Best Homemade Toffee Recipe

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4.87 from 15 votes
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This easy homemade Toffee is rich, buttery, and delicious! Made with only four simple ingredients, this easy recipe makes the best toffee! A favorite candy to make in minutes for nibbling, sharing, and gifting!

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

This toffee is easy to make and absolutely delicious! It’s such an easy candy to make – and while it does have to set to harden, it only involves a few minutes of hands-on mixing time! It makes delicious gifts to share with friends and family or to serve throughout the holiday season or anytime you wish!

My Christmas candies always include 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.

The holidays and making this easy, delicious toffee recipe go hand-in-hand for me. Candy-making is always something I do around the Christmas holiday season! But don’t save this tasty toffee to enjoy only during the holidays!

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

How to Make Homemade Toffee

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

Here’s how I make it.

Ingredients

You’ll need:

Step by Step Instructions

  1. Prep. First, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, such as a Silpat, to make this toffee. 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 the chips to begin melting. Spread chocolate evenly over the top of the toffee with a silicone spatula.
  4. Cool. Allow to cool for about five minutes before adding the 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 the parchment paper or Silpat baking mat and break it into candy pieces.

For Thicker Toffee Pieces

If you want the thicker toffee pieces similar to those 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 they are so delicious!

I use roasted pecans in my toffee recipe, but you could easily substitute another roasted nut or completely omit the nuts. If you omit the nuts, 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 another one…If you give this toffee as a holiday gift, you will be asked for the recipe and have people singing your praises. Promise.

Make Ahead and Storage Tips

This toffee makes the perfect make ahead recipe!

To Make Ahead: Prepare as directed and store in an airtight container.

To Store: Place in an airtight container and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

To 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 delicious and can be enjoyed anytime!

Fudge

Peanut Brittle

Oreo Truffles

Homemade Marshmallows

Chocolate Truffles

Saltine Cracker Toffee

Here’s my favorite homemade toffee recipe. I hope you make it soon!

Toffee Recipe

4.87 from 15 votes
Thisย easy homemade Toffee is rich, buttery, and delicious! Made with only four simple ingredients, this easy recipe makes the best toffee! A favorite candy to make in minutes for nibbling and sharing!
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 300ยบ 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.

Notes

Make Ahead and Storage Tips
This toffee makes the perfect make ahead recipe!
To Make Ahead: Prepare as directed and store in an airtight container.
To Store: Place in an airtight container and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
To Freeze: You can also easily freeze toffee. Freeze in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

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.

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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.

4.87 from 15 votes (1 rating without comment)

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Recipe Review




90 Comments

  1. Angie says:

    5 stars
    These look so good!, yummy!

  2. Brenda @ a farmgirl's dabbles says:

    Wowzers that looks delicious!!!!

  3. Sommer@ASpicyPerspective says:

    Robyn, I love how thick and gooey the top looks. Heavenly!

  4. Angela @ AnotherBitePlease says:

    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

  5. Aggie says:

    Ok…that first photo is just so gorgeous Robyn. I loooooove toffee!

  6. Sandy @ RE says:

    Just pinned it to my Holiday Recipes and Entertaining board with The Inspired Room! Yay!

  7. Sandy @ RE says:

    Robyn, did you know toffee is my favorite candy? I love you! ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for the recipe!

  8. Cassie | Bake Your Day says:

    Beautiful toffee, Robyn! I love the simplicity of the ingredients, too!

  9. Carolyn B. says:

    Looks absolutely FABULOUS! I’ve got to try it. How do you roast your pecans? Or do you buy the already roasted salted ones?

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      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!

    2. Carolyn B. says:

      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!

    3. Robyn Stone says:

      ACK!!! I’ve updated the link now, Carolyn. But just in case, here it is for you.
      https://addapinch.com/cooking/2011/10/13/roasted-pecan-halves-recipe/

      So sorry I missed that earlier!!!

    4. Robyn Stone says:

      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.

  10. Deb says:

    Adore this recipe! I can see why this a holiday favorite, simple and absolutely scrumptious!