If you've ever felt intimidated by candy making, give this English toffee recipe a try. My recipe will help you get it right the first time with step-by-step instructions, photographs, and video. It's a family recipe that has been a holiday staple for over 35 years.
If you've tried making toffee and had the questions: "Why is my toffee soft?" or "Why won't my toffee turn brown?" you've come to the right place! I'll answer those questions and show you how to turn your next batch around in the right direction. You might also like our Churro toffee recipe or Take 5 toffee recipe.
One of my FAVORITE holiday treats is this English toffee. My aunt made this for our family every year for Christmas, and I always looked forward to it! When I grew up and started my own family, I asked her for the recipe so that I could start making it for gifts.
My first batch was...gritty. Eww. And soft. I was SO bummed! When toffee is undercooked, it's not only soft and gritty, but it tastes bad, too. I wasn't going to give up. Making it is so much cheaper than buying it, so I tried again, and the second batch turned out great! I realized that I hadn't cooked it long enough. It's been smooth sailing ever since. I've made dozens and dozens of batches of toffee using this method, and it turns out perfect every time.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Easy to make. Toffee isn't hard to make and uses pretty basic ingredients! This method doesn't even require a candy thermometer.
- Simple ingredients. Sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt. That's the base of the recipe. Add nuts if you'd like, and don't forget to coat it in chocolate.
- Can be made in advance. If you bake for family and friends during the holidays, English toffee is a great treat to add to your lineup. You can make it days in advance since it stays fresh for a week at room temperature, which is considerably longer than most baked goods.
What People Are Saying
I had never made toffee prior to finding your recipe last Christmas. I have since made it seven or eight times and it has been perfect every single time. I just made the first of this season’s batches on a different stove and it was still perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Just made my first batch of your toffee and it came out pretty much exactly like you said it would! Your very clear instructions made it a breeze, and I’ll now be making several more batches to give as Christmas presents.
My first batch was the aforementioned disaster. But I just made my second, and it is beautiful and perfect!
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Tips and Tricks for Perfect Engligh Toffee
- Do not double the recipe. My aunt told me it is better to make this toffee in single batches so that is what I have always done.
- Use a wooden spoon. Metal spoons will heat up as the mixture heats up. A good old-fashioned wooden spoon or silicone spatula works well, as they do not conduct heat.
- Use a clean, dry pan for each new batch.
- Cook at medium-high heat. Don't be afraid to crank the heat up once the mixture begins to simmer. This is not a low-and-slow recipe. It's HIGH and fast. On my stove, I cook it at a 6 or 7 out of 10 (medium-high).
- 5 minutes is a guide. By all means, if after 5 minutes your toffee still isn't the color of a brown bag, keep it on the stove for another minute or so. Every stove cooks differently. The 5-minute timer is a guide.
Ingredients
- Butter: Use salted butter and DO NOT use margarine.
- Sugar
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Almonds: I like using whole almonds in the toffee and sliced almonds on top, pecans or walnuts would be delicious too.
- Chocolate: The toffee is coated in melted chocolate. Use chocolate chips or melting wafers.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make English Toffee
Before you dive into our English toffee recipe and make your first batch, be sure to read through my entire post and the helpful tips at the end! You can also watch the video in the recipe card or check out my Instagram highlight videos titled “Toffee” where I make a batch in real time.
Step 1: Line a baking sheet with foil. If you'd like almonds inside the toffee, not just on the top, toss a handful of sliced or whole almonds onto the baking sheet (about 1 cup). You can also use walnuts, pecans, mixed nuts, or just leave the nuts out all together.
Step 2: Heat butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a heavy saucepan on medium heat until the butter is melted. Turn the temperature up to medium HIGH and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.
Step 3: Set your timer for 5 minutes and DO NOT let ANYTHING disturb you while you stir. The photo above is what it looks like after stirring for two minutes.
Step 4: Keep stirring. After 4 minutes, it has lost its yellow color and is turning brown. It is also looking frothy. But it is not done until it has turned the color of a brown paper bag. It may look done, and you may think it is burning, but keep stirring until your timer goes off. It may even smoke a tiny bit, and that is ok. If you are really concerned, lift your pan off the burner (while you are still stirring) to remove it from the heat, but still stir until your timer goes off.
Step 5: After 5 minutes it should be nice and BROWN. There is a definite difference between 4 and 5 minutes of cooking. That extra minute makes all the difference in the texture. Remove from heat.
Step 6: Immediately pour hot toffee onto your foil-lined baking sheet. If you added nuts to your baking sheet, pour the toffee over the nuts. Do not scrape the bottom of the pan. As you pour, the bottom will brown, and you don't want that in your toffee.
Step 7: Let cool. It should harden within a couple of minutes.
Step 8: Spread melted chocolate over the toffee with a small spatula or butter knife. Sprinkle with additional nuts, if desired.
Step 9: Once the chocolate hardens, break the toffee into small pieces. Store in an airtight container indefinitely.
And that is it! No temps, no candy thermometer, no special tools required. JUST HEAT, and lots of it.
English Toffee FAQs
Do you like Skor Bars, Heath Bars or Almond Roca? If so, you'll love our English toffee recipe. It is SO MUCH BETTER than any of those! English toffee is made from sugar and butter and heated to the hard crack stage for a crunchy, buttery candy. I've heard that traditional English toffee isn't made with nuts, but we won't even go there. Toffee simply isn't the same without almonds. Many versions only sprinkle nuts on top of the chocolate, but mine has whole almonds in the toffee too. Of course, if you aren't a fan of nuts, you can leave them out.
No. English toffee must be made with butter. Butter is a key ingredient in any caramel or toffee recipe.
There are a couple of things that could be happening. 1: Your heat might not be high enough. 2: I haven't ever experienced this, but I have heard that if you use SALTED butter that it is better for toffee making. I only buy salted butter so maybe that's why I've never had my toffee separate. You also need to make sure that you are CONSTANTLY stirring the mixture.
It will turn brown if the heat is medium-high and you cook it for 5-6 minutes. Crank up that heat, don't let it simmer on low. It will start out yellow, then become light brown, then finally the right brown paper brown that you are looking for. Just keep stirring and cooking!
If your toffee doesn't have a hard texture (where you can snap it in half) you did not cook it long enough. Again, the 5-minutes is just a guide. Cook it until it is the color of a brown bag.
Toffee should be a combination of sweet and salty. A mixture of butter and caramel has a nice snap when broken into pieces. If your toffee is soft or gritty or tastes bitter, see the tips above for troubleshooting.
Toffee can be frozen up to 2 months. It also lasts quite awhile at room temperature if stored in a container.
Fill your pan with hot water and set it aside. It will start dissolving the toffee left inside and make it easier to clean.
More Candy Recipes To Make
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English Toffee Recipe
Equipment
- baking sheet
- foil
- sturdy pan
- wooden spoon
- measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- spatula
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (salted) DO NOT USE MARGARINE
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup chocolate chips or melting chocolate
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with foil. If you'd like to have nuts in your toffee, toss a handful of almonds onto the baking sheet. Set aside.
- Heat all of your ingredients (except for the nuts and chocolate) in a nice sturdy saucepan on med heat until butter is melted. Turn temp up to medium high and stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil.
- Set your timer for 5 minutes and DO NOT let ANYTHING disturb you while you stir. You must keep stirring your butter/sugar mixture so that it does not burn. And you must use a WOODEN spoon.
- Keep stirring until your timer goes off. It may even smoke a tiny bit and that is ok. If you are really concerned, lift the pan off of the burner (while you are still stirring) to remove it from the heat, but still stir until your timer goes off.
- Immediately pour hot toffee onto your foil-lined baking sheet. If you added nuts to your baking sheet, pour the toffee over the nuts.
- The toffee will be about ¼-1/2" thick. Do not scrape the bottom of the pan. As you pour, the bottom will brown and you don’t want that in your toffee.
- Fill your pan with hot water and set it aside. It will start dissolving the toffee left inside and make it easier to clean.
- Let cool. It should harden within a couple of minutes.
- Melt Ghirardelli bricks or wafers, Wilton melting chocolate, chocolate chips, or any other variety of melting chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals until smooth.
- Spread across your toffee with a small spatula or butter knife. I use about 2 Ghirardelli bricks per batch. If you melt too much that’s ok, it will harden again and you can just microwave it again another time for another use.
- Sprinkle with sliced almonds, if desired, while the chocolate is still soft. After it has set up, break toffee into pieces.
Notes
- Do NOT double the recipe
- You must use a WOODEN spoon
- Use a clean, dry pan for each new batch.
- Cook over high- medium/high. (My stove is gas and tends to cook really hot, really fast. So I usually drop the heat to medium for my toffee, but in years past when I had an electric flat top stove, med-high worked best.)
- The 5 minute cook time is just a guide. If you hit 5 minutes and your toffee still isn't the color of a brown paper bag, add an extra minute. Cook times vary on each stove.
Nutrition
Here is a collection of holiday candy recipes to try from Taste of Home.
Brenda Beshears says
Thanks for the suggestion. I failed to mention at the beginning I did use margarine, so with the margaraine, metal spoon, and no foil, I really got started off bad. I'm just afraid to let it get too dark, but it was definately a dark amber color (no longer yellow) when I took it off the fire. Do you think I would be better off, just pouring the mixture over the nuts, and maybe it wouldn't seem so tuff? Is there a way to make it then when pouring, or should I spread it out with a rubber spatula? I have wasted a lot of nuts/sugar/butter on trying to do this.
Brandy says
To spread it out after pouring onto the foil I life the pan and let the toffee batter kind of spread down the baking sheet instead of having it all in the center. I hope that makes sense!
Brenda Beshears says
Oh I do wish I had good news, and I'm embarrassed to say, I must have tried it 6 times or more. I actually Googled to see if I used a candy thermometer what it would be, and it said "300" as the temperature. (Up to this point, I had not used a candy thermometer.) I know the first couple times was my fault, as I used a metal spoon, instead of a wooden spoon. Also I did not use foil at first. After the start of a fool boil, I timed it for 5 minutes, and it never got to 300 on the thermometer. I let it continue to boil until it got to the carmel color, and took it off the fire. I think it would have been alright, but it seemed to still be too think, especially where there were no nuts. I remember cooking it in the microwave before, but this time I used a pan. Whether that was the reason it did not turn out as good as when I used the microwave, I don't know. Any suggestions from anyone, I would love to have.
Brandy says
Hi Brenda! Wooden spoon, butter, med-high heat. Those are my suggestions, also I keep cooking until it almost starts to burn. It'll start to smoke a little and that's when I turn the heat off. I really hope these help! How frustrating!
Brenda Beshears says
I've enjoyed reading all these comments. I just made a big batch, and had to pitch it this morning. Always before, it had turned out good. (It gets very expensive pitching all the nuts, and Heath bits I had used for it) I think my problem (I wasn't going to try again, until I just seen this posting) was that I didn't use butter, but margarine, and I used a metal spoon, instead of a wooden one. I'm going to try with the butter and wooden spoon, and let it cook, until it is "frothy," Your pictures really came in handy.
Brandy says
Hi Brenda! Yes, try it again with butter and see how that goes. I think it will make a big difference! Those heath bits sounds yummy!
Meghan says
I had never made toffee prior to finding your recipe last Christmas. I have since made it seven or eight times and it has been perfect every single time. I just made the first of this season's batches on a different stove and it was still perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Brandy says
So awesome! Thanks so much for sharing. I used to make cookies and other treats to pass out, but toffee seems to be the most popular so I just stick with that now!
Lauren says
Hi Brandy!
Just made my first batch of your toffee and it came out pretty much exactly like you said it would! Your very clear instructions made it a breeze, and I'll now be making several more batches to give as Christmas presents. I've never made sweets before since all of the recipes I've looked at needed a sugar or candy thermometer, so your method is perfect for a student with limited funds!
Happy Christmas!
Lauren
Edinburgh, Scotland
Brandy says
Hi Lauren! Fantastic! And you're a quick study! Like I said in my post, my first batch was a total flop, but with practice it got better! Thanks so much for coming back and letting me know how it turned out. Merry Christmas to you in Scotland!
Polly says
I just made toffee for the first time but came here afterwards. It looks okay(maybe too thin) and it set up okay but it just doesn't taste rich and buttery. My recipe was butter and sugar. I also was trying to spread over the whole cookie sheet but I think that is why it is too thin but can't figure out why it doesn't taste rich or buttery. I used semi sweet chocolate
Brandy says
Hi Polly! With using real butter I'm not sure why it wouldn't taste buttery either! Did you use unsalted butter? That may cause the taste to come out different than salted butter. I'd give it another try, it's so good it is definitely worth a second batch! And don't worry about trying to spread it over the entire pan. Just pour it all out and give the pan a little tilt to spread it somewhat. Mine is usually about 1/4"thick before adding chocolate and nuts.
haley says
Has anyone tried halving the recipe? I know we're warned against doubling. If it's a fine idea, I'd rather waste that doomed trial run on less ingredients
Birdy says
I googled it too, and it said the most common cause for separating is changes in temperature. I don't know how to solve this problem for this recipe, but i think that all ingredients should be at room temperature before placing in the pan, and when you take it off the heat, the heat shouldn't be lowered too suddenly.
Kathy says
After making toffee for almost 30 years, I discovered that the weather is an important factor. If it’s clear and dry it all comes together perfectly. If it’s damp, cold and rainy the butter and sugar separates no matter how long it’s cooked. I HAVE NO IDEAY WHY! Just many years of experience. I now only make my toffee on clear, dry days!🌞
Brandy says
I have the same issue when making bath bombs. Rainy days are the enemy. Science can be a crazy thing!
Danielle says
Thank you so much for the instructions! So easy to follow, and my first batch turned out perfectly. I cooked mine longer than specified, but I was really hesitant to turn up the heat first, especially when it started to separate, then froth. I will definitely make this again, and show my friends your instructions. Thanks again!
Brandy says
Wonderful! So glad to hear and the timing is just a guide, you really have to go by the color and look of the toffee like you did! It's my all time favorite treat. Have a wonderful week!
Brandy
Kelly says
Hi Brandy,
Thank you so much for this detailed recipe. I made two batches in a row that were absolutely perfect. Here I am a week later and I made a batch and it's a disaster. The butter and the sugar separated in the pan and never pulled back together. Any suggestions?
Brandy says
Hi Kelly!
I haven't had that happen before, but I had a friend who mentioned that. Here is something I found online. Sorry I don't have firsthand experience to help, but I think this might answer it for you! http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705267581/Toffee-break--How-to-avoid-the-dreaded-separation-anxiety.html?pg=all
Brandy says
Hi Connie, I'm not sure! Once it had the chocolate on it, I'm not sure if there is a way to salvage or turn it into something else. So sorry that happened!
Christie Parkinson Stochl says
Thank you so much for the detailed instructions! I tried making toffee today for the first time. I used a different but very similar recipe to yours and of course, it didn't turn out. Between your detailed instructions and all of the comments, I realize that I didn't have my heat high enough. Also, someone told me not to use nonstick cookware for it. Does anyone have advice about nonstick cookware for this recipe?
Brandy says
Yes! Heat plays a major factor. Don't be afraid to see a tiny bit of smoke right before you pull it off the stove. That's where I went wrong with my first batch years ago. I don't have any advice about nonstick cookware. I use a basic saucepan, nice and sturdy. The only thing I've heard it to use a sturdy, heavy pan. Not sure why, but I'm assuming it will distribute the heat evenly. Good luck! I'm sure your second batch will be amazing!
Christie Parkinson Stochl says
My second batch was perfect! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've always wanted to make toffee and couldn't have done it right without your blog.
Brandy says
Wonderful! This made my day! I am getting ready for our annual toffee marathon this afternoon. 10 batches. I think I need to get more than one saucepan!
Mashelle M says
I have made toffee for years and I believe not only the wooden spoon helps but also the the weight of your pan is important. I believe the separation has several factors, change of temperature (too high of heat) and crystallization. Be careful not to scrape the sides if your pan while cooking and adding 1 or 2 tablespoons, depending on butter amount in recipe, of Karo Syrup will help prevent that separation.
Meghan says
I bombed the microwave peanut brittle (I'm trying again tomorrow!) but this... The toffee is perfect! Crisp, buttery, chocolatey goodness. Thank you so much for posting such an easy, clear recipe. My first time making any kind of candy on the stovetop (ok, so I made divinity right before this, but it didn't require the stirring or the eye), and it turned out great! Thank you!
Brandy says
Awesome!! So glad it turned out fantastic. It's my favorite candy recipe! The peanut brittle isn't user error as much as figuring out what works best for your microwave. Actually, if you click through to the link I shared (where I found this exact recipe) you can read reviews of how others tinkered with the timing and had great results. Hope that helps!
Brandy says
Hi Colleen,
I am so sorry to hear this! When did you start your timer? I set my timer for 5 minutes when it started to slightly bubble my first time, but then it didn't cook long enough. After that, I didn't set it until it was in a full boil and then it cooked long enough to turn "paper bag brown". It sounds like you know what you are doing, but that would be my only suggestion if you are up for trying it out again. It is so frustrating to waste time and food!
Laurie Shannon says
My first batch was the aforementioned disaster. But I just made my second, and it is beautiful and perfect! It definitely was the heat. It needed to be medium high for me. On my electric range (which is crazy and runs hot), I cooked the toffee on #8. The first try I cooked it on #6 - and the butter separated in the last minute and all was lost. Thanks for the recipe! I'm sending the first batch to my son who is serving as a Corpsman in the Navy (but with the Marines) in the Middle East. Cheers and happy holidays to all.
Brandy says
Hi Laurie! I'm glad it turned out for you. Now you know which setting works for your stove and it should be smooth sailing every time after! Happy Thanksgiving and a huge thank you to your son for his service. Being away from family during this time of year is a big sacrifice. The Nelson family thanks you!