If you’ve ever felt intimidated by candy making, give this English toffee recipe a try.Our recipe will help you get it right the first time with step by step instructions, photographs and videos.
If you’ve tried making toffee and had the questions: “Why is my toffee soft?” or “Why won’t my toffee turn brown?” you’ve come to the right place! I’ll answer those questions and show you how to turn your next batch around in the right direction. You might also like our Churro toffee recipe.
Watch Our Step By Step Video!
One of my FAVORITE holiday treats is this English toffee. My aunt made this for our family every year for Christmas and I always looked forward to it! When I grew up and started my own family, I asked her for the recipe so that I could start making it for gifts.
What is English Toffee?
Do you like Skor Bars, Heath Bars or Almond Roca? If so, you’ll love our English toffee recipe. It is SO MUCH BETTER than any of those! English toffee is made from sugar and butter and heated to the hard crack stage for a crunchy, buttery candy. I’ve heard that traditional English toffee isn’t made with nuts, but we won’t even go there. Toffee simply isn’t the same without almonds. Many versions only sprinkle nuts on top of the chocolate, but mine has whole almonds in the toffee too. Of course, if you aren’t a fan of nuts, you can leave them out.
I made my first batch of English toffee 15 years ago, and it was…gritty. Eww. And soft. I was SO bummed! When toffee is undercooked it’s not only soft and gritty, but it tastes bad, too. I wasn’t going to give up. Making it is so much cheaper than buying it so I kept trying and the second batch turned out great!
I’ve taken step by step photos of how I make homemade toffee. It actually isn’t hard and uses pretty basic ingredients!
What others are saying about this Toffee Recipe
“I had never made toffee prior to finding your recipe last Christmas. I have since made it seven or eight times and it has been perfect every single time. I just made the first of this season’s batches on a different stove and it was still perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!”
“Just made my first batch of your toffee and it came out pretty much exactly like you said it would! Your very clear instructions made it a breeze, and I’ll now be making several more batches to give as Christmas presents.”
“My first batch was the aforementioned disaster. But I just made my second, and it is beautiful and perfect!”
How To Make Perfect English Toffee Every Time
Before you dive into our English toffee recipe and make your first batch be sure to read through my entire post and the helpful tips at the end!You can also check out my Instagram highlight videos titled “Toffee” where I make a batch in real time.
English Toffee Recipe Ingredients
- Butter (DO NOT use margarine)
- Sugar
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Almonds, whole or sliced (optional)
- Chocolate chips or melting chocolate wafers
First, you will need to line baking sheets with foil. One baking sheet per batch. As you can see I made a lot this day. By the end of the day, I had 6 batches of toffee.
Adding Nuts to Your English Toffee
If you’d like almonds inside the toffee, not just on the top, toss a handful of sliced or whole almonds onto the baking sheet. You’ll pour the toffee over the almonds when it has finished cooking. As you can see, I love almonds and go heavy on them. I add 1 cup of almonds to each baking sheet before pouring the toffee onto the sheet. You can also use walnuts, pecans, mixed nuts, or just leave the nuts out all together.
How To Cook English Toffee Over the Stove
Heat all of your ingredients (except for the nuts and chocolate) in a heavy saucepan on med heat until the butter is melted. Turn temp up to med-high and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Set your timer for 5 minutes and DO NOT let ANYTHING disturb you while you stir. You must keep stirring your butter/sugar mixture so that it does not burn. And you must use a WOODEN spoon. Wood doesn’t conduct heat like metal and this mixture is going to GET HOT. If you use a wooden spoon you’ll be able to hold onto it the entire time you’re stirring the hot toffee.
After 2 minutes it should look something like this in the photo above.
After 4 minutes it has lost it’s yellow color and is turning brown. It is also looking frothy. But it is not done until it has turned the color of a brown paper bag. It may look done and you may think it is burning, but trust me. Keep stirring until your timer goes off. It may even smoke a tiny bit and that is ok. If you are really concerned, lift you pan off of theburner (while you are still stirring) to remove it from the heat, but still stir until your timer goes off.
And here it is after 5 minutes. Nice and BROWN. There is a definite difference between 4 and 5 minutes of cooking. That extra minute makes all the difference in the texture.
Immediately pour hot toffee onto your foil-lined baking sheet. If you added nuts to your baking sheet, pour the toffee over the nuts.
Do not scrape the bottom of the pan. As you pour, the bottom will brown and you don’t want that in your toffee.
Fill your pan with hot water and set it aside. It will start dissolving the toffee left insideand make it easier to clean.
Perfect color. Perfect texture. Let cool. It should harden within a couple of minutes.
And now for the fun part. Chocolate! Melt Ghirardelli wafers, Wilton melting chocolate, chocolate chips, or any other variety of melting chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals until smooth. Spread across your toffee with a small spatula or butter knife. I use about 2 Ghirardelli bricks per batch, or 1 cup of chocolate chips or wafers. If you melt too much that’s ok, it will harden again and you can just microwave it again another time for another use.
You can wait until the top hardens and then turn it over and spread more chocolate on the bottom so that both sides of the toffee are covered with chocolate, but I don’t think it is necessary.
Sprinkle with sliced almonds, if desired, while the chocolate is still soft. After it has set up, break toffee into pieces.
And that is it! See, it’s not so hard! No temps, no candy thermometer, no special tools required. JUST HEAT, and lots of it.
Tips, Tricks, and FAQ for Making this English Toffee Recipe:
Here are some more helpful hints that my aunt shared with me for this English toffee recipe.
- Do NOT doublethe recipe
- You must use a WOODEN spoon.
- Use a clean, dry pan for each new batch.
- Cook over high- medium/high.
- By all means, if after 5 minutes your toffee still isn’t the color of a brown bag, keep it on the stove for another minute or so. Every stove cooks differently. The 5-minute timer is just a guide.
Store in an airtight container indefinitely.
Can I make this English toffee recipe with margarine?
NO!! It must be butter. Butter is a key ingredient in any caramel or toffee recipe.
Why didn’t my toffee turn brown?
It will turn brown if the heat is med-high and you cook it for 5-6 minutes. Crank up that heat, don’t let it simmer on low. It will start out yellow, then become light brown, then finally the right brown paper brown that you are looking for. Just keep stirring and cooking!
Why is my toffee separating?
There are a couple of things that could be happening. 1: Your heat might not be high enough. 2: I haven’t ever experienced this, but I have heard that if you use SALTED butter that it is better for toffee making. I only buy salted butter so maybe that’s why I’ve never had my toffee separate. You also need to make sure that you are CONSTANTLY stirring the mixture.
Why is my toffee soft?
If your toffee doesn’t have a hard texture (where you can snap it in half) you did not cook it long enough. Again, the 5-minutes is just a guide. Cook it until it is the color of a brown bag.
How Should English Toffee Taste?
Toffee should be a combination of sweet and salty. A mixture of butter and caramel and have a nice snap when broken into pieces. If your toffee is soft or gritty or tastes bitter see tips above for troubleshooting.
Can You Freeze English Toffee?
Toffee can be frozen up to 2 months. It also lasts quite awhile at room temperature if stored in a container.
Perfect English Toffee Recipe
English Toffee Recipe
If you’ve ever felt intimidated by candy making, give thisEnglish toffee recipea try.One of our favorite holiday recipes to make for family and friends.
4.29 from 28 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes
cooling toffee and cooling chocolate: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 16 1 oz servings
Calories: 295kcal
Equipment
baking sheet
foil
sturdy pan
wooden spoon
measuring cup
measuring spoons
spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter DO NOT USE MARGARINE
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup chocolate chips or melting chocolate
Instructions
Line a baking sheet with foil. If you'd like to have nuts in your toffee, toss a handful of almonds onto the baking sheet. Set aside.
Heat all of your ingredients (except for the nuts and chocolate) in a nice sturdy saucepan on med heat until butter is melted. Turn temp up to med-high and stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil.
Set your timer for 5 minutes and DO NOT let ANYTHING disturb you while you stir. You must keep stirring your butter/sugar mixture so that it does not burn. And you must use a WOODEN spoon.
Keep stirringuntil your timer goes off. It may even smoke a tiny bit and that is ok. If you are really concerned, lift you pan off of theburner (while you are still stirring) to remove it from the heat, but still stir until your timer goes off.
Immediately pour hot toffee onto your foil-lined baking sheet. If you added nuts to your baking sheet, pour the toffee over the nuts.
The toffee will be about 1/4-1/2" thick. Do not scrape the bottom of the pan. As you pour, the bottom will brown and you don’t want that in your toffee.
Fill your pan with hot water and set it aside. It will start dissolving the toffee left insideand make it easier to clean.
Let cool. It should harden within a couple of minutes.
MeltGhirardelli bricks or wafers, Wilton melting chocolate, chocolate chips, or any other variety of melting chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals until smooth.
Spread across your toffee with a small spatula or butter knife. I use about 2 Ghirardelli bricks per batch. If you melt too much that’s ok, it will harden again and you can just microwave it again another time for another use.
Sprinkle with sliced almonds, if desired, while the chocolate is still soft. After it has set up, break toffee into pieces.
Notes
Here are some more helpful hints for making this English toffee recipe.
- Do NOT doublethe recipe
- You must use a WOODEN spoon
- Use a clean, dry pan for each new batch.
- Cook over high- medium/high.(My stove is gas and tends to cook really hot, really fast. So I usually drop the heat to medium for my toffee, but in years past when I had an electric flat top stove, med-high worked best.)
- The 5 minute cook time is just a guide. If you hit 5 minutes and your toffee still isn't the color of a brown paper bag, add an extra minute. Cook times vary on each stove.
Nutrition
Calories: 295kcal
Here is a collection of holiday candy recipes to try from Taste of Home.
