My family loves my Traditional Toffee recipe. In fact they like it so much that when I make Christmas candies to share with our friends the first batch of this toffee doesn't make it out of the house.
Toffee makes a great gift. It has the wow factor because everyone thinks it is difficult to make, but it is actually easier to make than most other candies (just don’t tell my neighbors). The only special equipment that you need is a candy thermometer. You also have the option of making a frugal version, a decadent version, or something in between; matching the candy to your budget.
Traditional Toffee Recipe
There is a printable version of the traditional toffee recipe near the bottom of this post.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- 1 cup chopped nuts (I use almonds or pecans)
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
- ½ cup finely chopped nuts (I use almonds or pecans)
Directions:
Line a 12 x 9 pan with foil. Grease the foil.
In a medium pot, melt butter over a medium heat.
Stir in sugar, water, and corn syrup. Increase heat to medium-high and attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan.
Cook mixture without stirring until it reaches 300 degrees.
After it has reached 300 degrees, you could pour it into the pan, but if you like nuts keep going. Stir in 1 cup of chopped nuts. Pour toffee mixture into prepared pan.
Let cool on a wired rack for 30 – 40 minutes. (You could skip to the last step, but if you like chocolate keep going.) Melt one cup of chocolate chips in a double boiler. Spread melted chocolate over the cooled toffee.
Let cool in the refrigerator until the chocolate is firm (You could skip to the last step, but if you really like chocolate and nuts, keep going.) Remove the toffee from the pan and flip it over onto a piece of waxed paper. Remove foil.
Melt one cup of chocolate chips in the double boiler and spread over toffee. Immediately top with finely chopped nuts.
Grab the ends of the wax paper and place the toffee back in the baking pan. Place the toffee back in the refrigerator and allow to cool until the chocolate is firm. Once the toffee is completely cool, break it into 2 –3 inch pieces.Store in an airtight container, place it in a pretty tin and give it to a neighbor, or bribe tech support for faster service. 🙂
Printable Recipe for Traditional Toffee
- 1 cup butter
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- 1 cup chopped nuts (I use almonds or pecans)
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
- ½ cup finely chopped nuts (I use almonds or pecans)
- Line a 12 x 9 pan with foil. Grease the foil.
- In a medium pot, melt butter over a medium heat.
- Stir in sugar, water, and corn syrup. Increase heat to medium-high and attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan.
- Cook mixture without stirring until it reaches 300 degrees. Once it reaches 300 degrees, remove from heat and remove candy thermometer.
- Stir in 1 cup of chopped nuts. Pour toffee mixture into prepared pan.
- Let cool on a wired rack for 30 – 40 minutes.
- Melt one cup of chocolate chips in a double boiler. Spread over cooled toffee.
- Let cool in the refrigerator until the chocolate is firm.
- Remove the toffee from the pan and flip it over onto a piece of waxed paper. Remove foil.
- Melt one cup of chocolate chips in the double boiler and spread over toffee. Immediately top with finely chopped nuts.
- Grab the ends of the wax paper and place the toffee back in the baking pan. Place the toffee back in the refrigerator and allow to cool until the chocolate is firm. Once the toffee is completely cool, break it into 2 –3 inch pieces.
If you prefer a toffee made without refined sugar, I shared my Brown Rice Syrup Toffee at The Gluten-Free Homemaker.
More Homemade Candy Recipes:
What great timing you have! Toffee makes a great gift also, especially for those that you just don't know what to get!
I love toffee almost as much as I love caramel! This looks great. I need a quick recipe for a holiday party this weekend. I am making a cake I found on "Framed" for our cousin party, but this would travel well to the Cities for a mini-reunion with some high school chums. Yea!!
I love how you flip it and put MORE chocolate on! Toffee is one of my all-time favorites! 🙂
My love for Toffee is right up there with chocolate thanks for sharing this
Toffee is tops on my candy list – this is a great recipe. We are making candy this year for gifts, but will keep this one "just for us" this year! Thanks!
We're headed out the door to get a haircut. AND a candy thermometer! This I must make!
Alea, I am afraid to make this. Afraid that I would eat the whole thing myself. I know I would have no sense of temperance or self control. I love toffee and the fact you flip it over for more chocolate and nuts just rocks my world! Thanks for sharing this with the Hearth and Soul Hop!
Oh my, I LOVE toffee. I must make this. I always thought it was difficult to make as well, but I have all of the ingredients below. I think I can tackle it. 🙂
Oh I love toffee! I always thought something that yummy would be difficult to make, but your recipe makes it sound really do-able! Thank you so much for sharing it!!
My mother in law makes this every year! I never have though. It looks delicious!
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later
This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I enjoy seeing websites that understand the value of providing a prime resource for free. I truly loved reading your post. Thanks!
wow. this is my toffee recipe, except i have never put nuts into the toffee part. besides that, this is the exact recipe my mom got from her childhood californian babysitter as a wedding present, years ago. I’ve never seen anyone else that did it this way. it makes me smile. and now i’m so trying the nuts thing.
I love when I discover a recipe from my childhood, always brings back good memories. I’m glad I was able to take you on a trip down memory lane. 🙂
Stumbleupon recommended this page to me, and omg am I glad it did!! I’ve never made toffee, never even considered it enough to look up a recipe, but I am definitely making some soon!! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve never made toffee before so fingers crossed it will turn out. What a perfect reason to finally go out and buy a candy thermometer.
my favorite candy and everytime I’ve tried to make it at home it fails in some way. Will definitely try this one for the holidays.
OMG…I’ve been looking for just this recipe, w/ chocolate, nuts, top & bottom! Cant wait to make for Christmas gifts!!! Yay!!! Thanx SO much!!!!
Wow! I never new that is how you made toffee. I can’t wait to try it.
I’ve just tried making this to the letter twice now and both times toffee seems to burn before getting to 300 degrees. Second time I tried on very low heat in case first run was too much heat too quickly, still burnt. Are you using a cast iron pot to make this?
I use a Circulon pot for all my candy making. I cook it over a medium-high flame and it takes `11 – 13 minutes to reach 300 degrees and it does not burn. Have you calibrated your candy thermometer? The only time I have had problems with candy making is when my thermometer was off.
I cook mine to 260, actually, I don’t use a the thermometer…I can just eye it up. When it starts turning a pretty medium brown, before the butter sepearates from the suger it is done
We have a recipe that is similar, but I’ve never flipped it over to add the chocolate to the other side. Will be doing that this holiday season! And, I’m not sure I’m feeling generous enough to share any of the first batch! 🙂
I made this toffee recipe with the chocolate and nuts and everyone loved it. Thanks!
Oh my, oh my! I love toffee and have been collecting recipes for what I call Barks. Thanks for a new one!
Looks fantastic! I love toffee but have yet to try making it myself. Thanks for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty link party.