Ingredients
- 3/4 c. rolled oats
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 2 TBSP water
- 2 TBSP maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Directions
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Toast the oats in the oven about 10 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring halfway through. Remove from oven, set aside.
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Put the sugar, water, and syrup in a heavy saucepan.
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Measure the baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a small bowl and keep nearby. Lightly oil a baking sheet and transfer the oats to a bowl, keep these at hand, too.
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Cook the sugar over medium heat until the sugar melts, stirring occasionally with a silicone spatula to break up lumps. The edges will darken first, so swirl the pan to prevent burning. if the edges start coloring before the rest of the sugar has dissolved, reduce the heat to low and stir until the syrup is clear and all the lumps are broken up. Then turn the heat back up to medium. Very quickly the whole batch of caramel will turn dark amber and smell rich and dark.
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Turn off the heat and immediately stir in the baking soda mixture (it will foam), then stir in the oats.
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Pour onto the prepared baking sheet and spread with the spatula. The mixture will thicken and cool rapidly, so if it doesn’t want to pour, use the spatula to press it into a thin layer.
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When the brittle is completely cool, break it into very small pieces with your hands or crush it with a rolling pin.
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Reserve about a quarter of the batch for the top of your ice cream, and mix the rest into the ice cream in its last minute of churning.
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For the ice cream, I thinned 1c butterscotch pudding with 1c milk, stirred in 1/4c dark brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon, and ran the results through my ice cream maker