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Easy to make and perfect for gifting, Old Fashioned English Toffee dusted with grated almonds – a family favorite for generations!
English Toffee is a favorite treat of all our friends and family. It will become one of your family favorites too! Don’t be afraid to make it because it’s pretty easy and even if it’s not perfect, it still tastes great. If you haven’t ever tried making homemade candy, this may be a good recipe to start with.
Enjoy this heirloom recipe for English Toffee.
I received this recipe years ago from my friend Gretchen who also was my hairdresser. We moved 600 miles away so I had to finally break down and find a new hairdresser friend, but when I was still able to visit Gretchen for a haircut, she shared a piece of this English Toffee with me. Gretchen had received it as a gift from another client. I begged her to get the recipe for me and she finally agreed, if I would make it and bring her a small tin each Christmas. She got the recipe and I made it, again and again. Don’t you love a great partnership?! That was more than 20 years ago and I’m still making this same recipe today. I’ve seen many similar recipes over the years but I think I’ll stick with this English Toffee since I’ve always had great success.
Using good quality butter and margarine is key to a successful batch of toffee.
For a successful batch of toffee, prep all your ingredients before you start.
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English Toffee
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (226g)
- 1 cup margarine (226g)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (445g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup (50g)
- 6 tablespoons water (100g or 3½ oz)
- 12 ounces milk chocolate chips
- 1 cup ground almonds
Instructions
- Line a large baking pan with parchment paper or lightly butter. Place the pan over a heatproof trivet and set aside.
- Melt butter and margarine in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Add the sugar, salt, corn syrup and water.
- Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Continue boiling and stirring for about 10 minutes. As the mixture turns a light caramel color, start turning down the heat in small increments to prevent scorching. Cook until the toffee reaches 310°F (hard crack stage) on a candy or instant-read thermometer.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread to an even layer. Once slightly set, gently dab the surface of the candy with clean paper towel to remove any pooled butter. This will help the chocolate adhere to the toffee. While the toffee is still very hot, sprinkle milk chocolate chips evenly over the surface. Once the chocolate chips are soft and melted, spread evenly on top of the candy then immediately sprinkle with ground almonds.
- Cool completely and break into bite size pieces. Layer the toffee in an airtight container between pieces of wax or parchment paper.
Recipe Notes
- Substitute pecans or walnuts for the almonds if you prefer.
- Dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips are also great for this recipe.
- For thicker toffee pieces pour the mixture into a jelly roll pan (10x15-inch) to cool.
- Toffee will keep well sealed for up to two weeks.
Nutrition
Here’s a few more candy recipes you might also enjoy:
Homemade Almond Roca Recipe
Buckeye Candy Recipe
Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe
Kim
The toffee portion of this recipe is spot on – especially if you use salted butter. I made the recipe using all butter and poured mine at 308 degrees, as hard crack is between 300 to 310, and there’s always residual heat. It came out perfect!
However, I’m giving it only 3 stars because the chocolate chips for the topping simply didn’t work. Even though my toffee was still very hot (in fact the chips dente the soft, hot toffee), the chocolate chips didn’t melt enough to spread fully. Instead of the lovely chocolate topping shown in the photos, I ended up with clumps of partially melted chips.
I made a quick ganache with some additional chips and spread it over the top. I knew this wouldn’t harden fully, but at least it no longer looked like a miniature cow had walked over my toffee. 😉
Next time, I’d use an easier melting chocolate – maybe even simple Hershey bars. Chocolate chips are designed to hold their shape in the heat when baking, so I think this was the issue.
Also, I toasted the almonds. This is a personal preference, but really added a nice flavor.
I’ll definitely be adding the toffee recipe to my Christmas candy collection — but will have to experiment on the next batch to see what chocolate topping actually works.
Thank you for sharing.
Tricia Buice
Hi Kim. Not sure what kind of chocolate chips you used or if you waited too long to add them to the candy. If you feel the toffee has cooled too much, microwave the chocolate chips before spreading on top. Glad you enjoyed!
gh
I have always used chocolate chips on mine and never had a problem. Try covering with a cookie sheet or large pan lid for a minute or two to let the chips soften before spreading.
Tricia Buice
Thanks GH!
Ace
Hi, thanks for the recipe. Looking forward to trying it. How long do you think this keeps for in an air tight container?
Tricia Buice
Hi Ace. This toffee will keep at least two weeks. Enjoy!
Jane Norris
What is the best way to clean the pan??? It’s a mess!
Tricia Buice
Hi Jane. I’m not sure what you are asking. The toffee slides out of the saucepan easily, usually leaving nothing behind. The pan the toffee is poured into is usually the same. You must have had some sort of problem if this is an issue. Either way, very hot, soapy water will clean sugar off pans.
Alma
Hi, I made this today.
My liquid products didn’t turn Carmel color like your picture. Also when I went to break them into but size pieces the chocolate separated from the toffee. My husband still ate them lol, just want to improve so u can make them for Christmas.
Tricia Buice
Hi Alma. Sounds like you needed to cook the mixture longer to achieve a better color. Also, did you use all the ingredients as listed or make changes? I’ve made this recipe more times than I can count. Hope you will try again.