The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (2024)

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How to make English Toffee the easy way.You'll love this homemade Christmas treat perfect for gifting or parties.

this awesome idea!

DELICIOUS AND EASY ENGLISH TOFFEE

It wouldn't be a Christmas season without making my mom's homemade English Toffee recipe. She's the reason I started this blog after all, (read the story here!) so it's only appropriate that I share one of her most famous recipes with all of you along with 13-layer rainbow jello.

This English Toffee candy is so simple to make and tastes delicious!Like, melt in your mouth delicious.

So if you've ever wondered "how to make toffee" this post will show you how easy it is!

WHAT IS TOFFEE?

This English butter toffee recipe is a popular Christmas treat made with butter, sugar, and chocolate.

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ENGLISH TOFFEE GIFTS

Homemade toffee is great for Neighbor gifts, teacher gifts, or visitors who stop by. Just package this English butter toffee little cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon for a quick gift!

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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE TOFFEE:

What is English toffee made of?

  • 1 pound real butter- do not use margarine (they don't call it a buttery English toffee recipe for no reason!)
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 ½ cups white sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons light corn syrup
  • about 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • chopped walnuts, if desired
  • candy thermometer
  • wooden spoon
  • large sauce pan
  • baker's half sheet (I use this one for all my baking!)
  • cellophane bags for gifts

SHOP THE SUPPLIES

HOW TO MAKE ENGLISH TOFFEE

1. First, melt the butter in a large saucepan on medium heat. Don't burn it! Once the butter starts melting, attach the candy thermometer to side of the pan like this:

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2. Once the butter melts, stir in the water, sugar, and light corn syrup. You'll cook it until it reaches 300 degrees F, or the hard crack stage. This is a hard toffee recipe, so be sure it reaches the full temperature.

It will take about 15 minutes to reach 300 degrees. Just keep stirring. So before you start making this Toffee, make sure you have a good 20 minutes or so that you can dedicate to just this!

3. Once the old English toffee mixture has reaches that temperature, you pour the super hot, sweet-smelling hot toffee mixture onto an extra large cookie sheet (*aff. link).

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4. Then you sprinkle semi-sweet chocolate chips onto the toffee. And if you keep your chocolate chips in the freezer like I do and are worried about them not melting, do not fear! They will melt just fine.

You'll want a bowl scraper to smooth the chocolate chips all over the toffee. Keep smoothing until the chocolate has melted and you have a nice, smooth layer on top.

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5. For English toffee with nuts, just sprinkle chopped walnuts, or your favorite nuts, on top at this point. You can certainly make it without nuts, too.

6. Take the cookie sheet (*aff. link) of goodness and place outside (if it's nice and cold!) or in the refrigerator and leave there until the toffee has hardened and the chocolate is no longer runny.

7. Once the toffee has cooled completely, hit with the back of a knife to make uneven pieces. Once you have one section broken, you can even use your hands to break the rest.

8. Store in an airtight container or package up for yummy gifts.

See how easy making toffee can be? Seriously, you got this!

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READY TO MAKE THE BEST ENGLISH TOFFEE?

I would say I would send you some of ours, but the truth is: our entire batch is already gone. Guess we'll just need to make another! 🙂

OTHER AMAZING RECIPES TO TRY:

  • The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (2 dozen in 30 minutes!)
  • 5-Minute Frozen Hot Chocolate

Here's the easy recipe for English Toffee!

Print

The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (9)

The Best English Toffee

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: SoFestive.com
  • Total Time: 17 minutes
  • Yield: 13x18 cookie sheet (*aff. link) 1x
Print Recipe

Description

A simple but amazing English Toffee, perfect for holiday gifts, parties, or treats!

Ingredients

Scale

  • 1 pound real butter, do not use margarine
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 ½ cups white sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons light corn syrup
  • about 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • chopped walnuts, if desired
  • candy thermometer
  • wooden spoon

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Attach the candy thermometer to the pan now.
  2. Once the butter is melted, add in the water, white sugar and corn syrup.
  3. Cook the mixture until it reaches 300 degrees F (hard crack) on a candy thermometer. This will take about 12-14 minutes. Make sure to stir continually so that it doesn't burn. Use a wooden spoon-- a plastic spoon will melt!
  4. Once it reaches 300 F, pour the mixture on an ungreased cookie sheet (10x15 is good).
  5. Sprinkle chocolate chips on the top and spread with a bowl scraper. (They will melt). Once you spread the chocolate and it's all melted, sprinkle the chopped nuts if you are going to add them. Cool until hard. To speed up the process, place outside in the cold weather or place in the refrigerator.
  6. Once cool and hard, use the back of a knife to break the English Toffee into pieces. Store in an air-tight container.
  • Prep Time: 3 minutes
  • Cook Time: 14 minutes
  • Category: Treats

Save this British toffee recipe for later! Enjoy one of our favorite Christmas goodies!

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The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between English toffee and regular toffee? ›

Americanized toffee may include nuts, while a completely traditional British toffee will not. On the other hand, English toffee uses pure cane sugar, brown sugar, or molasses as its sweet base and always involves chocolate.

Why is my toffee chewy and not crunchy? ›

Don't hurry this gradual transformation; syrup that doesn't reach 300°F, or close to it, will make candy with timid flavor and chewy (not crunchy) texture. Think you can save time by bringing the syrup to a full rolling, popping boil in order for it to darken more quickly? Think again.

Why is my English toffee grainy? ›

As the toffee cools and the molten sugar crystals become solid again, they are attracted to the 'seed' forming new lumps of tiny crystals – hence the grainy texture. This can also happen if the toffee is stirred, or agitated, after it has begun to boil or on cooling (as happened with this pink-tinted toffee).

Why does the butter separate when making English toffee? ›

If the butterfat separates out then usually this is due to the mixture being either heated or cooled too quickly, which "shocks" the mixture and causes the fat to separate out. It can also be caused by the mixture being heated unevenly (if the pan has a thin base and has hot spots).

Why add baking soda to toffee? ›

This toffee is cooked initially to 310°F (154°C), then the salt and baking soda are added, creating carbon dioxide. The foaming and bubbling aerate the candy somewhat, making the texture lighter and the candy easier to bite into.

What is English toffee called in England? ›

Although named English toffee, it bears little resemblance to the wide range of confectionery known as toffee currently available in the United Kingdom. However, one can still find this product in the UK under the name "butter crunch".

Why do you not stir toffee? ›

It's important while the toffee cooks to only stir it occasionally. Constant stirring can cause the toffee to crystallize and separate.

How to stop toffee from crystallizing? ›

To avoid starting again, try these tips. Dissolve the sugar completely before increasing the heat and bringing the mixture to the boil. You'll know when it's dissolved - there won't be any crystals on your spoon. Brush any sugar crystals from the side of the pan with a wet pastry brush during the toffee-making process.

What can go wrong making toffee? ›

Common toffee making mistakes:
  1. I started with way too high of a heat. (At least, I think this was an issue.) I set my portable cooktop at 260 degrees F.
  2. I stirred too quickly. I didn't realize this could be an issue.
  3. I didn't add a dash of salt. They say you can save a ruined batch of toffee by adding a dash of salt.
Dec 13, 2017

Is light or dark brown sugar better for toffee? ›

Generally, dark varieties contain about 6.5% molasses versus the 3.5% found in lighter ones, which gives dark brown sugar both a deeper color and a stronger flavor with more potent caramel and toffee notes.

Why do you put cream of tartar in toffee? ›

This means that as boiling continues, a portion of the sugar separates into its constituent parts—glucose and fructose. Adding cream of tartar and a dash of vinegar to a toffee recipe helps bring about this change.

Why add water when making toffee? ›

Add the water and again bring to the boiling point. Boiling the butter and water will dissolve the sugar crystals very quickly. This will keep the batch from recrystallizing during the cooking process.

What is the difference between toffee UK and US? ›

English toffee and American toffee diverged with the preferred use of sugar type. English toffee is made with brown sugar, while American-style toffee, known as buttercrunch is made with white table sugar (granulated sugar). Buttercrunch is typically dusted with crushed almonds or other nuts.

Is English toffee hard or soft? ›

Homemade English Toffee is a sweet and addicting treat made with a hard candy layer topped with chocolate and chopped pecans for a nutty crunch. Plus, it is a no-bake dessert, so there is no need to turn on the oven.

What flavor is English toffee? ›

Toffee is often combined with nuts such as almonds and semi-sweet chocolate to create classic English toffee. This is done by spreading the hot toffee out flat over a sheet pan and topping it with semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Is English toffee syrup the same as toffee nut? ›

Toffee nut is much more, well, nutty! Whereas, English toffee has a more buttery and smooth flavor.

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