Fail-Proof Toffee Recipe - Cooking With Karli (2024)

Toffee is a rich, buttery hard candy that is topped with semi-sweet chocolate. This is the only toffee recipe you will ever need. It is perfect for gifting, parties or even just snacking!

What is Toffee?

Toffee is a classic hard candy recipe that consists of equal parts butter and granulated sugar. Sometimes it is left as is, or sometimes it is topped with chocolate and nuts. This recipe is classically made around the Holidays.

When Thanksgiving is past and the Christmas decorations are out I go into FULL Christmas mode! And no Christmas treat plate would ever be complete without toffee! I absolutely love toffee and have spent the last YEAR perfecting this recipe and method to make it as fail-proof as possible. (Read: I failed a lot, a lot of times while experimenting so you don’t have to!!)

This is one of the easiest and best toffee recipes EVER! Just a handful of ingredients and about 30 minutes is all that separates you from sweet toffee joy!

What is Toffee Made Of?

• Butter-You can use salted or unsalted for this recipe. I usually use salted because it is what I have on hand.
• Sugar-Just plain white granulated sugar will do do the trick.
• Vanilla- Vanilla is one of those ingredients in my kitchen that I don’t skimp on. Buying real vanilla is a little more pricey but it makes a huge difference. However, you can use whatever you have.
• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips-I recommend semi-sweet or dark chocolate for this rather than milk because the milk chocolate never seems to fully set back up after being melted. If you don’t mind the chocolate melting onto your fingertips when grabbing a piece of toffee, than go right ahead and use milk chocolate!
• Minced Almonds-This ingredient is totally optional and is for sprinkling on top of the melted chocolate. Feel free to mix things up with a different kind of nut, or go rouge and have fun coming up with other toppings! Crushed pretzels, sprinkles, sea salt or even crushed cookie pieces! You can totally change up this ingredient or omit it all together.

How To Make Toffee from Scratch

Like I said above, there is one right way to make toffee and a lot of ways to fail at making toffee. This recipe is super easy, but just a warning, it has to be done exactly as written. Otherwise the sugar and butter will separate and you will be left with a hot pot of garbage and wasted ingredients.

Start by lining a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set it aside somewhere you can grab it quickly once the toffee is done boiling.

Add the butter and sugar to a heavy bottomed, medium sauce pan. Over low heat melt them together while stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Continue stirring until the mixture begins to boil and becomes white and creamy.

Turn up the heat to medium low and let it continue to boil. DO NOT STIR during this step. Stirring here will cause the butter and sugar to separate. Let it boil untouched until the toffee has changed to an almond brown color. (300 degrees if you are using a candy thermometer). Watch it carefully, as you don’t want it to burn!

Once it has turned brown (or reached temperature) Remove it from the heat and add the vanilla. Stir it as little as possible to incorporate the vanilla into the toffee. The caramel may look a little swirled with the coloring right now, but that is okay.

Immediately pour the toffee onto your prepared cookie sheet and spread it out until it is 1/4 inch thick. Allow the toffee to cool for 2 or so minutes before sprinkling the chocolate chips on top. Let the chocolate chips melt for 5 minutes before spreading them out over the toffee and topping with the almonds or topping of your choice.

Allow the toffee to cool completely and the chocolate to harden before breaking it up with a knife. You can speed up the process by cooling it in the fridge if you are in a time crunch.

Store in an airtight container for up to a week, but in my house we are lucky if it lasts a day!

What does Toffee taste like?

It is a hard, crunchy candy that tastes like a buttery caramel. While it is a hard candy, toffee is very easy to chew.

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More Christmas Candy Recipes

• Peanut Clusters
• Microwave Peanut Brittle
• 2 Minute Fudge
• Sprinkle Cookies