English Toffee Recipe (2024)

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Buttery, rich delicious English toffee! This perfectly crunchy, yet creamy chocolatey in one of the best holiday treats (or anytime of the year for me) I make. I'm giving you step by step instructions in this english toffee recipe so you can make it with no problems!

WHAT IS ENGLISH TOFFEE?

English toffee is a creamy crunchy sweet dessert with a chocolate and nuts topping. The flavor tastes a like a buttery caramel- perfect combination right?

INGREDIENTS YOU NEED FOR THIS ENGLISH TOFFEE RECIPE:

butter
sugar
corn syrup
chocolate chips
nuts

DO I HAVE TO USE SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS?

NO! you definitely can use whatever is your favorite chocolate chips. Dark chocolate? yes! milk chocolate? yes! just make sure it is chips or chopped up into small chunks like chocolate chips.

DO I HAVE TO PUT ON NUTS?

ALSO, no. If nuts aren't your thing don't use them. Like walnuts better than hazelnuts use those! Thats the beauty of cooking- you can alter parts of recipes to YOUR TASTE. So feel free to do it!

IMPORTANT EQUIPMENT YOU NEED

heavy bottom pan (dont use one that is thin! or your toffee will burn too easy)
high temp spatula like silicone
RELIABLE thermometer

STEPS TO MAKING THE PERFECT ENGLISH TOFFEE RECIPE:

melt your butter over medium heat.
stir in your sugar, corn syrup and remaining ingredients
turn the heat up to med-high.Bring to a boil and stir constantly.
DO NOT SCRAP THE SIDES- JUST STIR CONSTANTLY Till the temp gets to 285 degrees. Your toffee will go from a cream color to a nice dark golden brown. Insert your thermometer when your toffee is turning colors. My favorite, most reliable candy thermometer is the chef alarm by thermoworks.

****if you see little dark brown flecks in your pot then your toffee is burning on the bottom and getting too hot. Remove from heat and stir for a few minutes. turn down heat and place back on burner until the temperature of the toffee comes to 285.***

TRANSFERRING YOUR TOFFEE

Be very very careful when transferring your toffee. This liquid is so hot and when it gets on your skin it sticks- which will cause a bad burn (I know from experience!)

I like to prepare my sheet pan with a parchment paper. If you dont have parchment paper butter your pan so it is non-stick. Use the spatula and spread the toffee so it is even in the pan.
After a few minutes of letting it cool evenly pour your chocolate chips on top and let sit for a few minutes to let melt.

SPREADING THE CHOCOLATE

Using a flat spatula or knife spread the melting chocolate chips into a thin even layer of chocolate all over the toffee.

ADD SOME COARSE SEA SALT

ok, this is seriously the icing on the cake. It really makes a difference. Follow my lead and JUST. DO. IT.

ADDING CHOPPED NUTS TO YOUR ENGLISH TOFFEE

As mentioned above, if you dont like nuts, or have an allergy you can skip this step. Or just add them to half the batch. Hazelnuts are a really great nut to pair with toffee because their taste is mild and they have a soft crunch. They dont over power the texture and flavors of the toffee rather just add and accentuate it.

HOW LONG DO I NEED TO LET IT COOL?

Plan for at least an hour. If you are in a rush put it in the fridge (or if you are in a cold climate set it outside haha) it will help cool it faster. When your chocolate has set and you toffee is cool you can crack it!

HOW DO I KNOW MY CHOCOLATE IS SET?

When your chocolate has set it will have more of a dark matte color to it, and when you go to touch it it will be hard.

WHATS THE BEST WAY TO CRACK MY TOFFEE?

WELL, do you want the fun way or the least messy? Fun? Pick it up a foot or two and drop it! Drop it into the sheet pan to keep pieces from scattering too far. ha ha Least messy? I just use a knife, point it down and press into the toffee. It natural cracks into pieces.

HOW DO I STORE ENGLISH TOFFEE?

You can store it at room temp for a couple of weeks! If you live in a warm humid climate I recommend storing it in an air tight container in the fridge. Freezing it is also really yummy!

HOW LONG DOES ENGLISH TOFFEE LAST?

If you still have it around after 2 weeks I'll be surprised! seriously. If at room temp it will be good for 2 weeks, if you keep it in the fridge it will last a couple more weeks after that.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS?

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Hazelnut English Toffee

This buttery rich toffee is perfect to add to your neighbor treats. Or your own...

5 from 6 votes

Print Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 20 servings

Calories: 382kcal

Author:

Ingredients

▢ 1 lb butter
▢ 2 ½ cup granulated sugar
▢ ½ cup water
▢ ¼ cup corn syrup
▢ 1 10 oz. bag semi sweet chocolate chips
▢ ¾ cup roasted hazelnuts can sub almonds
▢ kosher salt

Instructions

Grease jelly roll pan with butter, or line with parchment paper.
Melt butter in large heavy-bottomed pot, add sugar, water, and corn syrup. Stir over medium heat frequently until it reaches the hard crack stage, or 285 degrees. Stir the bottom only, not the sides to prevent crystals. Place candy thermometer in candy once mixture begins to darken in color, almost amber in color. To ensure candy is ready, drop a bit into ice-cold water and roll it between your fingers (let it cool for 10 seconds or so). If it easily rolls into a tight ball, it's ready. If it's still loose and stretchy, it needs more time.
Pour candy into sheet pan once it's reached the hard crack stage. Don't scrap the sides. Spread candy out to reach the edges of the pan. After a couple minutes, sprinkle the chocolate over the hot candy. Let it heat up, and after another 2 minutes, spread it gently with a spatula to cover the chocolate. Sprinkle the chopped nuts and kosher salt, let pan cool. After 2 hours (can place in freezer once it reaches room temperature), break into pieces.

Nutrition

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FAQs

What is the difference between toffee and English toffee? ›

Americanized toffee may include nuts, while a completely traditional British toffee will not. On the other hand, English toffee uses pure cane sugar, brown sugar, or molasses as its sweet base and always involves chocolate.

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What is English toffee made of? ›

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.

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Why do you not stir toffee? ›

It's important while the toffee cooks to only stir it occasionally. Constant stirring can cause the toffee to crystallize and separate. For those of you that need to know exactly how often you should stir, I would suggest erring on the side of not stirring more than stirring.

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Why does the butter separate when making English 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).

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Is butterscotch the same as toffee? ›

Toffee vs Butterscotch

While butterscotch is cooked to a soft-crack stage, toffee is produced by allowing that same butter and brown sugar mixture to reach the hard-crack stage. Butterscotch tends to be chewy and pliable; toffee is brittle and more breakable.

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Do you refrigerate English toffee? ›

+ What is the shelf life? Three months unopened, if stored in a cool dry place. + Can it be refrigerated? Yes, but it needs to be set out of the refrigerator to bring to room temperature before serving.

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What does baking soda do to toffee? ›

For better crunch, add baking soda

The base soda is reacting with the acid sugar, plus heat, to make tons of tiny bubbles.

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Why does chocolate not stick to toffee? ›

Chocolate chips have a non-melting coating to help them keep their shape. But when they melt, the coating can prevent the chocolate from sticking to the toffee. Sometimes the chocolate melts at a temperature that makes it shrink when it hardens, pulling it away from the toffee layer.

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How do I know when my toffee is ready? ›

Once boiling, cook, stirring only 2 to 3 times, until it turns a dark amber color and the temperature reaches 285 degrees F (137 degrees C) on a candy thermometer, 20 to 30 minutes. Immediately pour toffee into the prepared baking dish.

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What can go wrong when making toffee? ›

Common toffee making mistakes:

I started with way too high of a heat. (At least, I think this was an issue.) I set my portable cooktop at 260 degrees F.
I stirred too quickly. I didn't realize this could be an issue.
I didn't add a dash of salt. They say you can save a ruined batch of toffee by adding a dash of salt.

Dec 13, 2017

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Why do you put butter in toffee? ›

Butter is added in the final stages to add flavor and smoothness and inhibit large crystal formation. Use unsalted butter so you can add a small amount of salt (¼ teaspoon per stick of butter) to the sugar/liquid mixture.

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What kind of pan is best for making toffee? ›

This should NOT be a non-stick pan, because non-stick pans allow crystals to be pulled into the cooking toffee and will cause the batch to crystallize. The heavy pan distributes heavy evenly so the toffee cooks without burning.

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Why do you put cream of tartar in toffee? ›

This means that as boiling continues, a portion of the sugar separates into its constituent parts—glucose and fructose. Adding cream of tartar and a dash of vinegar to a toffee recipe helps bring about this change.

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Why is my English toffee grainy? ›

As the toffee cools and the molten sugar crystals become solid again, they are attracted to the 'seed' forming new lumps of tiny crystals – hence the grainy texture. This can also happen if the toffee is stirred, or agitated, after it has begun to boil or on cooling (as happened with this pink-tinted toffee).

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What's the difference between caramel and toffee? ›

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).

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What is British vs American toffee? ›

In America we call most toffee, English Toffee. What's the difference between English and American toffee? The main difference is that traditional English toffee is created without nuts, while American toffee is created with a variety of nuts. The most common nuts being the almond.

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Is English toffee the same as caramel? ›

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).

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What Flavour is English toffee? ›

English Toffee flavor has a smooth caramel flavor without the creaminess.