Best English Toffee Food

BEST TOFFEE EVER - SUPER EASY

Steps:

• In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Allow to come to a boil, and cook until the mixture becomes a dark amber color, and the temperature has reached 285 degrees F (137 degrees C). Stir occasionally.
• While the toffee is cooking, cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• As soon as the toffee reaches the proper temperature, pour it out onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate over the top, and let it set for a minute or two to soften. Spread the chocolate into a thin even layer once it is melted. Sprinkle the nuts over the chocolate, and press in slightly. Putting a plastic bag over your hand will minimize the mess.
• Place the toffee in the refrigerator to chill until set. Break into pieces, and store in an airtight container.

HOMEMADE TOFFEE RECIPE

Steps:

• Start by coating an 11x17 inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Or use your fingers to coat it with a bit of butter. You can use parchment paper if you want but I actually found that it wasn't necessary.
• Add the 1 and 1/2 cups butter to a HEAVY 3 quart saucepan. (You need good quality pots for candy-making.)
• Melt the butter over medium heat until almost melted, then add the water, sugar, and salt. Be sure to add the sugar to the CENTER of the melted butter (see photo). Don't let the sugar touch the edges. If you have even just a few granules of sugar on the edge of the pot, it could crystalize the whole pot of candy, meaning that your mixture will not get hot enough to reach the hard crack stage, which is what you need for toffee.**
• Turn the heat up to medium high and get yourself a long sturdy wooden spoon. You're going to have to stir for the next 10 minutes or so, so gear up. If you skipped the greasing the pan step before, you lose 10 preparation points. Because now you have to stir. Get someone else to prep the pan. (Or do it VERY quickly in between stirs!)
• Stir for about 10 minutes. If you have a candy thermometer, attach it to the edge of your pot, but even if you have one, I would still get out a jar of peanut butter and set it next to the stove with the lid off to see what color it is. When the candy reaches the color of peanut butter, it is ready to be poured into the pan. (There is NO peanut butter in this recipe!! Don't add it to the pot! You just want the color!)
• I tested this recipe with and without a candy thermometer, and my toffee looked like peanut butter at about 285-290 degrees F. Hard crack stage is 300 degrees, and you can certainly go that high if you want. See, there is wiggle room, even in candy recipes! I would rely more on the color of the toffee though. The peanut butter trick really does work great.
• Remove the pot from the stove and QUICKLY pour it into the prepared pan, scraping the edges. Use a spatula to spread it out as soon as possible. You don't need to go to the edges of the pan, although you can.
• Immediately sprinkle the top of the toffee with 2 cups of chocolate chips. Use your judgement to see if you want to add another 1/2 cup. I'm kind of a chocolate addict so...
• Wait 4-5 minutes for the chocoalte chips to melt. If you were too slow and your chocolate isn't melting, then stick it in the oven at 350 for 2-3 minutes, or however long it takes to get the chocolate chips just barely melted. Then use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate to the edges of the toffee.
• Sprinkle right away with sliced almonds. You can use your hands to gently press the almonds in; whichever ones are not touching melty chocolate are just going to fall right off.
• Let the pan cool for 1-2 hours. You can speed this up by sticking it in the fridge, but if you do this will MUST wait until the toffee returns to room temperature before breaking it up, otherwise it will be too brittle and just break into sad toffee crumbs.
• Once the chocolate is completely set, break up the pan. You can lift up the edge of the whole sheet of toffee and break it up, or use a butter knife to help you make cuts (although once you get started, it really does work better to break up with your hands. Snap off pieces to your heart's content. It's so satisfying.)
• Store in a ziplock or tupperware on the counter. Try not to eat it all at once.

THE BEST ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• In heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugar, water, and salt.
• Cook to hard-crack stage (300°F) stirring constantly and watching carefully.
• Immediately pour into foil lined and greased 13"x9" pan.
• Melt chips in a bowl in the microwave in increments of 30-15 seconds, stirring well in between until chips pretty much melted.
• Spatula the chocolate onto the toffee and spread evenly.
• Sprinkle the nuts.
• To be able to break in nice squares if you'd like, after the toffee has set a little while (15-20 min or so) use a pizza cutter to score the candy.
• Cool until hard.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• In heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugar, water, and salt.
• Cook to hard-crack stage (300°F) stirring with a WOODEN SPOON constantly and watching carefully. Do not try a plastic spoon, it will melt into your delicious candy!
• Immediately pour into ungreased 13"x9" pan.
• Cool until hard.
• Melt chocolate over hot, but not boiling water.
• Spread over toffee; sprinkle with nuts, pressing them into chocolate.
• Let stand 2-3 hours or chill 30 minutes.
• Break into bite-size pieces.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. (Use a pot larger than you think you need, because the caramel will eventually expand quite a bit.) While the butter is melting, crush unsalted peanuts in a bowl with the end of a rolling pin. Once the butter has melted, stir in sugar and water with a heat-resistant spatula. Add a pinch of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add corn syrup. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pot and continue cooking until it reads 310 degrees F.
• When the caramel is golden and the thermometer registers 310 degrees F, remove the thermometer, add the baking soda, and stir in peanuts. Cook until temperature reads 320 degrees F, then pour the mixture onto a Silpat baking liner and lay another Silpat on top. Use a rolling pin to roll the mixture out to desired thickness and then transfer to a baking sheet. Let cool for 45 minutes.
• Melt 2/3 of the chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water. If it begins to feel too thick, add a few drops of canola oil to loosen it up. Check the temperature of the chocolate by testing it on your bottom lip; it should feel warm, but not too hot. Once the chocolate is melted, stir in the remaining 1/3 of chocolate to cool it down. Wipe toffee with a paper towel to remove any excess fat. Pour about half of the melted chocolate over the toffee and spread with an offset spatula. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth; you want it to have a bit of a rustic look. Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle with chopped peanuts and transfer to the fridge just until the chocolate has crystallized, 2-3 minutes. Remove from the fridge. Lay another Silpat and baking tray on top of the toffee and flip in one quick motion. Peel off the Silpat and repeat with chocolate and peanuts. Return to the fridge for another 2-3 minutes.
• Remove toffee from the fridge and transfer to a cutting board. Break into large or small pieces, pack in a bag, and finish with a bow.

EASY, EASY ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, melt SALTED butter on medium heat. Do not burn butter. It needs to stay yellow. (NOTE: I had many batches fail and separate until I figured out, upon investigation, that you MUST use SALTED butter. I think it has to do with a chemical reaction.).
• **Tip** Bring out a jar of peanut butter and turn it upside down near the skillet to use ONLY as a color guide to know when the mixture is done.
• Add sugar and stir until incorporated (sugar does not need to be "melted" into the butter, just no longer dry) Edited to add on 12/25/16, the temperature MUST STAY CONSTANT or the butter and sugar MAY separate during the final stages. Too high and your butter will burn, too low and you'll be stirring forever!
• **At no time can you walk away at this point, you must keep stirring so that the butter will not burn. It's very crucial.
• Add water, pouring it all over the pan. The butter/sugar will get bubbly and frothy -- keep constantly stirring -- stirring low and slow -- I use a rubber spatula. As you stir, angle your spatula down as low (level to the pan) as you can to have few air bubbles.
• I timed it, as you are stirring the yellow, sugary, melted, bubbly butter, at the 4 minute mark add the slivered almonds. Keep stirring.
• Stir continuously and slowly in a small circular motion bringing the outside mixture edges to the center as the sides will tend to cook faster than the middle. It will slowly begin to caramelize and toast up -- about 6 minutes more.
• Cook this mixture until it is the color of the inverted peanut butter jar.
• **Important** It will brown fast in the end, so don't let it get too dark or let the almonds get really burned).
• Pour into a 9 X 13 pan. (you could use disposable aluminum pans also). with your rubber spatula, spread the mixture quickly to the edges before it starts to harden on you.
• Let cool completely, remove from pan and pat off any extra butter from both sides with paper towels.
• Place on wax or parchment paper.
• Topping:.
• Microwave chocolate for 1 minute on high. (be mindful that every microwave is different and you must watch your chocolate closely so that it won't overcook). If a few seconds more are needed to melt completely, do so in small increments. You can also use a double boiler to melt chocolate -- I do prefer to do it this way.
• Coat toffee with chocolate (like frosting) and top with slivered almonds. I only cover one side but you can do both if desired.
• Lightly press down almonds to make sure they stick to the chocolate.
• Cool on the counter for at least 30 minutes, then put the pan into the refrigerator for 2 hours (You can stack multiple batches on top of each other as long as the chocolate is pretty solid).
• Break into pieces after it has hardened and store in a covered container.
• Variations: Use different kinds of chips. (mint, white, dark, milk chocolate).

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Combined butter, sugar and water in a heavy sauce pan.
• Cook stirring constantly to the hard crack stage or 300 degrees.
• Immedieately pur into a buttered 9x13 cake pan, spreading quickly.
• Cool When cooled break into pieces and dip into the dipping chocolate.
• Place on waxed paper to set up.
• Sprinkle with ground nuts.
• When set place in an air tight container.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Place a piece of foil that is big enough to cover a 9 X 13 jelly roll pan (like a cookie sheet with sides).
• Spray the foil with cooking spray.
• Sprinkle pecan pieces evenly on foil.
• Melt butter, sugar (both the two cups and 1 tablespoon of sugar), Karo syrup, and water in pan on stovetop.
• Bring the mixture to a boil.
• Turn to medium heat and stir continuously until a candy thermometer says between 290 and 300 degrees or caramel in color.
• Pour mixture over the pecans.
• Spread evenly over the pecans.
• Evenly distribute chocolate chips over toffee.
• Let the chocolate chips melt on toffee for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Use fork or spoon to spread melted chocolate chips over toffee.
• Sprinkle 1 cup chopped walnuts on top of chocolate mixture.
• Refrigerate until chocolate is firm.
• Break toffee into pieces.
• Store in an airtight container.
• 30 minutes preparation and cooking time does not include the time it takes to cool and the chocolate to harden on top.