ENGLISH TOFFEE

C'mon you've had English Toffee, haven't you? Please tell me you have!

That wonderful confection you purchased from a candy store or specialty shop?

Or at least had a HEATH or SKOR candy bar?

Why continue to purchase English Toffee when YOU CAN MAKE IT?

And if you make it, it's so much better!

No reason to be intimidated -- YOU CAN DO THIS!

English Toffee is so yummy and a favorite at our house around Christmas. The crisp crunchy delectable golden buttery candy with walnuts throughout, coated with milk chocolate and sprinkled with more nuts. It has just the perfect crunch and a wonderful balance between the caramelly flavor, chocolate and nuts.

I grew up with my Mom making English Toffee every Christmas. As an adult I wanted to make English Toffee but I was always intimidated by the cooking process. But I've since learned it's not really all that difficult. And I'll show you how.

There are many variations of English Toffee (primarily what nuts/extras are in the candy); this version with walnuts is nearly identical to what I grew up with. I highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed. You certainly can use other nuts, I understand almonds are the most common. I'll have to try some with chopped almonds and perhaps pecans.

Go For It! This Instructable walks you through all the steps to make English Toffee. It's not hard -- it's Easy!

As a side note, first we need to clear something up.... As Americans we have the terminology all wrong. We put nuts in our English Toffee, but English do not. In England (UK) English Toffee does NOT have nuts in it. So what we call English Toffee you would not find by that name in England. Their toffee does not have nuts. Apparently the closest thing to this candy is called "butter crunch" in the UK. But whatever you want to call it, it's still called GOOD! Oh, so good! (Get the impression I like this stuff?)

You will note that the first steps are preparing the nuts and chocolate because once you start cooking the candy you are kind of committed and won't have a lot of time to take care of these necessary steps.

Onward toward yumminess...

Note: Accurate candy temperature is critical to successful results. It is wise to calibrate (verify the accuracy of) your candy thermometer as explained in Step 17. Please do this.

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Supplies

Ingredients

2-1/2 Cup Sugar (500 g)
1/2 Cup Water (118 ml)
1/4 Cup Light Corn Syrup (59 ml)
1 lb Salted Butter (454 g)
1-1/2 lbs walnuts, chopped (680 g)
1 to 2 lbs milk chocolate; depending on chocolate coating thickness (chocolate chips or chopped bars)

Cookware / Tools

4 Quart Heavy* Saucepan (I prefer non-stick)
Two 13" x 18" Jelly Roll Pans / Cookie Sheets
Candy Thermometer
Chopping Knife
Icing / Offset Spatula
Measuring Cups
Cutting Board
Square-bottom Stirring Spoon / Spatula
Scale is handy
Double Boiler or Microwave

* By "Heavy" I don't mean how much it weighs, I mean the thickness of the pan's bottom. The thicker the wall of the pan the better it distributes heat and helps prevent scorching. But you'll be stirring a LOT so the pan thickness may not be such a big issue. But if you have an easy choice between a thicker wall or a thinner wall - pick thicker.

Step 1: Prepare Chopped Nuts Pan

I said EASY English Toffee.

So you can chop your own walnuts BUT because I said this would be easy you are going to purchase the nuts that are already chopped for baking. Why chop when you can purchase pre-chopped walnuts?

Set aside 2 cups of nuts for use in the last steps to sprinkle over the chocolate coated toffee. You may want to chop these reserved nuts to a finer consistency (Sorry I said CHOP, but you don't have to -- consider it OPTIONAL because this is supposed to be EASY.)

Dividing these finely chopped nuts into four 1/2 cup portions (2 cups total) makes it extremely easy when the time comes to sprinkle them.

Spread (Spreading is EASY -- You can do this!) the remaining nuts (about a pound) between the two jelly roll pans (1/2 pound each pan). Some recipes say to grease the pan or use silicone liners. No No No, I said EASY. There is enough butter in the toffee that there is no need to do these extra unnecessary steps. The toffee will easily pop off of the pan when it's time.

As a side note, and purely for entertainment purposes (remember this is EASY), you can see that the density of the nuts (how you spread them out) can affect whether the candy is toffee heavy or nut heavy as seen in the photos of the bottom of the toffee. There is no bad choice here. Nut heavy or Toffee heavy? Quite frankly I don't care. I like either way and everything in between. This is not something to agonize over - just go for it! See, Easy!

Step 2: Prepare Chocolate

Prepare Chocolate by chopping up chocolate bars (Darn), at least 4 oz (113 g) of chocolate per side, per pan. With two pans of toffee, a front and back side for each pan means at least a pound of chocolate (4 oz x 4 sides = 16 oz = 1 pound; see, EASY - I did the math for you!). I divided up and bagged the chocolate in plastic bags to have it completely ready for later to make it easier.

You can use more than 4 oz of chocolate per side. In fact, because of the rough surface of the 2nd sides, they can easily take more than 4 oz of melted chocolate. Don't hold back! More chocolate is more yumminess!

Step 3: Alternate Chocolate Preparation

By "Alternate Chocolate Preparation", I mean NO PREPARATION!

As an alternative to chopping up chocolate bars (who wants to do that?) you can use chocolate chips ("morsels"). See, I said it was EASY.

It really depends on the chocolate brand you want to use and if you can get it in chocolate chip form. I also suggest weighing out the chocolate chips into ≥4 oz portions.

Skipping chopping up chocolate bars is a nice step to skip. So use chocolate chips to make it EASY.

Step 4: Add Ingredients to Pan

Add the Sugar, Water, Light Corn Syrup and Butter to the pan. I just dump it all in (aka EASY). It will get mixed as it melts.

You'll note that I like to cut up my 1/4 lb (4 oz / 113 g) sticks of butter into fourths, it helps them melt faster.

Step 5: Start Cooking the Ingredients

Melt and mix the ingredients together on low heat stirring continuously. After everything is melted, turn up to medium heat. Those are easy instructions, right?

I use the square-bottom wood spatula so that I scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent scorching.

I have read toffee recipes that give instructions to cook on high heat. However, I have cooked toffee on medium heat (3 of 7) and also on medium high heat (5 of 7) on a gas stove. It takes longer on low heat rather than high heat, but I think it avoids problems with the butter separating and also the toffee scorching.

I have had good luck cooking on medium high/high as long as it is stirred constantly. Making multiple batches gets you impatient so I have gone to higher heat.

Step 6: Be Patient - Cooking Takes Time

I stir the toffee nearly continuously while it is boiling and cooking. During cooking the toffee will grow in volume by almost a third as it thickens and is filled with bubbles. (If the entire cooking process is on medium-low the toffee will grow and then shrink a bit after the initial cooking starts.)

The cooking settles down to beautiful bubbly golden goodness that bubbles along, gradually turning a nice toffee brown color.

Remember 300°F (149°C) is the target temperature. Cook and stir until that temperature is reached.

Note: Candy temperature is critical. It is probably wise to have calibrated your candy thermometer as explained in Step 17. It's now a bit late to run to Step 17 -- That's why I put this information up front in the Introduction!

If you don't have a candy thermometer or forgot to calibrate your candy thermometer (shame on you) you can always take the toffee off the heat when you think it is done and with the stirring spoon drizzle some toffee into cold water. Pull the hardened toffee out of the water, pop it in your mouth and see if it has that wonderful hard-crack crunch to it. If it does it's ready. You will have to act fast to do this test as you don't want the toffee to over cook.

Step 7: Keep Cooking, Stirring and Watching the Temperature

The timelapse video (an Easy way to make long things take less time) shows the expansion and also the darkening of the mixture as it cooks. It will take around 30 minutes to cook to the hard crack stage (300°F). Monitor the temperature and pay particular attention as the temperature nears the target 300°F. The temperature will climb quickly towards the end.

As mentioned in Step 17, your candy thermometer may not be as accurate as you think. I do my final temperature check with a Thermapen™ by ThermoWorks, since it is extremely accurate. I said EASY so this is optional, you don't have to double check (But having accurate temperatures helps get it right).

When the candy reaches 300°F remove the candy from heat, remove the candy thermometer and take the candy over to the pan with chopped nuts. Please keep children out of the area - this is very HOT candy.

Step 8: Pour 300°F Toffee Over Nuts

Pour the 300°F liquid toffee over the chopped nuts in a smooth continuous fashion as shown. (Isn't the video satisfying?)

You may hear an occasional "Ouch" or "#%$@". That's the nuts being startled. They're OK and will get over it.

Go back and 'patch' any missed spots with liquid toffee. Remember to only pour half the toffee per pan as the entire pot is intended for two pans of nuts. If you run out of toffee - no big deal -- remember this is an EASY no stress operation.

Some people suggest trying to spread out the candy with a spoon or some such thing, but this is sticky hot gooey stuff so just let it self-level and spread out on its own.... Easy.

Step 9: Sprinkle Chocolate Over Hot Toffee

Sprinkle (or just dump and spread) the 4 oz of chopped chocolate (Yes, we mean chocolate chips) onto the hot toffee. Let it stand for a minute or so until the chocolate is melted and then use an Icing spatula to spread it evenly over the entire side of toffee. Repeat on second pan of toffee.

Step 10: Sprinkle Nuts Over Chocolate

While the chocolate is still melty, sprinkle 1/2 cup (for each pan) of finely (remember "finely" is optional; gotta keep it Easy) chopped walnuts over the surface of the chocolate. Repeat for second pan. Let toffee cool and chocolate solidify. Cooling is EASY.

Step 11: Flip Cooled Candy Over

This might seem intimidating but it is easy to flip the candy over. To get the candy loose just flex the pan over the edge of the counter. Just a little force (make sure you grunt) will cause the candy to pop off the pan. Not too much force, you don't want to warp the pan. Don't go Neanderthal on me, bend your pan and blame me -- I'm not going to buy you a new pan!

After the toffee is loosened from the pan it can easily be lifted off the pan and flipped over so the 2nd side can get chocolate and nuts. Pause, take a moment and admire the beautiful mosaic of lovely chopped nuts....

Note: Some people don't put chocolate and nuts on the 2nd side. They just stop here and break up the candy. I say that is taking it too easy and being much too impatient. I like the extra chocolate and nuts the 2nd side provides. You get to decide, more yumminess or less - Not really a hard decision..... (aka an Easy decision!)

Step 12: Melt Chocolate

I melted my chocolate in a plastic bag in the microwave. See, it's EASY.

Be sure to only heat the chocolate in short bursts or you will ruin the chocolate. Instead of melting, over-microwaved chocolate can get hard and crumbly - yuck! And, yes, I did ruin a bag a chocolate in the microwave. I was impatient.

After the chocolate starts to get soft, knead the chocolate after every zap of microwaves. You can also let it sit a bit after each zap to let the temperature equalize and let the hotter areas melt un-melted portions.

After the chocolate is melted, cut off a corner of the plastic bag and squirt your melted chocolate onto the 2nd side.

If you don't like the microwave method of melting chocolate you can always use the double boiler approach to do it.

Step 13: Spread Chocolate Over 2nd Side

Spread your melted chocolate to completely cover the toffee. Easy.... Oooh, another satisfying video clip.

I cooled my first side of chocolate-coated toffee by putting it in a very cold garage. This chilled the candy considerably so that when I put the melted chocolate on the toffee the chocolate solidified before I could get it spread out evenly. So I took a hair dryer and re-melted it. The hot air from the hair dryer worked remarkably well to melt the chocolate and let me spread it. Who knew?! That turned out to be an Easy fix.

I guess I could have just let the toffee come up to room temperature before coating it with chocolate, but hey I learned a new use for a hair dryer!

Step 14: Sprinkle 2nd Side With Chopped Nuts

While the chocolate is still melty, sprinkle 1/2 cup (for each pan) of finely (in the interest of easy, remember "finely" is optional) chopped walnuts over the surface of the chocolate. Let toffee cool and chocolate solidify.

Step 15: Cool Then Break Up Candy

After the Toffee has cooled so that the chocolate is solid the candy can be broken up. Lift up on an edge of the toffee and press down nearby, a piece of toffee will snap off. Continue until all the toffee is broken up.

Make sure you get ALL the toffee into an airtight container. Who are we kidding - the first piece goes directly into your mouth, maybe the second and third, and you get the idea. Please use some self-control and get some toffee into an airtight container for later enjoyment.

Store the Toffee in a cool location.

Step 16: Watch It Disappear

Now that was Easy, wasn't it?!

Just reading through this makes me want to go make some more.

Now you can too. So go for it!

Watch out, the English Toffee will disappear! You might have to hide some!

Enjoy this yummy English Toffee that YOU made, and share some. (Or NOT - it's almost too good to share:-)

Batches 2 and 3 are for gifting! Or was that batches 3 and 4 are for gifting?

ENJOY!

Step 17: EXTRA: Calibrate Your Candy Thermometer

Calibrate Your Candy Thermometer

Having the candy cook to the correct temperature is critical to get that nice crisp crunch to the toffee. Stay with me as we go over this important step. We want to make sure what the candy thermometer reads is actually what the temperature is. In other words, the candy thermometer actually shows an accurate candy temperature.

Checking the calibration of your candy thermometer is as simple as putting it in boiling water and seeing if it reads 212°F, the temperature water boils at. If the thermometer does not read 212°F something is up! You might have to figure out the difference between 212°F and what your thermometer reads and use that difference as a correction (error) factor.

But wait, it might not just be the thermometer that has a problem, it might be your water! What?

Well, of course everyone knows that water boils at 212°F (or 100°C)! Well, that's true only if you live at sea level. However, I live substantially above sea level, at 4,740 feet in altitude. Water boils at lower temperatures at higher altitudes.

I checked my altitude by looking at the compass app on my iPhone. The altitude is shown at the bottom of the screen.

To find out the boiling temperature of water at that altitude I used a calculator on the internet. You can google "boiling temperature of water at altitude" to find a calculator or just use the one I used: https://www.omnicalculator.com/chemistry/boiling-point-altitude

Even at just 600 feet above sea level water boils at 211°F, a degree lower in temperature than we would expect.

The boiling point of water at 4,740 feet above sea level is 203°F. Wow, that's a substantial bit less than 212°F! So after my candy thermometer has been sitting in boiling water for some time it should read 203°F.

However, my candy thermometer is reading 189°F after sitting 5 minutes in 203°F boiling water. This is an ERROR of -14°F. My candy thermometer reads 14 degrees lower than the actual temperature. So as I take measurements I need to realize that the ACTUAL temperature is 14°F HIGHER than what the candy thermometer reads.

[ This boiling water test (and altitude adjustment) is just to check to see if the thermometer reads correctly. It does not change the actual temperature you want the candy to cook to, 300°F. It may, however, affect the target temperature you are looking for on YOUR candy thermometer.]

So if I want my candy to cook to 300°F, I need to subtract the 14°F error, which equals a 286°F reading on my candy thermometer.

So MY target candy temperature reading is 286°F. When my candy thermometer reads 286°F the candy is at 300°F.

Because this large of an error can be confusing (and so can this explanation) I use my candy thermometer to let me know that I am getting close to the target temperature. I then use a Thermapen™ thermometer by ThermoWorks, which has an accuracy of ± 0.7°F and is calibrated to a temperature standard traceable to an international temperature standard, to measure the temperature. In other words the Thermapen™ is accurate!

I highly recommend checking the accuracy of your candy thermometer and making any adjustments as needed in order for your candy to turn out perfect. Not super Easy, but very necessarily for the candy to be perfect.

Have fun and enjoy making English Toffee!