Homemade Toffee

Toffee Time!

I got this recipe from Heather Christo's Toffee recipe. It's a little different, but not much.

It was one of the fastest things I've made this holiday.

First, before you start, get a large cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Lay a sheet of parchment paper on it.

Good.

Now, put the water, butter, cream, sugar and salt in a heavy bottomed saucepan.

That was easy.
Now, you stir and melt the butter. Stir until it's all mixed. Use a candy thermometer to check the heat. These are only a few bucks at Wal-Mart.

I always thought candy making would be tough.

It's so not.

You just stir and stir, to keep the sugar from burning.

Bring it to a boil.

It will look like this. It will thicken, too. Kind of like marshmallow fluff. Keep boiling and stirring until it hits 300 degrees. It takes a bit of time. 10 minutes, maybe?

You can take the thermometer out and hold it while you stir, then stick it down every minute or so to check the temp.

Do not, do not, do not set it in a cold wet sink. I may or may not have done this once before and had the thermometer shatter.

Just don't do it.

Once it hits 300, lay your thermometer down on a piece of paper towl. Stir in your vanilla. Stir it in good.

Pour the candy out on the parchment paper. It will settle to the right thickness. No worries.

See?
Let this sit for 1 or 2 minutes. It will start to harden.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over this.

Do not touch.

Wait 5 minutes.  The chocolate will slowly warm and melt.

I used Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips.

Dark chocolate.....be still my heart.

Now, you just spread with a knife. The chocolate is melted, the toffee is pretty firm. Not entirely, so be careful. Gently spread the chocolate around.

Wow, that was easy.

Now, just leave it. Pop it in your refridgerator until the chocolate is hard.

Then drop the tray on the counter top. It will break.

Fun!

Wasn't that like the easiest dessert recipe in the world?

Ok, it wasn't the easiest.

But it's darn close.

Break these into smaller pieces so that you can grab a chunk everytime you walk by them. Cause you will.

I also threw a handful in some of those small giftbags that I used for the biscotti. Instant present.

And seriously, raise your hand if you wouldn't want to receive a little bag of toffee?

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! I will see you all back here next week.

I may be 10 pounds heavier, though.

Ok, variations to this recipe would be: Adding chopped nuts in the toffee. You could stir some in right after you take it off the heat, or you can sprinkle chopped nuts ontop of the spreaded chocolate. You can also sprinkle the finished chocolate spread with sea salt. About a half a cup of nuts would do. If you're adding it to the toffee, chop them finely. You could also toast the nuts to make them more flavorful.

The Recipe:
1 Tbs water
1 cup butter (two sticks)
1/4 cup cream
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla
5 ounces dark chocolate chips

Bring the water, butter, cream, sugar and salt to a boil. Boil until it reaches 300, stirring constantly.
Take off the heat, add vanilla, stir in completely. Pour over parchment paper. Let sit for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle chocolate over toffee. Let sit 5 minutes. Gently spread chocolate to cover. Refridgerate until chocolate is set and break into pieces.

P.S. The part where you get to break it up? Really fun.