The holidays and making this toffee recipe go hand-in-hand for me. Well, candy-making in general goes hand-in-hand with Christmas around here, but toffee? Well, it tops the list.
Toffee is really so easy to make once you figure out a couple of basics, that you can easily make a few batches within an hour or so and have delicious gifts to share with friends and family or to serve throughout the holiday season.
Believe me when I say this though, you want to make this and then invite as many people over as you possibly can or immediately wrap it into hard to unwrap packages! Otherwise, you’ll be tempted to eat it all yourself. Promise.
And that sort of temptation just needs to be shared amongst all those you love.
This toffee recipe is so easy it is ridiculous. With four simple ingredients that you probably have on hand right now, you could really have a batch made this afternoon for sampling. I use roasted pecans in my toffee recipe, but you could easily substitute another roasted nut or just completely omit the nuts if you prefer. If you do omit the nuts though, do me a favor and add a heavy sprinkle of sea salt on top of the melted chocolate as it begins to firm up. You really do need that little bit of salty-sweet combination that comes from this toffee. Promise.
See, I’m full of promises today and this is my third one – if you give this toffee as presents during the holidays, you will absolutely without a doubt be asked for the recipe and have folks singing your praises. Promise.
Okay, so, here’s my favorite toffee recipe of all time. Make it soon!
- 1 cup roasted pecans, divided (optional)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat, such as a Silpat. If using nuts, sprinkle ½ cup roasted pecans on top and spread evenly.
- Using a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt brown sugar and butter, stirring constantly. Boil until a candy thermometer reaches 300º F. Immediately remove from heat and pour over roasted nuts. Top with chocolate chips and allow chips to begin melting. Spread chocolate evenly over top of toffee with a silicon spatula. Allow to cool for about five minutes before adding remaining roasted pecans.
- If omitting the roasted pecans from your recipe, consider sprinkling top of chocolate with sea salt.
- Allow to cool completely to harden – overnight on counter or about 20 minutes in the freezer. Lift hardened toffee off parchment paper or silpat and break into candy pieces.
- Optional: for thicker toffee pieces (as pictured), I line a 7×11 casserole dish with parchment paper rather than using a baking sheet. Freezing time increases to 30 minutes.
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Wow, this looks so good and very easy! Pinning!
Thanks so much for the pin, Barbie!
So simple, and I’m sure, so delicious! Love how thick this is!
I love a thick piece of toffee, too. MMM.
This looks soooo wicked awesome! Great recipe!
Thanks, Katrina!
I usually make the same Christmas candy year after year ~ I think I’ll change things up this year and try the Toffee. Thank you for sharing!!
I hope you love it, Terry.
I made a batch of the Toffee on Saturday and it is soooo good!! …and so easy!
Merry Christmas!!!
Terry! I’m so glad you loved it! Merry Christmas to you as well!
Wow…you make this seem so easy!!! Beautiful photo, as usual! Will definitely be making this for Christmas. Thanks Robyn!
Thanks so much, Mary! I can’t wait to hear how you like it!
Robyn, this toffee looks absolutely DIVINE!!!
Thanks so much, Bridget!
you’re right– i would need to hide this because i would eat it all!
Toffee is really one of my favorite things…all that yummy brown sugar!
Wonderful picture and recipe… I do have a question since I have not made this before. What do you store the toffee in and how long does it keep. I need to know how soon I can make it before Christimas, for gifts.
Thank you
Cindy
Hi Cindy,
I usually make it a few days up to a week before I give it as gifts so that it is as fresh as possible. I never know how long it will take them to devour it, so I want to give it to them as fresh as possible. I store it in airtight containers packed with parchment paper between each layer and keep it in my refrigerator if I’m planning on making it more than a few days ahead of time. The toffee I make and keep at home has lasted a few weeks when I store it that way. Just make sure you use fresh nuts (if using nuts). I hope you enjoy these!
Oh my gosh- Robyn- YUM! I have wanted to make this for years.
Adore this recipe! I can see why this a holiday favorite, simple and absolutely scrumptious!
i was just thinking about toffee when i saw this on fb. i totally gotta try it.
Looks absolutely FABULOUS! I’ve got to try it. How do you roast your pecans? Or do you buy the already roasted salted ones?
Hi Carolyn,
There is a link to my roasted pecans recipe in the toffee recipe. Just click on that and it will take you straight to it. I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for responding to me. I clicked on it and it said that there is an error to the link. Maybe the link is messed up. Thanks for ALL you do!
ACK!!! I’ve updated the link now, Carolyn. But just in case, here it is for you.
http://addapinch.com/cooking/2011/10/13/roasted-pecan-halves-recipe/
So sorry I missed that earlier!!!
I let the butter and sugar boil to 300 degrees and then poured it over nuts on a silpat and it separated and never did harden. What did I do wrong?
Oh no! I hate that it didn’t work right for you. Was it very humid in your area when you made it? My Grandmother always told me to not even attempt to make candy when it was humid, but once when I did it just didn’t end well.
Beautiful toffee, Robyn! I love the simplicity of the ingredients, too!
Robyn, did you know toffee is my favorite candy? I love you!
Thanks for the recipe!
Just pinned it to my Holiday Recipes and Entertaining board with The Inspired Room! Yay!
Ok…that first photo is just so gorgeous Robyn. I loooooove toffee!
thanks for the heads up on the temptation…I will whip up when I am sure we are having friends over…already eating enought sweets I don’t like to share. lol
Robyn, I love how thick and gooey the top looks. Heavenly!
Wowzers that looks delicious!!!!
These look so good!, yummy!
what size pan did you use?
you said you used a 7×11 for thicker ones was it a 9×13 pan for original size?
For the original size, you can easily use a 9×13 or a baking sheet that has an edge to it. The baking sheet lined with silpat or parchment will yield the thinnest toffee, the 9×13 just a wee bit thicker and the 7×11 as pictured in my photographs. I can’t wait to hear how you like it!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I made your toffee last night exactly by the recipe for a work party today and it was a major hit! Everyone loved it and asked me to please make more! I know what my co-worker gifts are going to be this year! I LOVE your site!
Wow! This is absolutely gorgeous! So thick and scrumptious!
I’m always lured by the tins of toffee around the holidays but homemade is even better!
Made this on the weekend and it was amazing. I added chopped pretzel pieces as well, for a little bit of salty. mmmmmm Thanks for the recipe.
I want to try a toffee/coffee combination as well. This recipe is so easy to adapt.
I just made this and love love love it!! It is sooo easy to make and smells wonderful. Thanks for the recipe.
Forgot to rate this.
I made the toffee last night and it turned out beautifully. I love that the recipe is so simple, using pure goodness: butter, sugar, nuts and chocolate. How can you go wrong with those ingredients? This recipe is a keeper! Thank you for posting it. It’s going into my recipe folder and will be a favorite for many holidays to come.
I’m so glad you loved it, Susan. It is definitely a favorite of mine to whip up over the holidays. I hope you enjoy it!
Just made this minus pecans. So easy! !
Hi Robyn,
Thanks for posting this simple – yet elegant recipe. I’ve made it a couple of times, and seem to be having issue with getting it to the right texture. I use a candy thermometer to make sure it get’s to 300 degrees – but it ends up a bit chewy. Still very yummy. Another batch I made was the right texture but I felt it had a burned taste (other’s didn’t and enjoyed every bit). Any tips?
Thanks,
Sheila
When you are at the high temperature, it is easy to burn the sugar. I did that over and over while I was trying to figure out how to make a good nut brittle. My solution, finally, was to lower the setting of the stove burner, and let things happen slowly and in a way I could more easily control. It worked but there are probably other ways to go about it. Mark
Just wondering if this recipe uses dark or light brown sugar or does it matter?
Thank you for posting.
Robyn this looks awesome! Just saw it on Pinterest and repinned! I love toffee
After a quick search I landed on your beauty. No more searching! I have been making candy for Mothers Day (tomorrow} for the past several years, usually some kind of off the wall nut brittle I dream up. I won’t be able to top this gem that’s for sure. I am going to give it a try tonight and I am looking forward to it. Mark. PS – I’m already messing around with the recipe – toasted raw walnut halves on the bottom, and a mix of dark and white chocolate on top with the toasted pecan halves. Nothing too drastic.