Toffee is one
of my favorite holiday candies. I like to make it because it’s fast and easy.
It’s also fail-proof once you know how to do it. You can make it with or
without nuts, depending on your taste and allergies. I love it with sliced almonds,
but my favorite is fresh chopped walnuts. We have a walnut tree in our back
yard. (The squirrel and I have a contest each fall to see who gets the nuts. When
I get there first, he scolds me soundly.)
2 cubes butter (must be AA grade. Lesser grades of butter have water
in them and the
candy will
separate.)
1 cup sugar
5 T. water
1 t. vanilla
Chocolate – use good quality, your favorite
Nuts – any kind you wish.
Put the
butter, sugar and water in a frying pan and turn the heat up high. Don’t turn
it down. Stir the whole time. It takes about 10 – 15 minutes to make. Cook it
until the color turns caramel. You can
see little puffs of smoke coming from the caramel-colored bubbles. Take it off
the heat and add the vanilla.
Pour the
candy over the sliced almonds or chopped walnuts. I have a marble slab that I
pour the candy on, but you can use a cookie sheet set on a bread board. The
candy gets so hot, I wouldn’t put the cookie sheet directly on Formica. It
might burn through. If you want the candy covered with chocolate, sprinkle
pieces on top while it’s hot and let it melt. Spread it out.
Cool, break
it into pieces and enjoy. Plan on making several batches. My kids can eat it
faster than I can make it.
Pouring Toffee onto nuts.
After the toffee cools, break it into pieces.
After the toffee cools, break it into pieces.
That sounds delicious! I think I will make it for Christmas with the in-laws.
ReplyDeleteWhat is 2 cubes butter - would it be 2 Tablespoons?
ReplyDelete2 cubes of butter is 1/2 a pound. Butter usually comes in pound packages, divided into 4 different sections. I call them cubes. Maybe I should call them squares. Sorry about that, Christy
DeleteI call them sticks. But I have heard of them called cubes.
DeleteWhere do you two live? Here butter comes in pound blocks. Just one solid block, not sectioned into cubes or sticks. :)
Delete2 cubes would equal 1/2 of a stick of butter. If you cut the a stick of butter in 4 equal pieces you will see why it is called a cube.
ReplyDelete2 cubes is 1/2 pound butter. Butter comes in pound packages divided into 4 sections. 2 of them is equal to 1/2 a pound. Should I call them squares? Sorry for the misunderstanding. :} Christy
DeleteIn U.S., 1/4 lb of butter is usually referred to as a stick because our lb, of butter is generally shaped about 6"x1"x1" or so. Our recipes also refer to butter simply by weight (e.g. - 1/2 lb butter)
DeleteHow much chocolate
ReplyDeletePut as much chocolate on as you want. You can make it thin or thick. My family likes it thick. But it's your preference. Use any kind of chocolate you like. I usually use chips because I have them on hand, but you decide what works best for you. Thanks for asking. Christy :}
DeleteI'm curious - why is it important to use high grade butter without water in it, when you then add water to the recipe? Hmmm. Can't wait to try - I love toffee.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great question that is! I don't know the answer. I have, however used a lesser grade of butter and the candy separates and goes runny and clumpy.
DeleteI hope somebody reads this that can answer the quesiton. I'd love to know.
High quality butter has less water in it, but unsalted, or sweet, butter doesn't have any significant water in it. Could you use unsalted butter instead and eliminate the guess work?
DeleteReal butter should not have extra water. As hot as you are cooking it. All the water should evaporate out. I don't think that is the problem.
DeleteI have been making toffee for 50 years. The quality of the butter is key. The woman who taught me to make it INSISTED it be high quality. I've tried it with all different grades...she was right.
DeleteYou can skip the water part specifically because the water content in butter is so much higher.
ReplyDeleteI also add a little dark rum when I add the vanilla. The alcohol cooks off but the flavor is richer
How much dark rum do you add,might try it with salted Carmel moonshine
DeleteHow long does it take to cool? I just made two batches and can't wait :-).
ReplyDeleteI think it depends what you cool it on. It only takes a little while on my marble slab. You can tell it's cool when the chocolate sets. However, I can never wait until the entire batch is cool. I have to chip off the edges as soon as they are cool.
Deletethis looks delish! Thanks for sharing! ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen do I add the chocolate?
ReplyDeleteSprinkle as much as you want on the top of the candy after you pour it out on your marble slab (or whatever)The chocolate will melt on the hot candy and then you can spread it around.
DeleteHow much nuts? 1 cup or ??????
ReplyDeleteThank you.
As many as you want, and whatever kind you want. I've used whole or chopped walnuts, whole or slivered almonds. Spread them around in an area about as big as a dinner plate and then pour the hot candy over them.
DeleteJust made my first batch for our Christmas celebration. My grandmother (who can't get enough toffee) said it was some of the best she's had! Thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteOn high heat and with a cast iron pan, it took about 5 minutes for it to start burning. It still tastes good, but I'll have to make another batch once I get more butter at the store. You may want to specify what "up high" means if it is not meant to be on high heat.
ReplyDelete"Up high" is probably different for every stove. It sounds like you got it right. If it tastes great and crunches, it's done. You're good to go! I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for trying it. :}
DeleteMedium High heat, about 6 or 7 *maybe* an 8 (if you go by numbers), is the highest I go for any candy making. It's great, though, how clear the pictures are for this post. I do wish there were a few more, but sugar is finicky and it can be hard to capture the full experience without risking the finished product. It bugs me when someone vaguely describes a vital candy making stage and fails to include a picture for reference.
DeleteI have a squiggly piece of metal that I use on the eye of my stove and the pan sits on that piece. This prevents easy burning or burning on spot areas on the bottom of the toffee. I usually stir mine until it is at the hard crack stage according to the candy thermometer. This year I'm going to try a batch until it is the soft crack stage. My Mother in Law LOVES my toffee and since she is having trouble chewing at age 88, I'm hoping the soft crack stage will taste as good and solve the dental issue. I use a large chocolate bar for the chocolate, 1/2 on one side, 1/2 on the other chopped up in the food processor.
DeleteWow that looks yummy!
ReplyDeleteHi-thanks for the recipe! I tried this tonight and it separated. Did I cook it too long? It looked great, just like the photo, then all of a sudden it didn't. Thank you!
ReplyDeletelooking at the photo again, I think mine got darker than yours, and very quickly.
DeleteI made it also,that happened to mine too. I think I lowered the heat because I thought that it was going to burn. It was going nicely, looked like the photo, next second it separated, I'm so sad 😞
DeleteThanks for the recipe, I've always been a big fan of candy, especially toffee. I used to drive to this little shop that was a good 30 minutes from my house just to buy it, but it closed down a few months ago. This recipe makes very similar toffee to that shop I'm so happy i found it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this awesome recipe. I tried it last night with almonds and chocolate. I will try it next time with more vanilla. I will also try the dark rum, I want a but more flavor. It was quick n tasty.
ReplyDeleteMeasurements should not be general anymore since this is being seen around the world and everywhere might not know what a cube means.
ReplyDelete1/2 pound butter = 8 ounces = 1 cup = 250 grams
Regardless, I love toffee, thank you for the recipe!
227 grams of butter are in one cup
DeleteJust made this-1/2 with walnuts and 1/2 without. SO YUMMY and SO EASY!
ReplyDeleteI have made toffee for years, and usually I ruin the first batch. This is my first time using this recipe and it came out PERFECTLY - even though I forgot to add the vanilla.
ReplyDeleteThe recipe calls for 5 T water and 1 T vanille. Is T a teaspoon or a tablespoon?
ReplyDeleteUppercase "T" is tablespoon and lowercase "t" is a teaspoon. Calls for 5 T water and 1 t vanilla.
DeleteI burned it!��. I followed the recipe exactly, but within 5 minutes, I had the right color. Because the recipe states that the cooking time is 10-15 minutes, I continued to cook it for a few more minutes. It quickly turned dark brown. It was too burned and bitter to eat so it is in the trash. I think that the fry pan must speed up the cooking process. I will make it again but the next time, I will not burn it, 3-5 minutes of a full, rolling boil should be adequate.
ReplyDeleteyes mine came close to burning also. i think she used a cast iron skillet, i used on of my regular paula dean ones, yes it doesnt take long, just use your eye and nose to say its done. mine srarted to smoke so i took it off the heat...thank goodness its good. Real butter cost way too much to waste! good luck next time!
DeleteI made this today and it was good. It only took about 8 minutes at medium high heat, and I used Imperial Margerine because thats what I had on hand. This if so quick and easy. I poured it out on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam, and I didn't have any nuts so I left those out, but I did use chocolate chips and spread them when they melted. Very Good :)
ReplyDeleteCannot wait to try your recipe! Thank you so very much for sharing. I had no idea one of my favorite candies is so easy to make and now I have the perfect Christmas gift idea for my friends! Thanks again! !��
ReplyDeleteJust made this and it was delicious, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteif Heath bars are your favorite, You will love this recipe!! Tastes just like it and even better! i made mine with dark choc and cashews!!! oh yum!! ill have this eaten all today! thank you
ReplyDeleteHow do you store it? Counter or fridge?
ReplyDeleteI just made this and it is delicious, but it is sticking to my teeth. Did I not cook it long enough? It is brittle when breaking up , but when warms up into mouth it sticks.
ReplyDeleteWow! This recipe is awesome! I made a batch for a Christmas party yesterday, and it was gobbled right up. I had to make another batch today to send to my husband's work. Thank you for sharing. This will be a new Christmas tradition!
ReplyDeletei do not have a breadboard what could i put underneath??
ReplyDeleteA couple pot holders or some folded hand towels.
DeleteI use European butter also because of the higher fat content. Yes you do add 5 Tbsp water but if you use the regular butter there's no need really to add that water. Some people want to just wet the sugar before cooking but the added water does make it seperate usually. For best results with toffee stay with the higher fat butter Plugra is really good.
ReplyDelete