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Toffee Brittle with Chocolate and Sea Salt

By Caroline Cummins, from the Culinate Kitchen collection

Total Time	1 hour
Yield	3 lb.

Introduction

In December 2007, it seemed, every major food magazine was touting the traditional joys of homemade holiday candy. This crunchy brittle is adapted from toffee recipes in Gourmet, Saveur, and Food & Wine.

Ingredients

	4	sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
	2	cups sugar
	¼	tsp. salt
	2	cups nuts (pecans, peanuts, etc.), toasted and chopped
	2	cups bittersweet chocolate (70 percent cacao), finely chopped, or 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
	⅛ to ¼	cup coarse sea salt, such as Maldon

Steps

Thickly butter a rimmed metal baking sheet. Set aside.
In a heavy metal saucepan (4 to 5 quarts), melt together the butter, sugar, and salt, whisking until smooth. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes and then constantly for five to 10 more minutes, until the mixture is a deep golden color (the hard-crack stage, or 300 degrees on a candy thermometer). Watch the mixture carefully during the last few minutes and stir thoroughly to prevent the mixture from burning.
Immediately stir in the chopped nuts, then carefully pour the hot toffee into the center of the greased baking sheet. With a silicone or metal spatula, smooth the toffee flat until it’s about ½-inch thick.
Let the toffee cool for a minute or two, then sprinkle the chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips) over the surface of the toffee. When the chocolate has melted (about 4 to 5 minutes), spread it evenly across the toffee with the spatula.
Let cool for another 10 minutes or so, then dust the chocolate with the coarse sea salt. (Sprinkle just a bit at first; if the salt melts into the chocolate immediately, wait another few minutes. The salt should stick to the chocolate without vanishing.)
Place the tray of toffee in the freezer and freeze until the chocolate layer is firm, about 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and break toffee into pieces. Layer between sheets of parchment or waxed paper and store in an airtight container at room temperature; the toffee will keep for about two weeks.

Notes

Since candy syrup is very hot (300 degrees), use only metal and silicone equipment for making this brittle. And be sure to soak all the utensils as soon as you’ve poured out the molten candy, or you’ll wind up with rock-hard candy stuck to your cooking pots and tools.

You can use less butter if you like, down to about 2 sticks (1/2 pound); the less you use, the clearer and harder the toffee will be.

For a traditional nut brittle, simply leave out the chocolate and the salt at the end.

This content is from the Culinate Kitchen collection.

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There are 48 comments on this item

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Average Rating 4.7

14% recommend this recipe

1. by dddiva on Dec 2, 2008 at 10:50 AM PST

This looks amazing- my dad used to bring home toffee a co-worker made and I think I may just be up to making this one.

2. by OpusOne on Dec 12, 2008 at 12:34 PM PST

Drawing marker for Dec 12...

3. by dolls123 on Dec 12, 2008 at 12:21 PM PST

This looks really good

4. by pscheel on Dec 12, 2008 at 12:22 PM PST

Anyone have any idea how many ounces of chocolate would make 2 cups chopped? I buy chocolate in big blocks, so it’s easier to do by weight. Thanks!

5. by Xanthippe on Dec 12, 2008 at 12:38 PM PST

Well, now, let’s see:
Butter, sugar, coarse sea salt, nuts, bittersweet chocolate -- nothing not to like here! Another must-make recipe. Thank you.yhrxp

6. by dusksunset on Dec 12, 2008 at 12:53 PM PST

This sounds delicious, but potentially messy to make.

7. by scavalie on Dec 12, 2008 at 1:07 PM PST

ooh-- i think i’ll try this one this weekend!

8. by Caroline Cummins on Dec 12, 2008 at 1:08 PM PST

pscheel: At a dumb guess, I’d say 2 cups equals 16 ounces -- but I doubt you need an entire pound of chocolate to cover the toffee slab. Try chopping up 10 to 12 ounces or so first, see what fits comfortably in a 2-cup measuring cup, and try that. The goal is just to have enough chocolate to melt into an even layer atop the toffee.

9. by faither on Dec 12, 2008 at 2:00 PM PST

This is too great, can hardly wait to try this, along with the other recipes. Thanks.

10. by Jane K on Dec 12, 2008 at 2:18 PM PST

My husband would love for me to make this recipe.

11. by cdziuba on Dec 12, 2008 at 2:45 PM PST

This is really over-the-top. I’m not sure about all the butter! However, it looks divine.

12. by shandon on Dec 12, 2008 at 2:57 PM PST

I’d like some of this with salty macademia nuts!

13. by ptreskovich on Dec 12, 2008 at 3:11 PM PST

My friend has made a similar receipe for years and it very good. I think the chocolate topping on it would be sooo tasty.

14. by hotmama on Dec 12, 2008 at 3:13 PM PST

I love sweet and salty! Yum! Can’t wait to make this one!

15. by terriodea on Dec 12, 2008 at 3:31 PM PST

Is this a recipe for a homemade, giant Skor bar?! Happy Holidays to us! Thank you, this will be tried this weekend and hopefully be gifts for my daughter’s teachers.

16. by Emily on Dec 12, 2008 at 3:44 PM PST

What better way to spend a cold rainy/possibly snowy weekend then to make some toffee. Yum!

17. by LOVESTOBAKEJUSTLAZY on Dec 12, 2008 at 3:51 PM PST

these look good

18. by nicole309 on Dec 12, 2008 at 4:05 PM PST

I love toffee!!

19. by miriama59 on Dec 12, 2008 at 4:13 PM PST

Sea Salt? Wow.....I have been making toffee for quite a while but this is different. I have to try this!

20. by nlaugust on Dec 12, 2008 at 4:30 PM PST

Hint for pscheel: I think a 12 oz bag of chocolate chips is 2 cups. Since the recipe uses chips and baking chocolate interchangeably, you can assume the recipe is aiming for 12 oz of chocolate.
The addition of chocolate and sea salt really poshes this confection up a notch- like peanut brittle goes to Sundance. I think the peak of elegance and flavor would be to use local oregon hazelnuts instead of mixed nuts.

21. by kmg365 on Dec 12, 2008 at 4:43 PM PST

Oh, mercy. This looks heavenly.

22. by gkran on Dec 12, 2008 at 5:44 PM PST

Yum.. i’m going to try this :)

23. by lisalmg25 on Dec 12, 2008 at 6:10 PM PST

Looks delicious and the sea salt is such a neat touch!

24. by drala625 on Dec 12, 2008 at 6:13 PM PST

I have seen a lot of candies using se salt lately. I will have to give this a try.

25. by dianesprous on Dec 12, 2008 at 7:03 PM PST

I’ve made peanut brittle, but this looks better.

26. by laikarose on Dec 12, 2008 at 7:26 PM PST

Sounds lovely.

27. by bettycd on Dec 12, 2008 at 8:30 PM PST

I’ve always loved toffee

28. by Teacher A on Dec 12, 2008 at 9:29 PM PST

When I first saw the page, I thought it said tofu brittle.

29. by Darlene936 on Dec 13, 2008 at 3:50 AM PST

Now the sea salt is a new twist for me. I’m going to try it.

30. by sarash on Dec 13, 2008 at 5:20 AM PST

I made toffee every Christmas for years. Once in a great while the butter would separate out, I always wondered what causes that.

31. by AsTheNight on Dec 13, 2008 at 10:25 AM PST

Well, you make it seem pretty simple, so maybe I’ll give it a try.

32. by ivy on Dec 13, 2008 at 11:33 AM PST

This recipe looks pretty easy. I never made any type of Toffee Brittle. I think I will try this very soon. Looks good and plus chocolate is one of my favorite ingredients.

33. by mickey on Dec 13, 2008 at 12:31 PM PST

This looks divine- I plan to try it with almonds.

34. by Cynthya on Dec 13, 2008 at 5:45 PM PST

I’d love to make this. The sea salt is a great idea. I’d use pecans, I think, or maybe almonds.

35. by java on Dec 13, 2008 at 7:19 PM PST

sweet & salty - I will be adding this to this year’s Holiday tins!

36. by That's nuts! on Dec 14, 2008 at 9:23 AM PST

wow-- those look decadent and oh-so-good

37. by Sarah on Dec 14, 2008 at 6:16 PM PST

Sure this isn’t twice the amount of butter that the recipe should call for? When I poured it out, there was a pool of butter around and on top--seemed like too much to make a solution with the sugar.

38. by Ron on Dec 15, 2008 at 12:05 AM PST

I tried this recipe and something went wrong with my caramel. I even used a candy therm. & when I pulled it at 300 it looked more like mush than caramel. The butter was separated & the sugar looked kinda blonde. Any thoughts? I was using an induction burner. Could that have made a difference.

39. by Darlene936 on Dec 15, 2008 at 4:01 AM PST

Now you promise I won’t gain weight, right? Yum!

40. by Eric on Dec 15, 2008 at 6:35 AM PST

So far every one of the sweet 16 holiday treat recipes have looked wonderful, but this one is my favorite so far...it looks sooooo good!

41. by Caroline Cummins on Dec 15, 2008 at 8:11 AM PST

sarahsh, Sarah, Ron: I’m no candy-making expert, and while “the separation problem” seems to be very common in toffee making (check out these tips and these), even the experts beg to differ on what makes the butter separate from the sugar. Try stirring the butter and sugar together over low heat slowly until they seem thoroughly mixed, then finish cooking (stirring frequently but not frantically) over medium heat. Some folks think the addition of the 1/4 tsp. salt helps prevent toffee separation, too. Good luck!

42. by ennsee on Dec 15, 2008 at 10:53 AM PST

Thanks for the terrific recipe. This one’s going in my collection.

43. by weth on Dec 15, 2008 at 12:09 PM PST

What a wonderful version of this recipe! I think I’ll use hazelnuts...

44. by scavalie on Dec 15, 2008 at 1:13 PM PST

So I have ALWAYS been intimidated by candy-making. Maybe it was because I didn’t have the thermometer. So yesterday, a friend who is also a serious hobby baker and I baked 500 biscotti and decided to try this recipe--and it was the easiest thing we made all day. We looked at each other dumbfounded and thought, why have we always felt intimidated by candy? It takes less than an hour, start to finish, and requires less attention than any Christmas cookie I’ve ever made. See for yourself!

45. by Sarah on Dec 15, 2008 at 9:56 PM PST

Caroline, it does sound like both Ron and I experienced the dreaded separation. In my case, I think it was the result of stirring too vigorously and having the heat too high--it did come to 300 degrees much faster than the recipe called for. Thanks for posting those tips; I’ll give it another go this next weekend--still time to give it as a Christmas gift!

46. by Tricia on Dec 18, 2008 at 8:36 PM PST

Just made this tonight, and it is fabulous. Fabulous!

47. by elleystar on Dec 19, 2008 at 7:29 PM PST

I just attempted to make this, and was sure to read the comments beforehand. I was very careful with the heat and stirring but the butter still separated out. Really disappointed and afraid to try again and ruin another pound of butter.

48. by terriodea on Dec 30, 2008 at 7:22 AM PST

This stuff is heavenly. I made a batch and it makes so much. I had plenty to give to about 5 different people and save a bunch for us. Next time I make it, I’m not going to be such a ninny about sprinkling on the coarse salt at the end- I was too skimpy with it.

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