Toffee Recipe

Make this crunchy, buttery, no-fail toffee recipe with just a handful of ingredients and 15 minutes at the stove!

Always Better Homemade

We’ve made homemade candy our whole lives, but we especially love to make it around the holidays (and more specifically Christmas).

One of our favorites to make is Homemade Toffee! This classic candy only has a few ingredients, and the steps are surprisingly very simple. Plus, it tastes way better than store bought!

We love to serve this at parties and holiday get togethers, but also love to include it on cookie plates or to give as a neighbor gifts. If you like to do the same, be sure to check out some other homemade candies like our Christmas Crack Recipe (aka saltine cracker toffee), Homemade Turtles and homemade Caramels.

Ingredients

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

COOK TIME: 15 minutes

HARDENING TIME: 2 hours

• 2 cups salted butter – use real butter, not margarine
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips – or semi-sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips
• ½ cup chopped pecans – or chopped almonds (or your favorite nuts), toffee bits, chopped candy cane bits, or holiday sprinkles

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How to Make Toffee

1. PREP. Line a 17×12-inch jelly roll pan (or baking sheet) with parchment paper.
2. TOFFEE. Combine 2 cups butter, 2 cups sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Clamp a candy thermometer to the saucepan.
   • Cook, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth, then bring to a boil while whisking constantly.
   • Continue whisking the mixture as it boils until it reaches 290°F or the “hard crack” stage. This will take 10–15 minutes, and the mixture will be amber-caramel in color.
   • When it reaches the hard crack stage, immediately pour toffee in an even layer onto the prepared baking sheet.
3. TOPPINGS. Let sit for 1–2 minutes, then sprinkle 2 cups chocolate chips on top. After 1 more minute, spread chocolate smooth with an offset or rubber spatula and sprinkle ½ cup chopped pecans on top.
4. SET. Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours to harden, then cut into toffee pieces with a thick, sharp knife.

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4.98 from 94 votes

Toffee Recipe

By: Kristyn Merkley

Make this crunchy, buttery, no-fail toffee recipe with just a handful of ingredients and 15 minutes at the stove!

Servings: 12

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 15 minutes mins

Hardening: 2 hours hrs

Total: 2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Equipment

• 1 candy and deep fry thermometer

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 cups salted butter
• ▢ 2 cups sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• ▢ ½ cup chopped pecans

Instructions 

• Line a 17×12-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
• Combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Clamp a candy thermometer to the saucepan.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth, then bring to a boil while whisking constantly.
• Continue whisking the mixture as it boils until it reaches 290°F or the "hard crack" stage. This will take 10–15 minutes, and the mixture will be amber-caramel in color.
• When it reaches the hard crack stage, immediately pour the toffee into the prepared pan.
• Let sit for 1–2 minutes, then sprinkle chocolate chips on top. After 1 more minute, spread the chocolate smooth with an offset or rubber spatula and sprinkle chopped pecans on top.
• Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours to harden, then cut into pieces with a thick, sharp knife.

Video

Notes

Store. Toffee can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1–2 weeks or refrigerated for up to 3 months.

Variations. Switch out the milk chocolate chips for semisweet, dark, or white chocolate, or use chopped almonds, toffee bits, candy cane bits, or holiday sprinkles in place of the pecans.

Hard crack test. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, do a hard crack test. Have a bowl of ice water next to the stove and do the following:

• Use a spoon to drop a dollop of the candy syrup into cold water. Wait about 10 seconds.
• If the dollop is pliable and bends, the syrup is too soft and needs to boil longer.
• If the dollop snaps, it’s at the hard crack stage and is ready.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g, Calories: 584kcal, Carbohydrates: 54g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 41g, Saturated Fat: 24g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 86mg, Sodium: 313mg, Potassium: 29mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 52g, Vitamin A: 1015IU, Vitamin C: 0.2mg, Calcium: 47mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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