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
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
Recommended Equipment
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
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Hannah Lubner
Hi Sam!
I’ve used your recipe a number of times and the first few batches came out perfectly!!! Beginners luck I think!
I can’t seem to get consistent results with my toffee as the last 3 batches were not smooth like they should be and the butter and sugar separated leaving a greasy layer on top!
Please could you advise me on what I might be doing wrong? I’m not sure if I’m stirring too often/not enough or if I’m using the wrong type of pot.
(I don’t have a candy thermometer so used the cold water to determine when the toffee was at hard crack stage. )
Thanks so much :):)
Sam
Hi Hannah! Candy is tricky but my best guess would be that your temperature could be a bit too high while the butter is melting. The butter and sugar need to melt gradually in the beginning, and if the heat is too high while this is happening the two might separate, giving you that greasy layer that you’re having trouble with. Medium heat has always worked well for me, but in your case I might suggest turning the heat down to medium-low during the melting stage and seeing if that helps! Let me know if it does!
Hannah
Hi Sam. Thanks so much for the advice. I made another batch last night using a little less butter and a slightly lower heat during the melting stage! The toffee turned out PERFECT! By far the most successful batch I’ve made yet. There was no buttery film on top and the toffee hardened smooth. Thanks for the help 🙂 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
You are so very welcome, Hannah! I am so happy that they turned out so well. Enjoy your toffee! 🙂
Michele B
What happens if you use salted butter? I have a big box of Irish butter from Costco. Good quality butter with a lower salt/moisture content.
Sam
Hi Michele! Typically when you substitute salted butter for unsalted butter, you cut the amount of salt added by 1/4 teaspoon for each stick of butter. So in this case, you can leave out the salt if using salted butter. 🙂
Ajene Nodd
Hi Sam my toffee came out great thank you for this recipe, I didn’t have a candy thermometer so I used the ice water method to determine the right texture for the candy. This recipe was simple and easy to follow, I definitely will be making this toffee using your recipe again.
Sugar Spun Run
Ajene, thank you! I am so glad you enjoyed the toffee. 🙂
Lucy
Would you ever consider adding Hershey Cocoa to the toffee mix with the sugar? It could be a possible heavenly chocolate toffee.
Sam
Hmm that is a really cool idea. I haven’t tried it and I’m not sure how it would turn out. Candy can be a little finicky and having not tried it, I can’t say whether or not it would work. If you try it, I would love to know how it works if you do. 🙂
Jan
Well, I bought the thermometer and set for hard crack. In retrospect, I wonder if I should have just set for 305. Regardless, it was at 297 and I stirred it and then it jumped to 305-307. As soon as I stopped stirring, it went back down…I wasn’t sure what to do. I did stir in vanilla and pulled off burner, but I would say it over cooked. Not burnt but pretty hard. I’d really appreciate your thoughts/suggestions.
Sam
Hi Jan! Did the toffee taste burnt at all? Did it have that bitter taste to it? If it didn’t it might not have been burnt, the toffee should be pretty hard and brittle so that would be right. Happy to discuss further though!
Gali
Would it be possible to add almonds into the toffee and maybe score it so I’ll be able to break it up in uniform pieces and then dip in chocolate? 😳🤔
Sam
Hi Gali! There are already almonds in the recipe. 🙂 You can certainly score it and break it if you are able to. It will make breaking it a lot easier. Enjoy. 🙂
Lauren
I tried this toffee recipe for my base and added my own twist (pretzels, white chocolate, sprinkles, and decorating gel) and it worked beautifully! I didn’t have a candy thermometer but your video helped me understand what the color needed to be so I knew it was done. It tastes AMAZING and I am addicted!
Danyell S.
I just made this today. Even though the butter separated (probably because my pans are the cheap thin ones), it still tastes so good. Thank you for this recipe! I can now make basically my favorite candy bar anytime I want now!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Danyell! 🙂
Ruth
The best ever!! I have made many and none compare to this. My thighs thank you!
Sam
😂I am so glad you enjoy it, Ruth! 🙂
Jackie Lais
I’ve never made candy before and Toffee is one of my husbands favorites… I watched your video and prepared as instructed… it was so fun to make and it turned out great! Thank you for sharing this recipe for Toffee!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Jackie! 🙂
JoAnn Angus
I just wanted to know if I could substitute honey or agave for the sugar ? If so how much do you think I should use?
Sam
Hi, JoAnn. I have not tried this substitution. I am afraid the honey or agave would start burning.
Lori
Hi Sam, love your toffee recipe!
So the last batch i made, came out perfect, brought it to hard crack stage and was amber in color, but over time the caramel turned to a light cream color. I did refrigerate the toffee after 24 hours and is kept in a air tight container. Any suggestions as to why it turned to a cream color?
Lori
Sam
Hi Lori! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! So, that color change is interesting, I’ve never had that happen. Did the color change occur after the refrigeration, or before?
Lisa
Hi Sam, I have an almond toffee recipe that I LOVE but I always have a hard time getting the chocolate to stay attached to the toffee. Once I break the toffee into pieces the chocolate comes right off. I use bar chocolate (Cadbury’s) – and I suspect that it’s due to a higher fat content or something along those lines. Any pointers?
Sam
I haven’t had that problem with this toffee, but I always add the chocolate when the toffee is warm, which helps the two gel together. 🙂
Dale in PGH
I have never made candy before. So, after reading the recipe and watching your video (twice), I bought the candy thermometer you recommend, got everything ready in advance, and carefully followed all of the steps in the recipe except for using semi-sweet instead of milk chocolate chips. The toffee is EXCELLENT! I guess an old retired guy who’s not much of a cook can even be successful making candy with such good instruction. Thank you very much.
Sam
Thank you so much, Dale! I am so excited to hear this, candy can be very tricky, even if you follow all the steps correctly. I’m very happy to hear that it worked well for you. 🙂
Sherry J Gillard
I love everything buttery, brown sugary, caramely, butterscotchy, including toffeery. Back in the good old days, the only place I could find a decent butterscotch was at the local Dairy Queen. They had the ULTIMATE BUTTERSCOTCH SYRUP to die for. It, like many other good old things, fell by the wayside and I was left hanging out to dry. I don’t suppose you have run across a good ol recipe for the best butterscotch in the world, have you? Or maybe you might know a good old woman who has one? I’d consider giving all my bags of crushed Coke cans for that recipe.
From Desperate for
Butterscotch
Sam
Hi Sherry! Unfortunately I do not have a butterscotch recipe. 🙁
Mikaru86
This looks amazing! I was looking for new chocolate/candy recipes as part of my usual Christmas gift box to friends and family and this would fit nicely. Have you ever tried this with brown sugar? I’ve been toying with the idea of making toffee ever since I tried your caramel sauce (for the sandwich cookies I believe) a while ago. I think the richer flavor of the brown sugar might work well. However, I’m unsure whether simply substituting parts (or all) of the regular sugar with brown sugar would work.
Sam
Candy is an excellent Christmas gift, your friends and family are very lucky! I haven’t tried using brown sugar in this recipe. I did try it several times in my peanut brittle (*hint*, coming soon), and it ended up burning, which was a bummer. If you do try it, I would LOVE to know how it turns out for you! 🙂
Mikaru86
Hm, I think I’ll try substituting 1/4 of the sugar with brown sugar and see how well that works out. I’ll let you know whether it burns or not 😉
Sam
That sounds like a good starting point. I was thinking about it this morning and was going to recommend subbing some but not all of the sugar, so I think we’re on the same wavelength 😂
Looking forward to hearing how it turns out! 🙂
Mikaru86
Tried them last night, they turned out great: https://imgur.com/a/ArXovPC
I used 1/4 brown sugar (and scaled everything up by 75% to fit my larger pan). I also added a dash of cinnamon to the boiling toffee mixture shortly before it reached 150°C.
In short, they are amazing. I ate what feels like 1/3 of the entire thing (I had some of it chopped into small pieces and mixed into some vanilla quark for dessert at lunch, that was a really nice combination). It was also very well received by my colleagues with comparisons to the Daim candy bars (not sure if they are a thing in the US) as well as Werther’s Original (very popular German hard caramel candy).
They will definitely be part of my Christmas gift packages, at least in one form or another (I’m thinking about spicing up the dark chocolate on top with my usual blend of cinnamon and instant cappuccino powder).
Sam
It looks awesome. Great work! I am not familiar with Daim candy, but I know Werther’s original very well. I can definitely see the similarity there. That’s not a bad thing in my book! I am also not very familiar with quark either, but after looking it up, I bet the toffee would be great in it. I am impressed you only ate 1/3. 😉:)