The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (2024)

Last updated: · This post may contain affiliate links · 26 Comments

Jump to Recipe·★★★★★5 from 2 reviews

How to make English Toffee the easy way.You'll love this homemade Christmas treat perfect for gifting or parties.

this awesome idea!

DELICIOUS AND EASY ENGLISH TOFFEE

It wouldn't be a Christmas season without making my mom's homemade English Toffee recipe. She's the reason I started this blog after all, (read the story here!) so it's only appropriate that I share one of her most famous recipes with all of you along with 13-layer rainbow jello.

This English Toffee candy is so simple to make and tastes delicious!Like, melt in your mouth delicious.

So if you've ever wondered "how to make toffee" this post will show you how easy it is!

WHAT IS TOFFEE?

This English butter toffee recipe is a popular Christmas treat made with butter, sugar, and chocolate.

The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (2)

ENGLISH TOFFEE GIFTS

Homemade toffee is great for Neighbor gifts, teacher gifts, or visitors who stop by. Just package this English butter toffee little cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon for a quick gift!

The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (3)

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE TOFFEE:

What is English toffee made of?

  • 1 pound real butter- do not use margarine (they don't call it a buttery English toffee recipe for no reason!)
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 ½ cups white sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons light corn syrup
  • about 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • chopped walnuts, if desired
  • candy thermometer
  • wooden spoon
  • large sauce pan
  • baker's half sheet (I use this one for all my baking!)
  • cellophane bags for gifts

SHOP THE SUPPLIES

HOW TO MAKE ENGLISH TOFFEE

1. First, melt the butter in a large saucepan on medium heat. Don't burn it! Once the butter starts melting, attach the candy thermometer to side of the pan like this:

The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (5)

2. Once the butter melts, stir in the water, sugar, and light corn syrup. You'll cook it until it reaches 300 degrees F, or the hard crack stage. This is a hard toffee recipe, so be sure it reaches the full temperature.

It will take about 15 minutes to reach 300 degrees. Just keep stirring. So before you start making this Toffee, make sure you have a good 20 minutes or so that you can dedicate to just this!

3. Once the old English toffee mixture has reaches that temperature, you pour the super hot, sweet-smelling hot toffee mixture onto an extra large cookie sheet (*aff. link).

The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (6)

4. Then you sprinkle semi-sweet chocolate chips onto the toffee. And if you keep your chocolate chips in the freezer like I do and are worried about them not melting, do not fear! They will melt just fine.

You'll want a bowl scraper to smooth the chocolate chips all over the toffee. Keep smoothing until the chocolate has melted and you have a nice, smooth layer on top.

The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (7)

5. For English toffee with nuts, just sprinkle chopped walnuts, or your favorite nuts, on top at this point. You can certainly make it without nuts, too.

6. Take the cookie sheet (*aff. link) of goodness and place outside (if it's nice and cold!) or in the refrigerator and leave there until the toffee has hardened and the chocolate is no longer runny.

7. Once the toffee has cooled completely, hit with the back of a knife to make uneven pieces. Once you have one section broken, you can even use your hands to break the rest.

8. Store in an airtight container or package up for yummy gifts.

See how easy making toffee can be? Seriously, you got this!

The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (8)

READY TO MAKE THE BEST ENGLISH TOFFEE?

I would say I would send you some of ours, but the truth is: our entire batch is already gone. Guess we'll just need to make another! 🙂

OTHER AMAZING RECIPES TO TRY:

  • The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (2 dozen in 30 minutes!)
  • 5-Minute Frozen Hot Chocolate

Here's the easy recipe for English Toffee!

Print

📖 Printable Recipe Card

The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (9)

The Best English Toffee

★★★★★5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: SoFestive.com
  • Total Time: 17 minutes
  • Yield: 13x18 cookie sheet (*aff. link) 1x
Print Recipe

Description

A simple but amazing English Toffee, perfect for holiday gifts, parties, or treats!

Ingredients

Scale

  • 1 pound real butter, do not use margarine
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 ½ cups white sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons light corn syrup
  • about 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • chopped walnuts, if desired
  • candy thermometer
  • wooden spoon

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Attach the candy thermometer to the pan now.
  2. Once the butter is melted, add in the water, white sugar and corn syrup.
  3. Cook the mixture until it reaches 300 degrees F (hard crack) on a candy thermometer. This will take about 12-14 minutes. Make sure to stir continually so that it doesn't burn. Use a wooden spoon-- a plastic spoon will melt!
  4. Once it reaches 300 F, pour the mixture on an ungreased cookie sheet (10x15 is good).
  5. Sprinkle chocolate chips on the top and spread with a bowl scraper. (They will melt). Once you spread the chocolate and it's all melted, sprinkle the chopped nuts if you are going to add them. Cool until hard. To speed up the process, place outside in the cold weather or place in the refrigerator.
  6. Once cool and hard, use the back of a knife to break the English Toffee into pieces. Store in an air-tight container.
  • Prep Time: 3 minutes
  • Cook Time: 14 minutes
  • Category: Treats

Keywords: english toffee, toffee, butter toffee, christmas candy

Save this British toffee recipe for later! Enjoy one of our favorite Christmas goodies!

The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (10)
The Best English Toffee Recipe (2024) | So Festive! (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between toffee and English toffee? ›

Americanized toffee may include nuts, while a completely traditional British toffee will not. On the other hand, English toffee uses pure cane sugar, brown sugar, or molasses as its sweet base and always involves chocolate.

Who is the best toffee in the world? ›

Lotte Coffy Bite Toffee

This is the best toffee in the world that has a rich flavor of coffee. Its creamy texture makes it mouthwatering to all of us.

What does baking soda do to English toffee? ›

This toffee is cooked initially to 310°F (154°C), then the salt and baking soda are added, creating carbon dioxide. The foaming and bubbling aerate the candy somewhat, making the texture lighter and the candy easier to bite into.

What's the difference between English toffee and Buttercrunch? ›

What's the difference? Primarily, the difference rests in the ingredients. Toffee in Britain is made with brown sugar, whereas buttercrunch is made with white granulated sugar. The differences do not stop there, however, since the delectable buttercrunch is usually made with a nice variety of nuts and other flavorings.

What is English toffee called in England? ›

Although named English toffee, it bears little resemblance to the wide range of confectionery known as toffee currently available in the United Kingdom. However, one can still find this product in the UK under the name "butter crunch". Conversely, in Italy they are known as "mou candies".

Why is my English toffee chewy? ›

Don't hurry this gradual transformation; syrup that doesn't reach 300°F, or close to it, will make candy with timid flavor and chewy (not crunchy) texture. Think you can save time by bringing the syrup to a full rolling, popping boil in order for it to darken more quickly? Think again.

Who is the king of toffee? ›

By 1896, Mackintosh was calling himself the "Toffee King" and his product "The King of All the Toffees".

Which country invented toffee? ›

It was invented during the reign of Charles II of Britain.

What is the German brand of toffee? ›

Launched in Germany in 1973, it was the world's first confectionery of its kind. Today Toffifee is enjoyed by people in more than one hundred countries, as Toffifee is a combination that 's perfect for every taste: a crunchy hazelnut in delicious caramel, with nougat cream and a drop of dark chocolate on top.

Should you stir toffee while cooking? ›

It's important while the toffee cooks to only stir it occasionally. Constant stirring can cause the toffee to crystallize and separate. For those of you that need to know exactly how often you should stir, I would suggest erring on the side of not stirring more than stirring.

Why cream of tartar in toffee? ›

Adding cream of tartar when you're making candy helps prevent the creation of sugar crystals. That's why lots of icing, syrup or candy recipes call for it: it makes it so the end product doesn't have large crunchy sugar capsules.

Why do you put butter in toffee? ›

Butter is added in the final stages to add flavor and smoothness and inhibit large crystal formation. Use unsalted butter so you can add a small amount of salt (¼ teaspoon per stick of butter) to the sugar/liquid mixture.

Should English toffee be refrigerated? ›

We recommend serving the toffee at room temperature, although many of our customers tell us they love it cold. Conservatively, our toffee will keep well in the refrigerator for three weeks (take care to guard against moisture getting to it), and three months in the freezer.

Is butter brickle the same as toffee? ›

Butter Brickle is a chocolate-coated toffee first sold on November 20, 1924, by candy manufacturer John G. Woodward Co. of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and toffee pieces for flavoring ice cream, manufactured by The Fenn Bros. Ice Cream and Candy Co.

What is the difference between taffy and toffee? ›

The difference is mainly in the candy-making process: taffy is pulled and stretched until it's soft and chewy. Toffee, on the other hand, won't stick in your teeth like taffy, because it is boiled, shaped, and allowed to harden into a delicious, glossy slab.

Is English toffee like butterscotch? ›

Toffee is butterscotch that has been cooked for a longer period of time. Toffee begins as a base of butter and brown sugar that is gradually cooked to the hard-crack sugar stage between 295 and 309 degrees Fahrenheit.

What makes English toffee separate? ›

If the toffee or caramel is not handled properly during the cooking process, the butter sometimes separates from the sugar and forms an oily layer on top of the candy. This often happens during the cooking stage, but sometimes it separates as it is being poured out onto a baking sheet to cool.

Is English toffee hard or soft? ›

Homemade English Toffee is a sweet and addicting treat made with a hard candy layer topped with chocolate and chopped pecans for a nutty crunch.

What flavor is English toffee? ›

Toffee is often combined with nuts such as almonds and semi-sweet chocolate to create classic English toffee. This is done by spreading the hot toffee out flat over a sheet pan and topping it with semi-sweet chocolate chips.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Jerrold Considine

Last Updated:

Views: 6071

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (78 voted)

Reviews: 85% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Jerrold Considine

Birthday: 1993-11-03

Address: Suite 447 3463 Marybelle Circles, New Marlin, AL 20765

Phone: +5816749283868

Job: Sales Executive

Hobby: Air sports, Sand art, Electronics, LARPing, Baseball, Book restoration, Puzzles

Introduction: My name is Jerrold Considine, I am a combative, cheerful, encouraging, happy, enthusiastic, funny, kind person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.