Rob's Almond Toffee
I created this recipe after eating pounds of Toffee in Estes Park, CO, and determined to create a recipe that tasted as good or better than what I'd been eating. It has since become a popular Christmas treat for friends and family.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Reg salted butter
- 3 Tbsp light corn syrup
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 1 cup finely chopped almonds plain not salted
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp burnt sugar flavoring HyVee
- 8 oz milk chocolate chips
- 1 cup finely chopped almonds plain not salted for outside coating
Instructions
- With one of the sticks of butter, grease bottom of cookie sheet(s) or pizza pans (including sides).
- Combine remaining butter, corn syrup and water in a medium-size heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat until butter is mostly melted. Stir in sugar and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly, to 300o on a candy thermometer. (Do not rush the cooking, or the candy will be sticky. Constant stirring isn’t as critical up to 240 degrees, but becomes very critical at 240 and above.) As the temperature gets closer to 300o, slowly reduce stove temp to avoid burning. Once the temp reaches 300o, remove from heat; stir in vanilla, burnt sugar flavoring, and almonds (not including almonds for outside coating).
- Spoon into the buttered pans, and using a pot holder covered in heavy-duty aluminum foil, quickly pound out the toffee to thin the candy evenly. Cool completely. Turn out onto wax paper.
- Melt ½ of the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl at 50% power (stirring after each minute until it melted completely). Thinly spread the chocolate over the top of the candy; sprinkle with reserved almonds. Turn candy over. Melt remaining chocolate, spread over candy and top with remaining nuts. Let set until chocolate is firm (approximately 1 hour).
- To speed the drying and hardening process, the candy can be put into the refrigerator until completely set. Break into pieces.
Notes
- For pounding the toffee thin, Shelley discovered that wrapping a thick pot holder in heavy duty aluminum foil, then pulling the ends together and holding tight to form a sort of mallet works best. Just be sure to strike the toffee quickly. A small amount will stick to the aluminum foil.
- I’ve found the burnt sugar flavoring at Hy Vee, but not at most other stores.
- HyVee milk chocolate tastes the best. I’ve tried Hershey’s and other name brands but didn’t like how they made the candy taste.
- I use a digital thermometer with the wire-attached probe, set at 300 degrees, so I know exactly when the candy is done and don’t overcook it. The digital thermometer is nice because there is no guesswork like a traditional candy thermometer. The thermometers are relatively inexpensive (around $20).
- I’ve found using a food processor to chop all the nuts is the easiest. Chop them very fine for toffee that is very easy to bite. Just be ready, this has to be one of the loudest noises to come out of the kitchen.