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

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Jump to Recipe·★★★★★5 from 2 reviews

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

📖 Printable Recipe Card

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

The Best English Toffee

★★★★★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

Keywords: english toffee, toffee, butter toffee, christmas candy

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

Why is my toffee chewy and not crunchy? ›

Low and slow

Simmering the syrup for English toffee to the requisite 300°F temperature can (and should) be a slow process — up to 20 minutes or so. 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.

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

English Toffee is a nationwide favorite that is easily made with only a few ingredients. The difference between regular toffee and English Toffee is one important ingredient – butter! I make English Toffee throughout the year for special occasions and it's always a big hit.

Which is the most famous toffee in the world? ›

Lotte Coffy Bite Toffee

This is the best toffee in the world that has a rich flavor of coffee.

What is the shelf life of English toffee? ›

For maximum taste and texture, we do recommend that you either enjoy your toffee immediately, or store it in a refrigerator or freezer. Once opened, unrefrigerated toffee will retain maximum freshness for about a week. Refrigeration adds 3-6 months of shelf life, while freezing adds up to a year or more.

What can go wrong when making toffee? ›

Stirring too quickly or too often can cause the toffee to separate. Moderate the heat as needed – turn it down if the toffee is boiling or cooking too fast so it doesn't burn. Cook until the toffee registers 285-290 degrees on an instant-read or candy thermometer and is deep amber brown in color, about 20-25 minutes.

Why do you add baking soda to toffee? ›

Brittles and toffees accumulate small amounts of acid from the browning reactions that occur during cooking. This is one reason why the baking soda is added at the end of cooking. The soda reacts with the acid to make bubbles, and the syrup foams.

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).

Do you stir toffee or not? ›

If you don't stir the toffee often as it's cooking, the toffee can separate. Once the toffee reaches 250 F degrees, stir the toffee frequently to make sure the ingredients stay together. The toffee can also separate if the temperature is too high and it gets too hot too fast. So keep the temperature around medium heat.

What is the role of butter in toffee? ›

Preventing Sugar Crystallization: The presence of butter helps to inhibit sugar crystallization during the cooking process. Sugar crystals can cause a grainy texture in the toffee.

What country makes the best toffee? ›

From humble beginnings in 1894, Walker's Nonsuch is one of England's finest and oldest makers of traditional toffee. At the heart of the family company lies quality and passion for just good ingredients like whole milk and butter.

What is toffee called in America? ›

The English toffee eaten with regularity in America is also called buttercrunch. What's the difference? Primarily, the difference rests in the ingredients. Toffee in Britain is made with brown sugar, whereas buttercrunch is made with white granulated sugar.

Can you freeze English toffee? ›

Yes, but it needs to be set out of the refrigerator to bring to room temperature before serving. + Can it be frozen? It can.

Can you cook toffee too long? ›

Your toffee is better off overcooked than undercooked! Undercooked toffee won't be anything more than a caramel sauce. But overcooked toffee will be just slightly crunchier (almost unrecognizably). So, always err on the side of over-cooking!

How do you keep English toffee fresh? ›

Store the homemade English Toffee in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Or, store it in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks. You can also freeze toffee for a few months.

Why is my toffee not set and why is it's texture grainy and not smooth? ›

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).

What texture should toffee be? ›

Ideally toffee has a nice snap when you bite into it, but then it gives way to a tender texture that immedietly crumbles and dissolves in your mouth. Even though I add a tremendous amount of butter to my recipe, the texture I end up with is more like a hard candy that ultimately sticks to your teeth.

Should toffee be hard or soft? ›

Toffee is a hard candy made by cooking a sugar syrup with butter to the hard crack stage, 300–310°F (149–154°C), and then pouring it out to cool. It can have inclusions or not, and it can be made either very dense and hard or can be lightened by adding baking soda when the candy is almost done cooking .

What is the meaning of chewy toffee? ›

/ˈtɑː.fi/ a hard, chewy, often brown sweet that is made from sugar boiled with butter.

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