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In the world of candy making, toffee is the pinnacle. And English toffee is rich and buttery, has a good crispy snap, and yet is somehow easy to eat. The defining factor of English toffee is the thick layer of chocolate slathered on top with a generous dusting of toasted nuts. Hungry yet?
At its base, toffee is just a mixture of butter and sugar. And even though it seems like a simple ingredient, the amount of butter makes a huge difference and is what distinguishes a toffee from a brittle. There is more butter in toffee, which is what gives it its more pliable texture when compared to brittle.
The mixture is slowly cooked together until a hard crack temperature is reached, at 290°F. The ingredients are simple, but the results can vary, depending on the execution.
Over the years, I’ve had lots of problems with toffee. The process is easy – how hard could a combination of butter and sugar that’s heated to a hard crack stage really be? But on the way to this temperature, I’ve often had the mixture separate. Soon after the butter and sugar would start to boil, the butter would separate from the sugar, and the result would be an oily mess. No, thank you!
For years, this perplexed me! Sometimes it would work, and other times it wouldn’t. After trial and error, I’ve discovered there are a few things that lead to toffee failure:
- One of the major culprits can be abrupt temperature changes. A constant, even heating environment leads to the best results.
- The use of a thin saucepan as opposed to a heavy-bottom variety. Thin pans do not heat evenly and do not cook the toffee well. I know it can seem trivial to read a recipe that urges the use of a heavy-bottom saucepan, but in the case of toffee, it’s very important.
After years of trying different tricks, the best thing I’ve learned is to add corn syrup. A little corn syrup doesn’t add moisture but does help stabilize the mixture. It helps the mixture heat up evenly and cook properly. Now, every time I make English toffee, it comes out perfect as long as I follow these three steps:
- Use a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Heat it up slowly.
- Add a little corn syrup.
More Christmas Candy
- Chocolate and peanut butter fudge
- Grandma’s peanut brittle
- Peanut clusters
- Chow mein candy
- Make sure to check out all of my holiday baking recipes
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English Toffee
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup
- 6 oz dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped toasted pecans
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Butter a 9×13 baking sheet pan. Set aside.
- Have an instant-read thermometer ready or fit saucepan with a candy thermometer.
- In a heavy-bottom four-quart saucepan, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Over low heat, bring to a boil, stirring slowly. Continue to boil until the mixture reaches 290°F, 15-20 minutes. It will be a light amber color and smell like caramel and butterscotch.1 cup salted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 tbsp light corn syrup
- Remove from heat, add in the vanilla, and pour into the prepared baking sheet pan. Let cool for one minute and sprinkle with ¼ cup chopped nuts over the entire mixture. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let sit until melted, about two minutes. Spread the chocolate evenly with an offset spatula. Sprinkle with remaining chopped nuts. Let cool completely, about four hours.1 cup chopped toasted pecans, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 6 oz dark chocolate chips
- Once cooled completely, break into desired pieces. Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to one month. If in a warm climate, store in the refrigerator.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? Leave a comment below!
My son and his wife dropped by after I had made a batch of this English Toffee. He took one bite, and I felt obligated to send 98% of it home with them. An absolutely fantastic recipe which I followed to the letter (except I have an old fashioned glass candy thermometer). Such a hit with them, that I will now attempt to recreate it for Christmas gifts to friends.
Just made this. Only difference was semi-sweet chocolate chips and I ground the nuts. Spot on delicious!!
I love toffee and this recipe is fantastic!!! I am making several batches to send to family and friends this Christmas.
Finally English Toffee turned out! It wasn’t without some angst…. First, 2 1/2 hours to get it to 290!! I have an electric stove and the setting needed to be actually halfway between low and medium, but it took me a while to get it there because I was worried about heating it too rapidly. Next time I’m starting at that setting… I really wish there was an instruction as to how often to stir it because I stirred mine every few minutes and I noticed that my pan had a lot more residue on the sides than in the video… wish that was clearer… I just tasted it and it turned out so good.. perfect crunch… also, the chocolate did not melt in two minutes so I had to take another pan that was larger and flip it over so that I created a little oven in there to get it warmer and then it melted a little bit better so I could spread it… and thank goodness for the instant read thermometer…. In the end I’m just so grateful to have had it finally turn out….
Delicious. Perfect recipe. Simple directions and clear video helped so much. I was surprised how tender the toffee was. I thought it would be hard on the teeth but it wasn’t. Perfect gift in a holiday tin!
First time I watched his show and I am here for life. . He is simply great. He looks friendly and happy and that is so nice to see. He doesn’t talk like we are total idiots and don’t know what a cup of sugar is. Can u send me his official website so I can get more recipes.
I’ve been making toffee since I got married at 18 yrs. I’m now almost 82 and I still make it. I have the same recipe as you and always use the syrup. It’s perfect every time. I also make home made fudge at Christmas Used to make over 60# every year and give it as gifts in a pretty tiny or box. I had 7 children and then took in a foster girl for over 8 yrs so it was a crazy house for a while. We had 6 teenagers at once 13 to 19. There were 5 boys and 3 girls as well as a German shepherd and a chihuahua. lol One yr after I told my son about all the fudge I’d made he asked if I’d make a couple batches more for him if he paid me. I asked why he wanted all that candy and he said it was the best he’d ever had so he wanted to treat the homeless people in St. Paul where he lived. That year I made over 100# of fudge. ha! Should have written to you long ago to thank you for your wonderful program. I must tell you I still learn new ways to do things. I had a lovely grandma who taught me how to cook everything from scratch. I still cook that way and now I seldom use a recipe. Granny didn’t measure much so I don’t either unless it’s new to me. She taught me to make potato bread from the water used to cook them and 2 ricers full of potato and a couple Tbls. of lard. I made 10 loaves twice a wk. if I had dough left I’d make a pan of rolls like granny did. They were called schnecken and had raisins sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on rolled out dough that was generously buttered. I’d roll it up and slice rolls which were put on top of Carmel in the pan. After baking the pan would be turned upside down on a cookie sheet so the Carmel was on top. I hope I’m not to long winded. Thanks again for your lessons and sharing.
What a wonderful grandma!! I can just smell your kitchen!
Best ever!!!!
You should have a TV show-yes you are that Good!
Oh my goodness that is so kind. Thank you!
Yes, you need your own show, Kaleb on the Farm! Where’s Martha Stewart to fund your show?? You are awesome!
Fabulous!!! Your videos are what make it all possible for me.