After the brittle is cooled Just pull the brittle off or pull the foil to the edge of counter downward and bend the brittle upward and it breaks off. I like to transfer the foil and brittle to a cooler spot on counter where cooler so cools faster.

Set smoke alarm off! Ruined!

Word of caution: do NOT use Tupperware to heat mixture in microwave!!

Burned at 7 mins in my microwave.

My Mom and I use 700 watts comes out awesome. Just make sure you reset Micro each time you stir.

This is the best recipe for peanut brittle. I went by the directions and do heat the cookie sheet the brittle will spread better.

I am in Texas and have found making this recipe is best on a very cold sunny day. I have a 1200 watt microwave and had to adjust the time as others have had to do. I cooked for 3 minutes, stirred and cooked 3 more minutes. After putting in the butter/ vanilla, I cooked 1 more minute. I do have to say though, the mixture was thicker than it was with my previous microwave which didn't have as high a wattage. To cook less, I think it would be gummy or taffy-like. To cook more, would burn it. Even with the texture not being what I would like, it did turn out good. It was easy to break and more importantly, bite and chew! The only reason I gave this recipe a 3 rating is because I believe it should mention the different wattages of microwaves and how it could obviously affect the recipe.

My microwave was 1800 watts, so mine had scorched before the 8 minutes were up. I will try the 6 minutes or less next time.