The liquid should start to dissolve in around 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how hot your stovetop is.

Once the majority of the liquid has dissolved, the peanuts will get crusty and sugar will begin to crystalize on the peanuts.

The peanuts should start to turn dry and sandy at this point.

Lower the heat just a teeny bit (I made the mistake of lowering my heat too much) to make sure that sugar on the peanuts doesn't burn and continue to toast the peanuts, scraping up any caramel-colored syrup collecting in the bottom of the pan and coating the peanuts in the syrup as much as possible. The goal here is to eventually get the nuts to turn into a lovely, golden-bronze color:

Sugar turns to burn easily, so make sure you regulate the heat constantly to prevent the peanuts and sugar from burning. Some tricks are to remove the pan from heat from time to time, as well as tilting the pan constantly to get the syrup to mix in with the nuts easily and prevent it from puddling at the bottom. If the mixture starts to smoke, remove it from heat and stir.