Almond Toffee

This post is sponsored by Danish Creamery. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make Browned Butter Blondie possible.

A delicous homemade toffee that makes the most indulgent sweet-meets-salty dessert. Rich, buttery toffee topped with dark chocolate and sprinkled with toasted almonds. This irresistible toffee is the perfect holiday gift. 

With Thanksgiving just around the corner and Christmas only weeks away, it’s time we get in the holiday spirit. No time like the present to embrace the most wonderful time of the year. Now before you go all bah-humbug on me, tell me…what are your favorite holiday traditions? Maybe it’s making a gingerbread house? Or trimming the tree in your favorite ugly sweater? Decorating cookies by the fire or warm, frosted cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. We all have those one or two special things that make us fall in love with the holidays all over again, year after year.  For me, it’s making toffee. Nothing says the holidays quite like a fresh batch of almond toffee percolating on the stovetop. Toffee goes with the holidays like jelly beans go with Easter and pie goes with the Fourth of July. You just can’t have one without the other.

With its toasted, nutty aroma and deep, caramel flavor, almond toffee satisfies all my sweet and salty cravings in one fell swoop. Not to mention it’s breeze to make with just a handful of staple pantry ingredients. It’s wildly addicting and makes the most perfect holiday treat for all the chocolate and nut lover’s in your life. Trust me when I say you can’t have just one piece of this crunchy, buttery crack. It’s simply the best thing evvveerrrr!!

I’m always surprised to hear that people think making toffee is too tricky, too messy or just too much trouble. I’m here to tell you it’s none of those things and it’s absolutely worth every minute you spend standing in front of the stovetop. Throw on your softest, fuzziest slippers bakers {hey, might as well be comfy} and let’s make some toffee!

HOW TO PREP FOR MAKING TOFFEE

First thing’s first. Making toffee is not overly difficult but it does require a bit of babysitting by the stove. You can’t just set it and forget it. On the plus side, toffee requires only a few simple ingredients that I bet you already have stashed away in your cupboard. To make this almond toffee we’ll need butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, baking soda and {duh} almonds! I suggest prepping all of your ingredients ahead of time and measuring everything in advance. The cooking process moves quickly at the end and you’ll want to be prepared with all of your ingredients within arms reach. Having a good candy thermometer is mandatory. Pick one up at your local market in the baking aisle or purchase online. I use this one…it’s fast and super accurate. Lastly, be sure to lightly butter your baking pan ahead of time so it’s ready to go once the toffee has reached hot lava status. Don’t worry…you got this!

USE THE BEST QUALITY INGREDIENTS

When making toffee I always recommend using the highest quality ingredients you can find. With just six ingredients in the entire recipe, now is not the time to skimp on the good stuff. It’s important to go for quality products that have quality taste. I always use Danish Creamery Pasture Raised European Butter in my toffee and the flavor difference is undeniable. Danish Creamery European Butter is made with the highest quality ingredients from California pasture-raised cows. You know their butter must be good if they haven’t changed their signature recipe since founding the company over one hundred years ago. Their butter is just, well…better, and I love that I can count on their products to make the very best toffee – – batch after batch. I use their European style butter in all of my baked goods, like this Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake and this gluten free 6 Ingredient Flourless Chocolate Cake.

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST ALMOND TOFFEE

I can’t wait for you to make this toffee just so you can see how easy and approachable this buttery confection really is. To start, we simply melt the Danish Creamery European Style Butter together with the sugar, a teensy pinch of added salt and a dash of vanilla. You’ll stir frequently during this stage while the ingredients combine until thick and creamy. The toffee can easily scorch on the bottom of the pan as it continues to heat so as the temperature rises, be sure to stir often. Once the concoction reaches 260 degrees on a candy thermometer {also known as the “firm ball” stage}, add in the sliced almonds. Continue stirring vigorously and often, only walking away from a the pan for a few quick seconds at a time. The toffee will continue to thicken and will soon turn a rich, amber color. You’ll know when the toffee is almost ready because little puffs of of smoke will begin to pop up the moment you stop stirring. Your kitchen will smell like heaven!

Continue to check the candy thermometer and whatever you do, don’t stop stirring! The toffee is done once the temperature reaches 295 degrees. Remove the pot from the heat and immediately stir in the baking soda. You’ll need to act fast here so that the toffee doesn’t harden right in the pan before you have a chance to spread it on to the baking sheet. I’ve burned myself once or twice {okay, more like a dozen times} and it’s not fun. Pro tip: wear extra long oven mitts and keep all body parts clear of the hot toffee!

Once you spread the toffee evenly across the baking sheet you’ll add melted chocolate and sprinkle toasted, chopped almonds over the top. And there you have it! Homemade almond toffee!! Nothing better if you ask me. Look at all that buttery, caramely, nutty goodness….it just screams “holidaze”!!

HOW TO STORE ALMOND TOFFEE

The hardest part about making this almond toffee is waiting for it to cool. It’s almost worse than waiting for cookie dough to chill. Sad to say it, but it must be cooled for several hours {you can speed this up by placing it in the fridge} before you can break it in to pieces. I like to simply snap the slab of toffee into random little {or not so little} pieces by hand, but some prefer to use a knife for more even squares. Either way, break the toffee into bite size or jumbo pieces as you wish. There is no right way to do this, just go for it! I like to eat my toffee straight from the fridge but you can store it at room temperature if you prefer. Keep it tightly wrapped and it will stay fresh for days, if not weeks. That is of course if you can manage not to eat it all in one sitting. Let me know how that goes. {wink, wink}.

This almond toffee is all the things I love about the holiday season. Every time I make it, or give it, or send it off in a pretty wrapped package to the other side of the country, it brings me so much joy. It’s a tradition that’s meant to be shared and I truly hope this recipe will become a part of your holiday celebrations for years to come. Make it, pin it, share it, ship it. It’s a little piece of holiday cheer with every bite.

Happy holidays bakers!

*Danish Creamery European Style Butter can be found in stores or online. 

Almond Toffee

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews

• Author: Browned Butter Blondie
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 40 mins
• Category: Sweets

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Description

A delicous homemade almond toffee that makes the most indulgent sweet meets salty dessert. Rich, buttery toffee topped with dark chocolate and sprinkled toasted almonds.

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Ingredients

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• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) Danish Creamery European Style Butter
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups slivered almonds
• 2 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips, melted
• 1 1/2 cups chopped almonds, toasted

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Instructions

1. Grease the bottom and sides of a baking sheet with butter. Set aside.
2. In a large pot, melt together the sugar, Danish Creamery European Style Butter, salt and vanilla over medium-low heat. Stirring frequently.
3. Simmer the mixture until it begins to thicken, continuing to stir often.
4. Cook until the temperature on the candy thermometer reads 260 degrees.
5. Add the slivered almonds and stir to combine well.
6. Continue cooking over medium-low heat stirring constantly as the mixture continues to thicken and take on a deeper, caramel color. This will take some time, about 15-20 minutes.
7. The mixture will begin to bubble and the color will deepen. At this point you want to stir consistently to avoid the toffee burning on the bottom of the pot.
8. Once the toffee reaches 295 degrees on the candy thermometer, carefully remove the pot from heat and immediately stir in the baking soda.
9. Stir vigorously. The toffee will “puff” up a bit as the baking soda aerates the mixture.
10. Quickly pour the toffee onto the prepared baking sheet, being careful not to touch the toffee as it is VERY hot.
11. Smooth the top of the toffee to make it level using an offset spatula.
12. Pour the melted chocolate on top of the toffee and spread evenly.
13. Dust the top with toasted almonds and very gently press the nuts into the chocolate.
14. Cool completely at room temperature until toffee and chocolate are fully set. Or place in refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.
15. Break toffee into pieces using your hands and serve chilled or at room temperature.

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