Toffee Recipe
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My Toffee Recipe makes buttery, crunchy homemade toffee after just 15 minutes on the stove. I’m including lots of tips so you can feel confident making this candy at home. Recipe includes a how-to video!
A Foolproof Toffee Recipe
I know firsthand how frustrating a failed batch of toffee can be. Many, many batches of ruined candy made their way through my kitchen on my journey to discover perfectly crisp, buttery toffee perfection. Fortunately, after plenty of trial and error, I’m finally proud to share the BEST toffee recipe. Today’s post includes plenty of tips, tricks, and straightforward, easy steps!
One of the most important tips I can give you for this recipe is to use a candy thermometer! While you can skip the thermometer for my family’s favorite chocolate fudge or potato candy, please DON’T do so here. A reliable candy thermometer will make all the difference with your final result, so please use one.
Also, if you’re new to making candy or haven’t made it in a while, remember that you must be patient when cooking candy. During my research process, the temptation to bump up the heat to speed up the process was real, and often my most fatal mistake. Take it slow!
Why use my toffee recipe:
- Cooks in just 15 minutes!
- Thoroughly tested to produce perfect toffee, every time.
- Requires just six ingredients and NO corn syrup!
- Customizable; use whatever nuts or chocolate you like, or leave them out.
What You Need
You only need six simple ingredients to make my toffee recipe (seven if you count water!).
- Butter. I like to use unsalted butter and add salt myself for better control. If you want to use salted butter, read my salted vs unsalted butter post for the proper substitution.
- Sugar. We’re using regular granulated sugar here and NO corn syrup!
- Vanilla. Some toffees are made without vanilla extract, and I don’t understand why. Vanilla adds such a nice flavor to this (or any) toffee recipe, and I can’t imagine making it without it! We’ll be adding the vanilla after the toffee is removed from the heat to preserve its flavor (if added to soon it will simply evaporate out).
- Chocolate chips. This recipe is a rare instance where I actually prefer milk chocolate chips, but semi-sweet would work too.
- Almonds. I love adding nuts to my toffee, but if you want to make yours nut-free, you certainly can. If choose to add nuts, you can use whatever kind you like (toasted pecans would also be great!).
SAM’S TIP: This toffee recipe works best if you have all of your ingredients ready before you begin. Once your toffee reaches 305°F, it’s time to move. You won’t have time to go scrambling to your spice cabinet to measure out your vanilla, find that rogue measuring spoon in your kitchen drawer, line your pan with parchment, chop your almonds…you get the idea. Be prepared and set yourself up for success from the beginning. I also recommend reading through the whole recipe at least once and even watching the video before you begin.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Toffee
- Bring on the bubbles – Stir together butter, sugar, water, and salt over medium heat until the mixture boils. Use a wet pastry brush to sweep any sugar crystals back into the pot during this time.
- Cook the candy – Once boiling, attach a candy thermometer (don’t let it touch the bottom!) and keep stirring as the mixture turns golden. Remove from heat and add vanilla once the toffee reaches 305F.
- Assemble the layers – Pour the toffee into a parchment-lined pan scattered with almonds. Let this sit for 5 minutes, top it with chocolate chips, and cover with foil. After 5 more minutes, smooth the chocolate evenly over the top of the toffee and sprinkle on additional nuts and salt.
- Cool, crack, and enjoy! Let your toffee cool completely before cutting or breaking apart.
SAM’S TIP: While your mixture makes its way to a boil, you may notice some sugar crystallizing on the sides of the pan. Use a lightly dampened pastry brush to nudge these sugar crystals back down into the pan (demonstrated in the video below). You can stop doing this once your mixture comes to a boil.
SAM’S TIP: Do not try to speed up your toffee making process by turning up the heat! You you will risk burning your toffee and will have start all over again. Have patience!
Frequently Asked Questions
This usually happens when the toffee mixture is heated too quickly or at too high of a temperature. Make sure to use medium heat (or medium-low) and go SLOW! Have patience and don’t crank up the heat.
Store your toffee in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. It will keep this way for several weeks (which makes this toffee recipe perfect for gift giving!).
Some people will argue that they can make perfect toffee just fine without a candy thermometer. They may use the hard crack test to see if it’s done (drizzling a small bit of the candy into a cup of cold water), or they’ll just know it’s done by the color.
However, for most of us, a candy thermometer is a critical tool for making perfect candy. I highly recommend using one for this toffee recipe! It will come in handy with many other candy recipes, too, (like my peanut brittle or peanut butter fudge!).
This toffee recipe makes a GREAT homemade gift alongside my cookie mix in a jar and candied pecans!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Toffee Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup coarsely chopped almonds*
- 1 cup (2 sticks ) (226 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1-2 Tablespoons finely chopped almonds, for topping, optional
- Flaky sea salt, for topping, optional
Instructions
- Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper and scatter coarsely chopped almonds evenly over the bottom. Set aside.½ cup coarsely chopped almonds*
- Combine butter, sugar, water, and salt in a medium-sized pot over low heat. Meanwhile measure out your vanilla extract and have it ready nearby.1 cup (2 sticks ) (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, ¼ cup (60 ml) water, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Stir ingredients frequently over medium heat. During this time (only before boiling), use a wet pastry brush to brush down the sides where any sugar may settle on the side of the pot to prevent sugar crystals.
- Once butter is melted, increase heat to medium and continue to stir frequently until mixture comes to a boil (this may take a while, have patience and do not turn up the heat or you will ruin your toffee).
- Once the mixture comes to a boil, attach your candy thermometer. Make sure that the point of the candy thermometer is not touching the bottom of your pan.
- Continue to stir occasionally, the mixture will slowly thicken and will turn a more yellow hue as it cooks, and cook to hard crack (305°F/151°C).
- Once toffee reaches 305°F/151°C, immediately remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract (careful, it bubbles and steams a bit).
- Pour mixture evenly into your prepared pan over the almonds. Allow to sit for 5 minutes and then sprinkle chocolate chips evenly overtop the mixture. Cover with foil and allow to sit another 5 minutes, then remove the foil and use a spatula to gently spread chocolate chips evenly over your toffee.1 cup milk chocolate chips
- Immediately sprinkle with additional finely chopped almonds and flaky sea salt, if desired. Allow to cool completely at room temperature before breaking and serving.1-2 Tablespoons finely chopped almonds, Flaky sea salt
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
So easy to follow and it turned out AMAZING!! Thank you!
My toffee came out quite a bit darker than yours (not burnt or bitter at all — just deeper in color), but the crunch and flavor are absolutely perfect. I used organic cane sugar from Costco, so I’m wondering if that made the color difference? Or maybe I cooked it just a tiny bit longer and got close to the edge of “toffee danger zone” haha. I was using a meat thermometer that is supposed to be good for any food type, but I took the pot off the burner when I saw the number climbing past 311. I didn’t want to know the number that it was going to land at after that. Oops – mom life!
Either way, the kids are in awe of my skills, so thank you for that! This was the perfect recipe to make with my 9-year-old while teaching him how fun homemade treats can be. My littlest even asked if he can take some to his teacher tomorrow. We sprinkled half of it with crushed candy canes from the holidays — so good!
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Debbie! I’m so glad it was such a hit! If yours was a little darker you may have just cooked it a touch more. 🙂
I have always been afraid to attempt toffee. I was sure it wouldn’t come out but it did and it was tasty. Thank you!
Fantastic!!! I followed recipe exactly!!
Can this recipe be doubled?
Hi Erica! Candy can be a bit trickier so while it will work, unless you are an experienced candy maker I generally don’t recommend doubling it. 🙂
Worked like a charm. I love the addition of vanilla. How long does it store?
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Kimberly! I have storage instructions in the post just above the video. 🙂
I’d like to make this as holiday gifts for my coworkers- instead of nuts I was thinking I would add holiday sprinkles. Would those work?
Hi Shannon! You could certainly toss some sprinkles on top of the melty chocolate. 🙂
After a very popular recipe found at the top of a Google search ended up an utter failure (resulting in a dark, borderline bitter, oily toffee with sunken chips), I realized the directions just didn’t seem right. I read a lot of the comments and came to the conclusion that the butter melted too fast, the heat should’ve been more gradual, the final temp they wanted it brought to was too low (285?!), and the chocolate chips should not have been added immediately. In addition, the portions were large and it resulted in a really thick block, even in a 9×13″ pan.
In search of a better recipe, I stumbled upon this one. AND IT TURNED OUT AMAZING THE FIRST GO. The directions and portions were just right. I ended up with a perfectly-golden, buttery crunch. I melted the butter on low and slowly brought up the heat in increments as I stirred. Then, per the directions, waited until hard crack, added vanilla (YUM-the other recipe didn’t have this), and WAITED a few minutes to add the chips. This is key so they don’t sink into the molten sugar lava!! I also don’t have a 9×9 pan so I used a 9″ cake pan and it turned out totally fine!
I’m so pleased with this recipe that I’m making another batch today and saving this in my recipe file for next year!
I’m so glad this one worked out so well for you, Breanna! 🙂
Question: Why does the chocolate separate from the toffee when I cut the toffee apart?
Hi Susan! It could have been butter in the toffee from the toffee being cooked too quickly or on too high of a heat. It can also happen if the toffee is cooled too much before adding the chocolate. 🙁
Hi can I use brown sugar instead of the regular sugar
Hi Cee! I wouldn’t recommend it as it could change the end result. The molasses in the brown sugar can complicate things a bit.
Hi Sam! Do you mind if I make some of your recipes to sell at a farmer’s market booth? I’m a stay at home mom and want to bring in some extra income, and think a lot of your cookie and candy recipes would be big hits. I don’t have a business or anything, I’d technically be selling them under cottage food laws here in Texas.
Hi April! Go right ahead, many people make my recipes and sell them at farmers markets, bakeries, and even restaurants! As long as you aren’t selling the recipe itself but are selling the baked good you made from the recipe, you can absolutely do that! Best wishes with your new endeavor!
Anyone have any suggestions on if I should use salted toasted / roasted nuts or those that are not salted? I’m fine with unsalted butter and some salt flakes to finish it off just don’t want to over do the salt. Mahalos~
~Pua
I’ll come back after I make this. 🙂
Hi Paulini! I typically use unsalted unroasted almonds here, but you can use roasted nuts if you’d like. I would stick to unsalted. 🙂
This toffee is amazing! It took a while to get it to the right temperature, but in the end, it was so worth it!
We’ve made this several times now with various nuts, and it’s fantastic! A note for Whitney (the Reply button isn’t available for her comment for some reason): The first two times I made this it separated even though I followed the directions exactly and I was really frustrated. Then it occurred to me that I was using organic sugar and that might somehow be an issue. I went to the store and bought a fresh bag of C&H regular white sugar and the recipe worked perfectly. Now I always get a fresh bag of sugar before making toffee and it’s always great. Hope this helps somebody!
You also cannot substitute the butter for grass fed.
I substituted semi sweet chocolate chips for the milk chocolate and the recipe came out perfect. This was my first time making candy, so I was a bit nervous, but it is literally foolproof. A definite winner.
We’re so happy it turned out for you, Diane! Enjoy 😊
the worst toffee recipe I’ve used. I attempted this 4 times and the butter and sugar separated every time before the mixture was hot enough
Hi Whitney! Unfortunately, it sounds like you are heating it too quickly. 🙁
This recipe is practically a no-brainer/can’t lose confection. If you undercook the toffee, you get a soft toffee treat that literally everyone can eat. If you cook it right, you get that wonderful shatter that sweet toothes know and love. One of my go-to items for the holidays.