Take 5 English Toffee! If you like the candy bar, you'll love this spin on English toffee. Pretzels, peanuts, toffee, milk chocolate, and peanut butter.
You might also like my Take 5 bites, Churro toffee, or homemade butterfingers.
My husband loves Take 5 candy bars. Have you ever had one? I'm assuming you found your way to this recipe because you like them, but if not, you're in for a treat. A Take 5 candy bar is made out of pretzels, peanut butter, peanuts, caramel, and chocolate. I used toffee instead of caramel and melted peanut butter chips instead of peanut butter. Peanut butter would be delicious, but would also make this toffee a sticky mess. Peanut butter chips are like chocolate chips, and melt easily then harden once again, making them perfect for drizzling across this toffee recipe. The result is a rich and crunchy toffee that is entirely unique!
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 made a dairy-free version for my daughter. I rolled the dice, halved the recipe, and subbed non-dairy butter and non-dairy chocolate so she could partake. Y’all - it worked!!!! She was over the moon! Since I’ve had the regular version and now this one: the non-dairy version is not as rich tasting on the bottom part bc, duh, no butter, but the texture is on point and it was still delicious.---Joy on Facebook
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Tips and Tricks
- 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
- Mini pretzels: Pretzels are the base of this yummy toffee. Everything else is added on top.
- Peanuts: I prefer using unsalted peanuts since the toffee and pretzels already contain salt.
- Chocolate: You can use chocolate chips or melting chocolate (Ghirardelli). I used milk chocolate chips.
- Peanut butter chips: Just a few melted down and drizzled over the top of the toffee.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Take 5 Toffee
Step 1: Line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange pretzels in a single layer. Sprinkle with ¼ c. chopped peanuts.
Step 2: Heat butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a nice sturdy saucepan on medium heat until butter is melted. Turn the temp up to med-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. You must keep stirring your butter/sugar mixture so that it does not burn. And you must use a WOODEN spoon.
Step 4: Keep stirring until your timer goes off. It may even smoke a tiny bit and that is ok. If you are really concerned, lift you pan off of the burner (while you are still stirring) to remove it from the heat, but still stir until your timer goes off. You are looking for toffee that is the color of a brown paper bag. Not tan or beige, but BROWN.
Step 5: Immediately pour hot toffee over pretzels and peanuts.
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 6: Let the toffee cool. It should harden within a couple of minutes.
Melt chocolate chips and spread across your toffee with a small spatula or butter knife.
Step 7: Melt peanut butter chips in a frosting bag or a plastic freezer bag (the plastic on freezer bags is thicker than sandwich or snack bags) for 30 seconds. Make a small cut in the corner of the bag for drizzling.
Drizzle melted peanut butter chips over toffee. Sprinkle with remaining chopped peanuts.
Allow chocolate to set. Break toffee into small pieces. Store in an airtight container. This recipe makes 1 lb. of delicious Take 5 toffee.
Take 5 Toffee FAQs
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.
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 Toffee Recipes To Make
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Take 5 Toffee Recipe
Equipment
- baking sheet
- foil
- sturdy pan
- wooden spoon
- measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- spatula
- plastic bag or frosting bag
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (salted) DO NOT USE MARGARINE
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
- 1 cup mini pretzels
- ½ cup chopped peanuts divided
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- ¼ cup peanut butter chips
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange pretzels in a single layer. Sprinkle with ¼ c. chopped peanuts.
- Heat butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in a nice sturdy saucepan on med heat until butter is melted. Turn temp up to med-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 you pan off of the burner (while you are still stirring) to remove it from the heat, but still stir until your timer goes off. You are looking for toffee that is the color of a brown paper bag. Not tan or beige, but BROWN.
- Immediately pour hot toffee over pretzels and peanuts.
- 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 toffee cool. It should harden within a couple of minutes.
- Melt chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds. Stir. Melt an additional 20 seconds. Stir.
- Spread across your toffee with a small spatula or butter knife.
- Melt peanut butter chips in frosting bag or plastic freezer bag (the plastic on freezer bags is thicker than sandwich or snack bags) for 30 seconds. Make a small cut in the corner of the bag for drizzling.
- Drizzle melted peanut butter chips over toffee. Sprinkle with remaining chopped peanuts.
- Allow chocolate to set. Break toffee into small pieces.
- Store in airtight container.
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.
Karen Ackerman says
I appreciate your detailed instructions (I am void of any talent/ vision/ creativity with new recipes). You,obviously, are the antithesis of those nouns. I am going to attempt to make your recipe---gad, I only hope my attempt does your recipe justice. I shall even buy a wooden spoon in honor of you. I must add, I have absolutely no luck melting peanut butter chips in freezer bags---note the aforementioned "void of...''. May I place the peanut butter chips in a glass measuring cup, add a tiny bit of oil/shortening to melt, and use a fork to drizzle the mixture over the pretzels and chocolate? I shall wait for your advice. I thank you in advance.
Brandy says
Hi Karen! You can absolutely add a small amount of oil to aid in melting the peanut butter chips smoothly! Good luck!
Charmaine says
Hi I totally failed at this recipe 🙂 I did my 5 minutes but it still wasn’t brown. I went longer but it ended up in a big clump and unable to pour it over the pretzels. Any suggestions?
Brandy says
Hi Charmaine! What was your stove set at? It might take a little longer than 5 minutes (every stove is different—-mine only takes 4 min.), but it shouldn’t take much longer. It sounds like you need to set the temp a little higher. Med-high. Not medium, but in between medium and high. And start the timer once it starts to boil.