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Posted by Jessica Pinney on , last updated
This classic homemade butter toffee recipe tastes even better than Grandma’s! Perfect for holiday gift-giving. No candy thermometer necessary.
When December 1st rolls around, I immediately shift into treat and candy making mode. Nothing gets me in the holiday spirit faster than whipping up some treats to give out as gifts!
Butter toffee is a classic Christmas-time treat, so I thought I’d share my recipe with you.
If you’re intimidated by making candy – don’t be! I’m going to give you easy, step by step instructions so that you can successfully make homemade toffee!
Ingredients
Butter– Use salted butter to avoid separation.
Pecans– Pecan halves are used for the nuts in this toffee. You’ll want to chop them up.
Brown Sugar– This recipe uses light brown sugar.
Chocolate Chips– You can use either semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips. I prefer semi-sweet. Milk chocolate will make your toffee sweeter.
Vanilla– A bit of vanilla extract gives this toffee’s flavor a little more depth.
How To Make
To make the toffee, we’ll start by putting the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan. Simmer it over low-medium heat. You’ll need to stir it about every 30 seconds, so be sure to stay by the pan the entire time. (While you’re making the toffee, be sure to preheat the oven and toast your pecans.)
You’ll know the toffee is ready when it is goopy and bubbly (see photo below). This should take about 25-30 minutes. If you’re using a candy thermometer, the mixture should be 290F.
Prepare a 9×13 baking pan by coating it with non-stick spray, or lining it with parchment paper. Add the pecan halves and bake for 4 minutes, stir, then bake another 3-4 minutes until they’re nice and toasted.
When the toffee is ready, pour it over the top of the pecan halves. Quickly spread it to cover the entire pan. (Be sure to move quickly because the toffee will harden fast.) The toffee mixture will be very hot, so be careful.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray.
Sprinkle the pecans in an even layer in the pan and bake for 4 minutes. Stir, then back again for another 3 minutes.Remove the pan from the oven and set it aside.
Add the butter to a large saucepan along with the brown sugar and vanilla extract.
Simmer over low-medium heat and stir every thirty seconds to prevent burning.
Once the toffee mixture looks goopy and bubbly, it is ready (see photo in post above). This process will take 25-30 minutes, but don’t rush it or the sugar will start to burn.
To check if the toffee is ready, add a drop of it to a glass of ice-cold water. Once cooled, it should be hard and crunchy instead of soft and chewy.
Once the toffee is ready, carefully pour it over the pecans and quickly spread it out as it will start to harden. (The toffee will be extremely hot so be careful.)
Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the toffee and let it sit for 5 minutes. Spread the melted chocolate out over the toffee then let it cool completely for 5 hours or overnight.
Once it has cooled completely and set up, break the toffee with a knife and serve.
Tried this recipe out for my first time making toffee. It went really good!
Reply
Carol Lohrsays
It is excellent. I used slicecd almonds instead of pecans,, as hubby doesn’t like pecans.. having used almonds in place of pecans, I used almond extract instead of Vanilla, Only complaints is getting the toffee to 290*. I think I got a tan over the boiling syrup. I highly recommend people try this. Very easy to make
The English toffee eaten with regularity in America is also called buttercrunch. What's the difference? Primarily, the difference rests in the ingredients. Toffee in Britain is made with brown sugar, whereas buttercrunch is made with white granulated sugar.
Simmering the syrup for English toffee to the requisite 300°F temperature can (and should) be a slow process — up to 20 minutes or so. Don't hurry this gradual transformation; syrup that doesn't reach 300°F, or close to it, will make candy with timid flavor and chewy (not crunchy) texture.
Mel's Dumbed Down Version: patience, moderate heat and heavy-bottoms (see saucepan note above) make the best toffee. What is this? It's important while the toffee cooks to only stir it occasionally. Constant stirring can cause the toffee to crystallize and separate.
You might wonder why the toffee recipe includes baking soda. It is added at the end of the boiling stage and creates lots and lots of bubbles. These bubbles help to lighten the texture of the finished toffee, resulting in an easier-to-bite candy.
Toffee is butterscotch that has been cooked for a longer period of time. Toffee begins as a base of butter and brown sugar that is gradually cooked to the hard-crack sugar stage between 295 and 309 degrees Fahrenheit.
For a soft crack candy, like butterscotch, you'd want a temperature of 270 to 290 degrees. This will leave the percentage of sugar at around 95%. For a hard crack candy, like toffee, you'd aim for a temperature of 300 to 310 degrees and a 99% sugar concentration.
You need a very sturdy pan which is KEY to even heat distribution. Thinner, cheaper pans can scorch the cooking candy and/or cook it unevenly. Here are some great choices: Anolon Nouvelle Copper and Cooks Standard. I own a couple pricier copper pots because of the amount of candy I make.
For maximum taste and texture, we do recommend that you either enjoy your toffee immediately, or store it in a refrigerator or freezer. Once opened, unrefrigerated toffee will retain maximum freshness for about a week. Refrigeration adds 3-6 months of shelf life, while freezing adds up to a year or more.
Rub the cube of butter around the sides of the pan before adding sugar. This will help keep sugar crystals from clinging to the sides. When adding the sugar, place it in the center of the pan to keep sugar crystals off the pan sides. During cooking, occasionally wash the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in water.
Cream of tartar is a white powder sold in the baking aisle that's commonly used to stabilize whipped egg whites in meringues and cakes, prevent sugar crystallization in candies and caramel, and act as the activating ingredient in baking powder.
Adding water to sugar before caramelizing it helps it melt at a more even rate, and helps reduce the risk of crystalization. You only need to add enough water to turn the sugar into a slurry, and it all boils off as you heat the syrup.
I find that vigourous stirring keeps the 20 lbs or so of toffee from separating, so that's a good tip. And I've always been told that stirring TOO vigorously can cause separation also.
English Toffee is a nationwide favorite that is easily made with only a few ingredients. The difference between regular toffee and English Toffee is one important ingredient – butter! I make English Toffee throughout the year for special occasions and it's always a big hit.
The ingredients that make up butter toffee include unsalted butter, granulated sugar, light corn syrup, water, vanilla, almonds, and dark chocolate. You can choose a different type of chocolate, but when I was working on this recipe, I found semi-sweet chocolate too sweet.
The difference between caramel and toffee is greater, as caramel has a more liquid consistency and is usually pure sugar (it doesn't contain butter or flour). Still, the taste of caramel, fudge, and toffee is relatively similar, as they are all made from mostly sugar (as well as butter in the case of fudge and toffee).
If the butterfat separates out then usually this is due to the mixture being either heated or cooled too quickly, which "shocks" the mixture and causes the fat to separate out. It can also be caused by the mixture being heated unevenly (if the pan has a thin base and has hot spots).
Introduction: My name is Dr. Pierre Goyette, I am a enchanting, powerful, jolly, rich, graceful, colorful, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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