This is the BEST Homemade Toffee and such an easy recipe to make! With only four simple ingredients, this delicious buttery toffee is a much-loved candy to make often!

Photograph of homemade buttery toffee with a layer of chocolate and roasted pecans. // addapinch.com

The holidays and making this easy, delicious Toffee recipe go hand-in-hand for me. Candy making in general is always something I do around the holidays – especially for Christmas! My Christmas candies always include so many delicious confections such as my Peppermint Bark, Divinity and this. But I don’t save this Toffee to make only during the holidays! It is perfect year-round and can be made with just a few ingredients. While it does have to set to harden, it only involves a few minutes of hands-on mixing time, so it’s no wonder that I make it often.

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! It makes delicious gifts to share with friends and family or to serve throughout the holiday season or anytime you wish!

Easy Toffee Recipe

Believe me when I say this though, this toffee is so scrumptious and tempting, you want to make this and then invite some friends over to enjoy. Or immediately wrap it into gift packages. Otherwise, you just may be tempted to eat it all yourself. Promise.

You’ll be shocked at how easy this toffee recipe is to make! With four simple ingredients that you probably have on hand right now, you could really have a batch made soon for sampling.

Here’s how I make it.

How to Make Toffee

You’ll need:

Step by Step Instructions

  1. Prep. To make this Easy Toffee Recipe, first line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, such as a Silpat. If you are using nuts, sprinkle 1/2 cup roasted pecans on top and spread evenly.
  2. Heat. Then melt brown sugar and butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil until a candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Then immediately remove from heat and pour over roasted nuts.
  3. Spread. Top with chocolate chips and allow chips to begin melting. Spread chocolate evenly over top of toffee with a silicone spatula.
  4. Cool. Allow to cool for about five minutes before adding remaining roasted pecans. If omitting the roasted pecans from your recipe, consider sprinkling the top of the chocolate with sea salt. Allow toffee to cool completely to harden – overnight on the counter or for about 20 minutes in the freezer.
  5. Serve. Lift hardened toffee off of the parchment paper or Silpat baking mat and break into candy pieces.

For Thicker Toffee Pieces

If you want the thicker toffee pieces like I have shared in my pictures, you will line a 7 x 11 inch casserole dish with parchment paper rather than using a baking sheet. The freezing time increases to 30 minutes if you use that method to harden the toffee.

Do You Have to Use Nuts in the Toffee?

You don’t have to use nuts if you don’t want. But…

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. I promise you’ll be glad you did.

Toffee Makes Great Gifts!

And since I’m full of promises today, here 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.

How to Make Ahead, Store and Freeze Toffee

This toffee makes the perfect make ahead recipe!

Make Ahead

Prepare as directed and store in an airtight container.

Store

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Freeze

You can also easily freeze toffee. Freeze in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

More Favorite Candy Recipes

Some of these candies are traditional holiday favorites, but all are so delicious and can be enjoyed anytime!

Fudge

Peanut Brittle

Oreo Truffles

Homemade Marshmallows

Chocolate Truffles

Saltine Cracker Toffee

Here’s my favorite toffee recipe of all time. I hope you make it soon!

Toffee Recipe

4.86 from 14 votes
This is the BEST Homemade Toffee and such an easy recipe to make! With only four simple ingredients, this delicious buttery toffee is a much-loved candy to make often!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Freezing Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 24

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup roasted pecans, divided (optional)
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions 

  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat, such as a Silpat. If using nuts, sprinkle 1/2 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 31mg | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 255IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 0.3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Enjoy!
Robyn xo

From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published 2012.

Welcome to Add A Pinch

About Robyn

Robyn Stone is a cookbook author, wife, mom, and passionate home cook. Her tested and trusted recipes give readers the confidence to cook recipes the whole family will love. Robyn has been featured on Food Network, People, Southern Living, and more.

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Recipe Review




88 Comments

  1. Hey, Robyn, this looks wonderful, as usual! Do you use salted or unsalted butter! Thank you, God bless! Merry Christmas!

    1. Hi Bobbie,
      Thank you so much! I generally use salted butter as it is what I keep on hand the most. I know most professionals recommend using unsalted, but I’m a salted butter girl! 🙂

  2. This looks easy enough that I am tempted to try it!! Can this recipe be made using almonds instead of pecans? If so, should the almonds be roasted first?

    1. Sure! You can substitute almonds for the pecans. I personally prefer the nuts lightly roasted, but you may like them without having to roast them.

  3. i made this for a Halloween party tomorrow. Came out amazing! So easy and fast and delicious. I know everyone will be super impressed. I used milk chocolate and I used pecans but also added sea salt because milk chocolate is sweet. I just broke it into pieces with my hands, I used a silpat. I will be making this all season long…maybe change up the type of chocolate and nuts. Thanks Robyn ☺️

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Tracy! It is definitely one I make throughout the fall and winter! It makes a great gift for friends and neighbors over the holidays. Enjoy!

  4. This is my absolute favorite recipe in the world!! Hands down, the BEST toffee ever! I have to be careful to only make it every once and a while because I will eat ALL of it. A little nibble here, a small piece there and BAM, it’s gone ;).

  5. Made this toffee tonight and it is absolutely DELICIOUS!!!! Will definitely be making this again! And yes.. I could totally
    Eat the whole batch! The only thing Was that I only got my “toffee” a little over 200 degrees before it almost started to burn. But it came out perfect! 😀 thank you for sharing!!

  6. 5 stars
    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.

  7. Just wondering if this recipe uses dark or light brown sugar or does it matter?
    Thank you for posting.