English Toffee

Another Cortney specialty! I tasted this English toffee last year and it is simply divine!!

English Toffee

-Cortney Frandsen~ handed down to me by my mother-in-law


In a 350˚ oven, toast raw almonds. Spread a single layer of whole, raw almonds on a cookie sheet and back about 15-20 minutes. Stir nuts around a couple of times to keep them from burning. Cool nuts completely. Chop almonds fine. I put them in a blender to chop. (Cortney’s note from 2006- our blender turned them into powder, so I gave my husband a cutting board and knife and set him to work. Cortney’s note from 2007- buy a food chopper- we used the one that OXO makes and it worked quite nicely)

In a heavy saucepan, melt 1 cup butter (it must be butter- no substitutes). Add 1 cup packed brown sugar. Cook and stir mixture over medium heat until it is well blended and boils. Coo for one minute with a lid on to wash sugar crystals off the sides of the pan. Take lid off and continue cooking until mixture is crunchy when a small amount is dropped in cold water. This takes about 10-15 minutes. The biggest problem people have with making toffee is that they don’t cook it long enough and it comes out chewy and not crunchy. (Cortney’s note- watch it carefully that it also doesn’t burn)

Sprinkle chopped almonds in the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch baking dish (either glass or metal). Pour toffee mixture over nuts. Place 3- 1.55 oz Hershey chocolate bars over toffee mixture in pan and allow to melt. When melted, (it will take only a couple of minutes to melt) spread chocolate evenly over toffee. Sprinkle more nuts on top of chocolate. Cool completely (but not in the refrigerator as it will cause the chocolate to break off the toffee) and break into pieces. Left over nuts can be stored in the freezer.