This is an easy recipe to calm those sweet cravings that seem insatiable, including a little spice of Jamaican flavor.
Growing up in the Caribbean, any extra money you had as a kid would go towards buying bags of little peanut treats on Friday evenings.  In Jamaica, “Peanut Brikkle” can be found in every corner store and is guaranteed to meet a sweet-tooth’s desires.  In the Dominican Republic, however, my grandmother would make these simple treats called “Dulces de Mani y Ajonjoli” from scratch.  I spent so many Saturday mornings watching her work her magic on these candies that I FINALLY learned the recipe, and now you can have a taste, too.
brikkle
Ingredients:
  • 1 teaspoon peanut oil to grease the baking sheet (olive oil works as well, but peanut oil is more fitting with the flavor of this treat)
  • 1/2 cup of white cane sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of  water
  • 1/2 cup of roasted lightly salted peanuts or sesame seeds (or a 1/4 cup of each)
Let’s get cooking:
  1. Grease a baking sheet
  2. Mix sugar and water and simmer in heavy saucepan over medium heat.
  3. Once it turns into a thick caramel brown, mix the nuts/seeds in, then remove from the heat and immediate pour carefully onto greased baking sheet.
  4. When cool to the touch, cut with a sharp knife into 1-inch squares.  Store whatever you don’t eat in a jar at room temperature. (Though you probably won’t have any left because they’re so delicious!)
Now you have a jar full of this sweet treat that you can nibble on between classes or while you ring in the Christmas season with holiday movies.  Try out this quick and simple, no-bake treat, and have a dose of my Caribbean childhood.
P.S. Feel free to use your favorite nuts — I always snuck almonds and cashews in my granny’s mixture as a child.