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This is the best English toffee recipe I have ever had, it’s easy and has the perfect crunch. It is so good with chopped peanuts or almonds in the center.
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A Simple, Sweet Holiday Tradition
This English toffee recipe is absolutely the best! I think it’s my husband’s all-time favorite Christmas treat. We make it every year during the holidays, and it always comes out perfectly. It has just the right amount of crunch—not too soft, but not so hard that it’ll break a tooth either. Seriously, make a batch and watch it disappear! It’s perfect for sharing with family and friends, and it makes such a great gift for neighbors too. This homemade English toffee is just one of several delicious treats I love making, but it’s definitely a crowd favorite. I usually make a big batch and deliver it to friends, and they always love it.
I like to make mine in either a 9×13 pan or in the center of a cookie sheet. If you want to make enough to fill the whole sheet, I’d recommend doubling the recipe. But I actually prefer this batch size because it doesn’t fill the entire sheet—it creates a big circle of toffee in the center, which makes it so much easier to break apart once it cools and hardens. It’s quick, simple, and the perfect sweet treat to share with everyone!
Ingredients In Homemade English Toffee Recipe
These simple ingredients are perfect for this English toffee recipe! Create the best candy and treat that everyone loves. It is layered with sweet chocolate and a homemade toffee, with a crunchy texture from nuts all broken apart for easy snacking. It is the perfect combination!
- Butter – Make it rich and creamy with all the buttery flavor. You can use either salted butter or unsalted butter depending on preference! Just don’t use margarine to replace the butter. The margarine will have too much water that will prevent the toffee from hardening.
- White Sugar – The granulated sugar will melt down and create a caramelized coloring and sweet flavor mixed together. Don’t use brown sugar, it doesn’t do as well with the hard crack stage.
- Vanilla – Just a splash adds a delicious vanilla flavor.
- Salt – A pinch of salt gives this English toffee a sweet and salty flavor.
- Nuts – Almonds, walnuts, or peanuts work great. Purchase them chopped ahead of time or hand chop them at home.
- Chocolate chips – The layer of chocolate can be either milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or semisweet chocolate chips work well too. We used semi-sweet chocolate chips for this recipe.
How to Make Homemade English Toffee
Let’s get ready to make the best homemade English toffee recipe! Quick and easy to make with just a few pans to dirty! Combine the ingredients and melt them together. This toffee mixture is amazingly delicious! Layer the nuts, toffee, and chocolate on a prepared cookie sheet. This combination is perfect for a quick treat everyone loves!
- Combine – Combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until butter and sugar are dissolved together, then bring to a rolling boil.
- Stir – Cook and stir until the mixture turns a caramel brown and reaches the crack stage. Use a candy thermometer and it was around 310 degrees.
- Cover – Pour toffee over a handful of your favorite nuts on a cookie sheet lined with cooking spray.
- Add chocolate – While the toffee is still hot, gently sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. When the chocolate chips begin to melt, smooth them out over the toffee.
- Cool and break apart – Cool completely before breaking into bite-size pieces.
Tips for Making the Best English Toffee
Make the best English toffee with these super quick and easy tips! These tips are full of appearance, getting started, taking your almonds to the next level, and using a candy thermometer. All these tips are great to know and try when making this English toffee recipe!
- Smooth chocolate – To ensure smooth chocolate on top, use an offset spatula or a butter knife to make it silky smooth on top.
- Prepare a pan – Prepare your cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper on the bottom of it before adding the layers of nuts, toffee, and chocolate.
- Toasted nuts – Bake the nuts in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes to give them a crunchy and toasted flavor.
- Candy thermometer – It is best to use a candy thermometer to make sure that the temperature heats appropriately.
Rave Reviews
“WOW! JUST made this cause family was craving something sweet and salty. Followed recipe exactly and I dont even have a candy thermometer and it came out amazing!! I want to eat it all. Lol”
-Shelli
“The only problem with this dessert is having to share it with the family! Wow!”
-Brook
The only problem with this dessert is having to share it with the family! Wow!
Questions About English Toffee
Our recipe uses almonds, but you can choose whichever you like, whether that be chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, or peanuts. You can choose what is best for your family and friends!
Keep the toffee mixture around a medium-high temperature and stir with a wooden spoon until it hits the hard-crack stage. This is around 310 degrees. You will then be able to pour it on the prepared baking sheet and let it cool at room temperature.
In the US, “English toffee” is a toffee made with nuts and chocolate, but traditionally in England, “English toffee” is a toffee that is made without nuts.
Storing Easy English Toffee
English toffee is simple to store and even share as a gift. Store it in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for one month. This English toffee is perfect for gift-giving and sharing with friends and family!
More Holiday Treat Ideas
English toffee is such a great staple for any holiday candy gift basket or goodie plate. It’s always a hit! If you’re looking to mix things up and add even more variety to your Christmas candy creations, you should definitely try some of these other amazing recipes too! They’re perfect for spreading that holiday sweetness and making your treats table even more delicious.
How to Make English Toffee
English Toffee Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup almonds or peanuts chopped (optional)
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips (we like milk chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until butter and sugar are dissolved together, then bring to a rolling boil.
- Cook and stir until the mixture turns a caramel brown and reaches the crack stage (we used a candy thermometer and it was around 310 degrees).
- Pour toffee over a handful of your favorite nuts on a cookie sheet lined with cooking spray.
- While the toffee is still hot, gently sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.
- When the chocolate chips begin to melt, smooth them out over the toffee.
- Cool completely before breaking into pieces.
Video
Notes
Recipe Tips:
We received this recipe suggestion in our comments. Thank you, Bonnie!- “I learned to make a very similar toffee at a professional candy-making class. Find liquid lecithin and add about one teaspoon after all ingredients come to a boil. Lecithin is an emulsifier and will make a difference. If butter separates, you’re probably cooking on too high heat……vigorously stir in the ‘white ‘ foamy part and all should be well.
- The recipe is easier if you use a couple of wooden spoons…..change spoons/take a wet paper towel around the top of the toffee to rid of any stray sugar crystals.
- Candy will take longer if you make it on a rainy day ~ I put coarse salt lightly on top.
As a non cooking or baking lover, I was a little anxious; I’ve never made candy and have only baked okay cookies for holiday treat gifts, plus I was set to make quite a bit.
This recipe was fun and much easier than expected. Best part: omg, they taste SO good!!!!!!
I’m so happy this recipe was a success for you! Thank you for the 5-stars!
Quick and good
First, since this is English Toffee, not Peanut Brittle it ought to contain fresh, crunchy tree nuts like English Walnuts, Pecans or even Almonds (my least favorite). Also, avoid Black Walnuts, which have a much stronger, almost bitter flavor that will overpower the toffee.
Second, the temperature of the mixture is going to continue to rise even after you remove it from the heat source. To ensure that you don’t scorch the candy or get too far into the ‘brittle’ stage, move the mixture off of the heat at 300 degrees. Hard Crack stage is 300 to 310 degrees and if you remove the mixture at 300 degrees the temperature will continue to rise to 310 degrees without the risk of scorching the sugar. Some recipes call for removing the mixture from the heat source at 285 degrees; this is a mistake. In my experience, the result is chewier and stickier, so you don’t get the good solid ‘crunch’ you are looking for.
Finally, when using any flavoring extracts (in this case vanilla) you should not add them while the candy mixture is being heated. Most extracts are alcohol based which means that the alcohol will evaporate during the heating process and as the alcohol evaporates, most of the flavoring will evaporate with it. Remove the candy mixture from the heat, wait until it has reached its final temperature and as the mercury begins to fall, gently stir in your flavoring extract. Your patience will be rewarded.
The ingredient proportions seem spot on, so I am eager to taste the finished product. Good cooking!
Wow! Thanks for sharing your expert tips! Can’t wait to try!
Tasty but it didn’t make very much at all. Watch the temperature closely. I went just a dad over the recommended 310 and it became a little too brittle but still good. the 3/4 cups of chocolate chips was way too much for my liking. Chocolate tends to dominate flavors and I wanted more of the toffee flavor so I didn’t put as much as recommended but it was still too much so I scraped some off. If you adore chocolate leave it on.