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!
Jump to:
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 over high-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.
- 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.
Jess says
This recipe is prefect! I tried to make toffee twice yesterday and failed, and ended up with a burn on my arm to show for it. I’m an avid baker and well-versed in caramel making, but I struggled with toffee! I was not content with just giving up on toffee, so I found your recipe. This method really is fail-proof! And I’m convinced it’s the wooden spoon!😂 I used a whisk and rubber spatula yesterday and I think my temp was too low, and I ended up with a crystallized, separated mess both times. But this worked perfectly!!!
Brandy says
Yay! Gosh, isn’t it the best feeling to have a batch of toffee turn out perfect? My first batch failed miserable when I started making it almost 20 years ago, but once you get it——you get it! Must be the wooden spoon. Haha!
Misty Critchfield says
Thank you for great instructions! It worked. (after I burned it using another recipe requiring it to get to 308 degrees!
Brandy says
I'm so glad you had great results!
Kim Mangus says
I have been using this recipe for several years. Toffee always turns out great!
Brandy says
Love to hear this!!
Heidi says
This worked perfectly the first time I tried it! I've never been successful with toffee before but your pictures made it easy. I had to go past the 5-minute mark before the toffee was the right colour, but I knew what colour to watch for so it was fine. Thanks for this recipe!
Brandy says
Yay! This makes me so happy! If I cook my toffee to 5 minutes on my stove in this house, it burns. So I have to cook it for 4 minutes. It's crazy how different stoves vary so much. 5 minutes is a good mark to go by and then you kind of just figure out what works best for your pan and pot!
Susan Raifsnider says
Third time's a charm! I tried two other recipes before I found yours; both more complicated and time consuming; both failures! I read through your entire directions, as recommended, before starting. I then followed recipe exactly as written and voila! Delicious toffee as promised. It's so awesome when a recipe turns out like it's supposed to, especially when it's a lot easier than others you've tried. Can't wait to share gluesticksblog.com with my fellow toffee lovers! Thank you!!
Brandy says
Yay! Susan, I'm so glad! Yes, I understand toffee failures all too well. Nothing it worse than soft, separated, or gritty toffee. I'm so glad you had a successful batch!
Elisabeth says
I just made a half batch as a test today. I had the problem of separation of the butter at the five minute mark, but I put the pan back on the heat and stirred briskly until it came back to a boil. About that point it came back together. I used a silicone mini ice cube tray and poured the candy into that. The second tray was a bit scorched(as you warned!) but the first was fine. Next time I will work faster. After the candy cooled I popped them out and dipped them in melted chocolate. They are great and it was fun to make them. Definitely doing this again. Thanks for all the great tips here.
Interestingly, Fannie Farmers recipe for almond brittle (basically the same but with almond cooked in) calls for cooking over low heat until the correct temperature is reached. I may experiment with that approach as well.
Brandy says
Using a mold is a great idea! Perfect portion control. I may have to try this as well!
AMC says
I tried this. Maybe my mistake was doubling the recipe. Also, I am filling molds rather than pouring the toffee onto pans to make 'bark.' All the shapes are quite thick (maybe an inch?) and they are chey. They started to cool and harden immediately after pouring into the molds. Now they have been in the fridge for an hour and they haven't hardened.?
Brandy says
Hi! Yes, doubling the recipe was your mistake, unfortunately! I haven't tried making them in molds, but I think the chewiness is from doubling the recipe. I'm sorry they didn't turn out! You can scroll to the bottom of the post for helpful tips on making the toffee that turns out just right. A wooden spoon, heavy sturdy pan, and med-high heat are the other key factors. Hope that helps!! 🙂
Quinn says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I'm in college and do not have very much to cook with. I found your recipe and knew I had sugar and butter! You made my day a sweet one! I will definitely make this again! It took quite awhile longer for mine to darken, but it still worked and tastes great! Again, thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Brandy says
Awesome! I'm so glad it worked out. It's definitely my favorite holiday recipe.
Christina says
This is a very interesting recipe! Pin it!! Thank you for sharing at Sweet Inspiration Link Party 🙂
Cherryl says
I've never had much luck making this, but I'm going to try this and see if it works this time!
Brenda says
It may have already been mentioned, but make sure you use a wooden spoon, when stirring after the 6 minutes. When i do this in the microwave, I generally do the 6 minutes (every microwave is different, so you may have to add, or subtract from the 6 minutes), as it has not started getting "amber" as yet. I do one minute at a time, and it take only 1 or 2 minutes more, and turns out very good.
Brandy says
Yes, thanks! A wooden spoon is a must!
AnnMarie says
There is nothing better than a crunchy piece of toffee! Thanks for the recipe!
Brenda says
I just made the toffee a couple days ago, and I was very pleased with it. Every microwave is different. After the 7 minutes (I did not stir or check it until the 7 minutes were up), I then checked the color of it, and stirred it as well. I then added a minute, and stirred, and then another minute and stirred, and by then, it was an amber color.
Lisa says
This looks delicious. My mother loves toffee and I often buy her toffee for the holidays. I have thought about trying to make it but have always been intimidated. Your step by step tutorial is very helpful and has given me the courage to give it a try. Thanks for the recipe!
Andrea says
I tried making English Toffee the other day, but didn't cook it long enough. It tasted fine, but was chewy and sticky. I decided to try to fix it by putting in in the oven. I put the pan in the oven and set the temperature to 350 degrees. I watched it closely until it started to turn a darker brown and was bubbly. I then poured it into a pan and boiled it until it reached the right color, stirring slowly. I then put it on another pan. Some of the butter separated, but it the rest hardened and tasted fine. I poured off the excess butter and finished the toffee. It ended up great.
Brandy says
Glad to know there is a way to still save it if it ends up undercooked at first!
Trish says
Hi im in the middle of making this and after 5 min in looks good and then the butter starts to separate away then begins ti look like curdled scrambled eggs but wont brown. Im constantly stirring and its at the right heat!
Please help!
Brandy says
Hi Trish! Did it eventually brown for you? If now, is very strange! You are using butter and not margarine and using med-high heat? Those are the two main factors and it sounds like you are doing it right.