Old fashioned toffee topped with chocolate and chopped nuts.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This really is the Best Toffee Ever, and it’s perfect for sharing with family and friends this holiday season! I have tried many, many toffee recipes over the years.
Quite a few of them have been complete failures (and I have a funny feeling it wasn’t the recipe).
I have never made toffee before. I’m more a baker than candy maker so this was my very first try for toffee. It was PERFECT! Everyone raved over this deliciousness. So much so, in fact, that I have to make more.
Angie
Luckily, I’ve learned a few things from my mistakes, and I’ve also found a tried and true toffee recipe, which helps make up for any “human error.”
Here are a few of my favorite toffee making tips:
- Use a medium to large, heavy pot. This is definitely one of those times it’s best to follow the advice of Julia Child and “always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.”
- Melt the butter and sugar together over low heat, whisking the WHOLE time (the constant whisking is very important).
- Bring your toffee to a steady, but NOT a rolling boil, at medium to medium-high heat, and continue to whisk constantly.
- When your thermometer says 285 degrees, drop a bit of toffee into some ice water…it should be brittle. If so, it’s done!
Update: After sharing this recipe, I had several people tell me they don’t use a candy thermometer when making toffee. They just cook the caramel until it’s the color of peanut butter.
I tried it and it works brilliantly! I actually put a jar of peanut butter on the counter next to my pot for comparison. As soon as the toffee looks like the peanut butter, I pull it off the stove and pour it onto the baking sheet. It’s now my go-to method for perfect toffee every time!
Just made this and it is awesome! My first try didn’t come out very good because I didn’t cook it long enough.
I read the comments and someone said she took it off the stove when it reached the color of peanut butter. Thank you very much because the second try was perfection!
Wanda
That’s it! You’re ready to make some delicious toffee. And once you’ve perfected your toffee making technique, you’ll really be able to impress your family and friends with your delicious homemade candy.
It really is worth all that whisking and stirring!
Be sure to save this recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.
Ingredients
- Butter
- Sugar
- Salt
- Vanilla
- Chocolate chips
- Almonds
Best Toffee Ever
Ingredients
- 2 cups butter
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped almonds optional but recommended, toast almonds before adding to toffee
Instructions
- Cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- In a medium to large heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and salt over low heat until butter is melted, whisking constantly. Bring to a steady (not rolling) boil over medium to medium-high heat, and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture has reached 285 to 300 degrees F (137 to 150 degrees C).
- Remove toffee from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. (If desired, you can sprinkle some of the nuts on the baking sheet before pouring on the toffee).
- Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top, and let chocolate soften for a few minutes. Spread the chocolate into a thin even layer. Sprinkle with chopped almonds.
- Refrigerate until set. Break into pieces, and store in an airtight container.
Nutrition
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105 comments
diane streicher
Beautiful photo, drool-worthy recipe. I’m beside myself.
Joseph
I recommend melt chocolate chips in a double boiler and then pour over the toffee. Just sprinkling them over won’t be enough to melt them.
Theresa H. Roach
Yummy! I can’t wait to try this! Thanks for the recipe! Have a blessed day, HUGS!
KELLIE
this was the worst candy i have ever made!!!!!! i followed the recipe exact!!! twice your review says to cook it on med high and the recipe say cook on low I followed the recipe WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!! the sugar never cooked. 10>00 LATER I PITCHED EVERYTHING!!! PISSED OFF
Jen
Yep, the same thing happened to me. This recipe has not been perfected. I suspect the positive reviews on here aren’t truly people who’ve made this. I hate wasting my time and money on Pinterest recipes that are just posted by folks for the fun of it. I think the problem with this recipe is NOT in the ingredients but in the cooking process itself.
Jennifer
I just made this for the first time and it turned out perfectly. I followed the instructions and use the peanut butter jar as my guide as my candy thermometer is broken. This toffee is delicious!
Debra Seiveno
Same thing happened to me. I tried to make it 2 times. Each time I had to throw it away. It was a costly recipe. The butter I used was importanted from the Isle of Man. When you try some of these recipes here or else where, I suppose you take your own time and money in your own hand.
Larisa L Bradshaw
The sugar never cooked? With the candy thermometer in the pan and the heat on….it does say to bring to a boil on medium heat, regardless on low it would cook, just takes a loooong time, on high it would come to temp faster on the thermometer….hmmmm, may want to call an appliance repair guy to fix your stove
Meggan Lloyd
I attempted this recipe THREE times. Every time the sugar recrystallized precisely at 225 degrees. I’ve been making toffee and peanut brittle for twenty years and I’ve never had them recrystallized. This is the absolute worst recipe.
Candice Graves
So what is happening is there are sugar crystals along the sides of your pot that have fallen down into the candy this causes the WHOLE mixture to recrystallize. A good way to stop this is to use a heavy pot copper is best really be neat when putting the ingredients into the pot and don’t slosh it when whisking if you see crystals along the sides you can use a tiny bit of water on a brush and melt them down. Check out a YouTube video about it for better Info.
Donna Schroer
The proper temp for pouring the toffee is at least 280 degrees & I keep cooking it to 300. It is brittle & doesn’t stick to your teeth. 225 degrees would be like mush! High heat, med heat, low heat shouldn’t make any difference as long as it doesn’t burn.
Danelle
Thanks Theresa! Hope you love it!
Larisa L Bradshaw
Just made this! IT IS WONDERFUL! You are correct, it is the best toffee ever!