TEXAS — A slurry of sweetness helps make up Uncle Ray’s Peanut Brittle.

Courtney Ray Goodson started the business a few years ago. Her batches of brittle have a pretty sweet beginning.

“Everything started with my Uncle Ray’s 35-year-old peanut brittle recipe. He was ‘Mr. Peanut Brittle’ himself. I would go over to his house once a week. We’d have coffee, he’d make brittle, and we would just laugh and talk about life,” said Goodson.

“One day after one of our many afternoon talks, my great uncle Ray shared with me his secret recipe,” said Goodson.

After a stint in the Peace Corp, Uncle Ray would send Goodson boxes of brittle,

“I’d get them and walk around my village and deliver peanut brittle to everybody,” said Goodson.

A few years later, Goodson’s brittle was born. It’s the same basic recipe from Uncle Ray, but with a twist.

“I like the pecan brittle, because when you cook with pecans, they just bring out such a natural,

maple smell and flavor,” said Goodson.

But this sweet success story had some humble beginnings. As Goodson found out, It takes cash

to start a business.

“I had a jar on my counter that said, ’nut money,’ from bartending where I would stick cash into it so I could buy my first big batch of nuts, or pecans! I launched to the public on November 1, 2017, which is the same day that the Astros won the World Series,” said Goodson.

Fast-forward several months, Uncle Ray’s Peanut Brittle lands on the shelves at Central Market, and later, HEB.

Goodson says no one would’ve been prouder than her Uncle Ray.

“He passed away earlier in 2020,” said Goodson. “I know at one point he told me, he looked at me and he goes, ‘Don’t give up, not for anything.’ And so, I thought, ‘OK, Uncle Ray.'”

And she hasn’t. Goodson’s brittle business continues to grow. She wouldn’t give us the recipe, but she did say what makes Uncle Ray’s so good is a dash of sweetness combined with a whole lot of love.

“I want to keep getting my brittle out there, and finding the people who want to eat it," said Goodson.