Best Homemade Toffee Recipe
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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!
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:
- Roasted Pecans (optional)
- Brown Sugar
- Butter
- Chocolate Chips
Step by Step Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- Spread. Top with chocolate chips and allow chips to begin melting. Spread chocolate evenly over top of toffee with a silicone spatula.
- 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.
- 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!
Here’s my favorite toffee recipe of all time. I hope you make it soon!
Toffee Recipe
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
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.
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
Mine came out a bit chewy as well. It’s tasty, and brittle at first, but then sticks to your teeth terribly while you’re trying to chew the last bit. I hit 300, but maybe should have waited a bit longer?? I’m hoping that letting it cool overnight (versus just a couple hours) will make a difference in the texture!
Just made this minus pecans. So easy! !
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!
Forgot to rate this.
I just made this and love love love it!! It is sooo easy to make and smells wonderful. Thanks for the recipe.
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.
Thanks for taking time to add in this idea! My boys are allergic to nuts so I will use pretzels! Never would have thought of it!
I have a different toffee recipe I have used in the past and it haas many more ingredients and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I am definitely giving the one a try!!!
I’m always lured by the tins of toffee around the holidays but homemade is even better!
Wow! This is absolutely gorgeous! So thick and scrumptious!
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!
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!