Brown Sugar Pecan Toffee
An English toffee that can be made with or without the pecans.
Servings 12 servings
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 1 cup pecan halves (optional)
- 2 sticks salted butter, cut into chunks (see note about unsalted) (228 grams)
- 1 cup brown sugar (210 grams)
- 4-6 ounces good quality dark or milk chocolate (optional) chopped
Instructions
- Lay pecans flat on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until they are fragrant and toasted. Let cool, then chop lengthwise or into large chunks.
- Line a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper and set next to stove.
- In a 3-quart heavy saucepan, gently melt the butter. Remove from heat and add the brown sugar, then stir until sugar is as fully blended as you can get it. The butter will be a bit separated from the sugar, but that's okay. At this point you can add a little kosher salt if you like.
- Set a deep fry thermometer in the pan, being careful that bulb is not touching bottom, and begin cooking over medium-low to medium heat with the temperature slowly rising, stirring almost constantly just to keep it from burning. This is especially important once the candy is over about 240 degrees F. The whole process should take about 15 minutes.
- Mixture will continue to darken. Be vigilant when you approach the 300 mark and stir if you smell anything close to burning.
- When mixture reaches 300F, immediately remove from heat and pour over the pecans.
- Sprinkle chocolate across the hot toffee. Invert a rimmed baking sheet over to hasten the melting process, then begin spreading melted chocolate over evenly. Let cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then transfer to refrigerator to set the chocolate.
- Check after 30 minutes. It should be set by then. Break into pieces.
Notes
If using unsalted butter, add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.