Buttercrunch Food

HOMEMADE BUTTERCRUNCH CANDY

Steps:

• Butter a baking sheet, and set aside.
• Melt margarine in 2 quart saucepan. Add sugar, and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Stir in water and corn syrup. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, to 270 degrees F (132 degrees C).
• Remove from heat, and quickly stir in 1/2 of the chopped nuts. Spread onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle chocolate over hot candy; when it begins to melt, spread evenly over the top.
• Finely chop remaining almonds and sprinkle over candy. Refrigerate until firm. Break into small pieces to serve.

OLD-TIME BUTTER CRUNCH CANDY

Steps:

• Line a 13x9-in. pan with foil; set aside. Using part of the butter, grease the sides of a large heavy saucepan. Add remaining butter to saucepan; melt over low heat. Add sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 300° (hard-crack stage). , Remove from the heat and stir in almonds. Quickly pour into the prepared pan, spreading to cover bottom of pan. Cool completely. Carefully invert pan to remove candy in 1 piece; remove foil. , Melt half of the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave-safe bowl; spread over top of candy. Let cool. Turn candy over and repeat with remaining chocolate; cool. Break into 2-in. pieces. Store in an airtight container.

BUTTERCRUNCH TOFFEE

Steps:

• In a saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add sugar and lecithin and stir constantly with a wooden spoon over medium heat. When mixture comes to a boil, add the corn syrup and continue stirring constantly to prevent burning until temperature reaches 300 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
• After mixture reaches 300 degrees F, remove from heat and add salt and chopped almonds, if using, and mixing gently. Pour into a well buttered shallow pan. Depth of toffee should be approximately 1/4-inch.
• Before toffee sets, score with a knife into uniform pieces. Toffee should be stored in an airtight container.

BUTTERCRUNCH POPCORN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees F.
• Grease a 14x10" roasting pan.
• Pop the popcorn.
• Put the nuts and popcorn in a very large bowl.
• Bring the brown sugar, corn syrup and butter to boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
• Reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat.
• Stir in the butterscotch chips, vanilla, baking soda and salt until everything is blended and smooth.
• Working quickly, and using two wooden spoons, pour the syrup over the popcorn and nuts.
• Stir to coat thoroughly.
• Pour the mixture into the pan.
• Bake for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from the oven, cool mixture in pan for about 15 minutes.
• Turn the mixture out of pan onto foil to cool completely.
• Break the popcorn into smaller pieces.
• Store in an airtight containers in cool dry place.

BUTTER CRUNCH COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, powdered sugar and salt.
• In a small heavy bottom cast iron skillet, melt 1/4 C of butter, and 1/2 C sugar over very low heat, until it is bubbling and thick. Let this mixture cool for about a minute, (no more) and then pour it onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper to cool a few minutes more.
• When it is cool enough,(and still slightly pliable) break off small pieces using a sharp heavy knife, or maybe a clean screwdriver. It will be a lot of work, but you'll get a little muscle, and the reward of knowing that your cookies are going to be so good, you won't mind all of the work!
• Now, in a large mixing bowl, beat the remaining sugars with the remaining butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the egg, and mix again. Add the vanilla and the corn syrup, mixing until it is combined.
• Then, add the flour mixture, a little at a time, until it is completely incorporated. With a wooden spoon, add the cooled candy pieces, distributing them evenly throughout the dough.
• Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes, or freeze it for 15. When it is cold, roll out 1 1/2-inch balls of dough, and be careful, those pieces of toffee will probably be really sharp! Place the balls of dough 2 1/2-inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake for 9-11 minutes, making sure that they don't brown too much. They should be very light on top, and golden on the bottom.
• After two minutes, remove the cookies from the cookie sheet, and continue cooling on a wire cooling rack, about 7-8 more minutes, or until the toffee is set.

BUTTERCRUNCH GRAPE SALAD

Steps:

• Wash and dry grapes thoroughly and place them in large bowl.
• In another bowl, combine softened cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Gently stir the cream cheese mixture into the grapes until all of the grapes are well-coated. Spread into a 9" X 13" baking pan.
• Next, mix the crumbled butterfingers, chopped pecans and brown sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle this topping over the grapes. Chill for 2 - 4 hours before serving.

BUTTER CRUNCH

Steps:

• Melt butter and bring to boil. Add warm water and return to boil. Add the 2 pounds of sugar and lecithin, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes homogenous. Add almonds and cook until almonds are roasted. Lower flame and cook to 300 degrees F. Take off heat; add salt and remaining 1/2-ounce granulated sugar until dissolved, stirring constantly. Pour onto greased baking sheet, spread out as thin as practical, score and cut.
• Option: Once cooled, dip in melted chocolate and sprinkle with roasted chopped almonds.

OLD-FASHIONED BUTTER CRUNCH

Steps:

• To make the butter crunch mixture, melt the butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 300 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat, stir in almonds, and pour out into prepared pan, spreading the mixture with the back of a spoon to fill the pan. Before the butter crunch hardens, but when it is firm enough to handle, turn it out onto a large parchment-covered cutting board and peel away the foil. Allow the butter crunch to cool completely. To finish the butter crunch, wipe the top surface of the candy with a damp paper towel to remove excess butter and allow to dry a few minutes. Have another cutting board or the back of a jelly-roll pan ready to turn the candy over onto. Use a small offset metal icing spatula to spread half the tempered chocolate quickly over the butter crunch. Scatter half the chopped almonds over the chocolate. Cover this finished surface with a piece of parchment paper or foil and place another cutting board or the back of a large jelly-roll pan. Remove top board and paper and quickly spread with remaining tempered chocolate and scatter on remaining almonds (it isn't necessary to wipe the second side because it wasn't against a buttered surface). Refrigerate for 20 minutes to set chocolate. Break the butter crunch into 2-inch pieces. Store candy in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting cover and keep at a cool room temperature for up to a week.

BUTTERCRUNCH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Using half of the chopped almonds, form an 8-inch (20-cm) circle in an even layer on an ungreased baking sheet.
• Fit a small, heavy-duty saucepan with a candy thermometer, then add the water, butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar, mixing them together. Have the baking soda and vanilla measured and ready.
• Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring as little as possible. When the mixture reaches 300°F (150°C), remove the pan from the heat and immediately stir in the baking soda and vanilla. Mix just until combined; don't overstir.
• Right away, pour the hot toffee mixture over the circle of almonds on the baking sheet. Using as little movement as possible, spread the toffee to cover the circle.
• Scatter the chocolate pieces over the toffee and wait 2 minutes to allow them to melt. Use a spatula to spread the chocolate into an even layer, then scatter the remaining chopped almonds on top, pressing them into the chocolate. Cool completely, until the chocolate is firm. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, you may need to cool it in the refrigerator. Remove it once the chocolate has hardened.
• Chop the Buttercrunch Toffee into coarse chunks, then fold the pieces into 1 quart (1 liter) of ice cream as you remove it from the machine.
• Feel free to substitute toasted hazelnuts or pecans for the almonds. I also like to fleck a few grains of coarse salt over the chocolate before adding the nuts. You can substitute milk chocolate for the dark chocolate if you wish.
• Buttercrunch Toffee can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the freezer or at room temperature.