Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe
How to make Perfect English Toffee! A step by step toffee recipe tutorial to make it just right!
The ultimate holiday treat! Everyone’s FAVORITE! This step-by-step tutorial for English toffee willshow you how easy it is to make Perfect English Toffee (and without a candy thermometer too!)
*This post contains affiliate links.
I’m glad you came for this toffee tutorial! These detailed step by step instructions will help you make delicious English toffee.
We would love for you to keep this recipe FOREVER. It is included in our TOP 30 RECIPES EBOOKon Etsy. You get this recipe and 29 of our best savory, salads, and sweets. Full color photos and full instructions.
(All transactions done safely through Etsy)
My mom was so dedicated in making goody plates piled high with amazing homemade treasures. She would work for hours making several different varieties of cookies and candies. She would plate them perfectly, wrap them in festive cellophane, and label them with Christmas tags. She would take such care to prepare them…but she didn’t take as much effort to hide them from the children who could sniff out the smallest bite of chocolate. We, of course, would find them tucked in the cupboard behind a small stack of books…and every couple hours we would sneak in and take just 1 delectable treat from each plate. The trouble was…when a few kids have the same idea, and the sweet treasures are so irresistible…things go missing. When the time came to deliver the sweet gifts…the plates were lean at best, or bare at worst. I’m sure we got in trouble….but what I remember most is how delicious the English Toffee was! It was the favorite! To this day….it is still irresistible. Now I make this for my own family, and I’ve learned to hide things in the most unsuspecting places…..like in the bottom of a basket of clean laundry….or in a large tool box….:) We have made this Perfect English Toffee for years. It is the ultimate combination of toasted almonds, buttery-crunchy toffee and chocolate. So easy…but you have to work fast! Get all your ingredients prepped ahead of time, and you will be thrilled with the amazing results! We make this every holiday season.
The original recipe is taken from the family favorite Better Homes and Gardens red plaid cookbook.
Get ready, get set, GO!
How to make Perfect English Toffee
Yes this is a lot of butter….
You will need:
2 cups chopped almonds….toasted
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 TBLE light corn syrup
6 TBLE water
1 ½ cup mixture semi and milk chocolate chips
Bowl of ICE to test the caramel sauce
1. Chop nuts and toast in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes….EVERY 5 MINUTES take the pan out and stir/toss the nuts so they roast evenly. My oven does not cook evenly so this is necessary at my house. If your oven cooks perfectly evenly…you are lucky.
Love the aroma of almonds toasting…..Spread half of nuts on a butter-greased jelly roll pan. Take care to keep the nuts away from the edges.
2. Melt butter in a HEAVY sauce pan….get your bowl of ice ready! Butter the sides of a HEAVY saucepan. Melt butter in saucepan, then add sugar,corn syrup, and water. Cook over MED-LOW heat, stirring consistently, until sugar is dissolved.
3. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-LOW heat, stirring and scraping bottom of pot consistently until the sugar is dissolved. Then turn up the heat to MED-HIGH and bring to boil. Once mixture boils, reduce heat to medium and continue cooking….about 15 minutes.
Homemade Toffee Ice Test
4. Look at how light and creamy the mixture looks at the beginning. The ice test will result in a caramel sauce texture. Now, watch the color and texture change in the next few steps….
P.S. The ice test is more consistent than any candy thermometer I haveused…save your money! Just drip the hot toffee onto the ice cubes. When itcools, check the consistency of the toffee.
5. After boiling over medium heat for about 8 minutes, the mixture is turning golden brown….
6. Drip some hot toffee onto the ice cubes. When it cools, see if it is crunchy. After 8 minutes, the ice test results in a chewy caramel texture. Keep stirring….it’s going to start turning a slightly darker caramel color.
7. After about 15 minutes of cooking and stirring….the mixture is the color of a brown grocery bag.
Now let’s do the ice test. The ice test should result in a crunchy toffee texture.
This is perfect! It breaks in your mouth and is crunchy…but your teeth don’t stick together. Look carefully and you can see the first toffee ice test on the right side of the bowl. Compare the difference in color between the first ice test when the mixture was a caramel sauce consistency and the last test when the toffee is crunchy and amazing. This is how much the color will change. PERFECT!
8. Pour hot toffee mixture over toasted almonds. Incidentally….this picture was super hard to get….this shows how much I love you all! Try pouring boiling hot toffee with one hand and taking a picture with the other…a serious juggling act!
9. Let toffee cool for 5 minutes.
10. Sprinkle with a mixture of milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips….Let chocolate soften for a few minutes. When chocolate is warmed, spread evenly over toffee….delish! This looks amazing! The chocolate chips spread perfectly!
11. Sprinkle the remaining toasted almonds on top of warm chocolate. Cool until chocolate is set.
Carefully break toffee into small pieces using a knife and mallet. Enjoy!
Perfect English Toffee Tutorial
Perfect English Toffee
Recipe tutorial for perfect English Toffee. Step by step recipe including how to know when it’s ready without a candy thermometer.
- Author: Amy Jensen, recipe contributor
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups chopped almonds….toasted
- 2 cups butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 TB light corn syrup
- 6 TB water
- 1 ½ cup mixture semi and milk chocolate chips
- Bowl of Ice (to test the hardness and texture)
Instructions
- *Toast almonds by spreading them out on a jelly roll pan and baking them in a350 degree oven for 15 minutes….TAKE PAN OUT EVERY 5 MINUTES TOSTIR AND TOSS NUTS….this toasts them evenly.
- *Butter another jelly roll pan. Once almonds are toasted, sprinkle HALF of nutsonto the buttered pan…make sure to keep nuts at least 1 inch away from sides.
- *Butter sides of a HEAVY saucepan. Melt butter in saucepan, then add sugar,corn syrup, and water. Cook over MED-LOW heat, stirring consistently, until sugar is dissolved. Then turn heat up to MED-HIGH heat and bring to boil. Continue cooking while SLOWLY and CONSISTENTLY STIRRING the mixture.
- *Cook and stir over medium heat until the soft-crack stage (about 15 minutes). Idon’t use a candy thermometer any more….they proved inconsistent.
Now I usethe ice method
- Place a small bowl of ice next to the pot you are stirring. Afteryou have been stirring the candy for about 12 minutes, drizzle a small amount of hot mixture onto the ice. Continue stirring your pot as the candy cools. Pick it upand bite the toffee. When done it should easily crack and crunch in yourmouth….not sticking to your teeth. If it bends like stiff caramel….keep cooking.
- Towards the end of the cooking….be VERY, VERY consistent with your stirring.The toffee will suddenly turn the color of a brown grocery bag. This is when youwill want to remove it from the heat and do another ice test with the hot mixture.When it is ready it will crack and break easily as you chew it. Don’t stress….just stir consistently….keep dripping the hot toffee on theice cubes and you’ll know when it’s done.
- *When candy is done cooking…pour it carefully over the toasted almonds waiting
- in the jelly roll pan. Take care to cover all the nuts.
- *Let stand about 5 minutes and sprinkle chocolate chips over top of warm toffee.When the chocolate is softened, spread it evenly over toffee. Sprinkle withremaining almonds. Chill until firm. Using a knife and mallet….carefully breaktoffee into delicious bite size pieces. Store in an air-tight container.
Try not to eat this for dinner….you will be hooked after the first bite…just warningyou! This is killer good! DELISH!!!
–Amy
You may also like: TryZulay Kitchen
Products!1
