Homemade Toffee Bits Recipe (2024)

Tessa’s Recipe Rundown

Taste: Sweet, nutty, and delicious.
Texture: Perfectly crunchy with a slight candy chew.
Ease: Just 3 ingredients and 15 minutes prep and cook time.
Pros: Such a fun DIY!
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? Absolutely, I like to make a double batch and sprinkle them on everything I bake for weeks.

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I adore toffee.

Like butterscotch, toffee seems to be caramel’s forgotten cousin. To me, it deserves as much adoration as caramel. Maybe more!

As much as I love a buttery toffee recipe on its own, my favorite is when it’s added to something already delicious.

It’s the perfect addition to a chocolate chip cookie, blondie, brownie or even banana bread. Or sprinkle the toffee on cupcakes, French toast, or ice cream. Plus, you likely already have the simple ingredients on hand to make it from scratch.

Bonus: this toffee recipe is also a great treat for giving as delicious holiday gifts during the holidays or Christmas!

How to Make Homemade Toffee Bits

What is Toffee?

Toffee is a crunchy, sweet, buttery, cooked sugar candy, similar to caramel and butterscotch. These three classic dessert components seem very similar – so how do they differ?

Caramel: Based on white granulated sugar. Typically, butter, milk/cream, and vanilla are added for flavor and to produce a thick, creamy caramel. Caramel can be heated less for a sauce consistency, longer for a chewy soft caramel, or even longer for a crunchier hard caramel. I have a recipe for caramel sauce here.
Butterscotch:Similar process to caramel, but made with brown sugar instead of granulated white sugar. Cream and vanilla are also often added. I have a recipe for butterscotch sauce here.
Toffee:Just like butterscotch, toffee starts with brown sugar – but the difference between butterscotch and toffee is the temperature it’s heated to. Toffee is cooked longer to a much higher temperature – all the way to the ‘hard crack’ stage. This means that toffee will harden completely as it cools, and can then be cut or broken into pieces, to be added to other delicious desserts, or simply enjoyed by itself!

What are Toffee Bits?

Just what it sounds like! Bits of crunchy sweet toffee, chopped or broken into pieces about the same size as chocolate chips.

Can’t You Just Buy Toffee Bits?

Yes, you can buy them in the baking aisle under the Heath brand. However, they can be difficult to find in some regions and stores. Additionally, many stores only carry chocolate-covered toffee bits, which you may not always want.

Only 3 Ingredients Are Needed for Homemade Toffee Bits:

Butter (make sure to use American unsalted butter – European butter has too much butterfat and the toffee will separate)
Light brown sugar
Salt

Why American-Style Butter Only?

European-style butter (such as Kerrygold) contains a higher butterfat percentage, compared to American-style butter. This lack of water content in European-style butter results in the toffee separating, and/or refusing to set fully. Any butter over 80% butterfat will cause these issues and unfortunately, we have yet to find a way to make this recipe work with butter containing higher percentages of fat. If you are successful in creating a hard toffee using European-style butter, please let us know in the comments below.

How to Make DIY Toffee Bits From Scratch:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Then, add the sugar and salt and whisk until combined. Continue whisking for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture looks like melted peanut butter (reference the picture below). Make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan or pot.
Pour the toffee onto the prepared baking sheet pan, allowing it to spread. Let cool for about 20 minutes.
Use a mallet, rolling pin, or heavy object to crack the batch of toffee into small bits.
You can now use your toffee pieces to amp up the flavor in cookies, brownies, streusel toppings, sprinkled on top of vanilla ice cream, you name it!

Tips for Making Toffee:

Before you start the recipe, line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. It’s best to do this first because you will need to pour the finished toffee onto the prepared pan immediately.
If your toffee burns on the bottom or you’re having trouble with the toffee separating (and you’re using American-style butter!), try a thicker-based heavy saucepan. Pans with thinner bottoms will heat too aggressively and may cause separation or scorching.
Never step away from the toffee while it’s on the stove. It can burn quickly.
Do not try to touch or taste the sugar while it’s cooking, as it will be extremely hot.
Separated toffee can sometimes be saved by removing the saucepan from the heat and whisking vigorously until it comes back together into a smooth mixture.
A candy thermometer is so helpful in making toffee. This is my favorite candy thermometer.
Make sure to let the toffee cool completely before you break it into bits and store it.

How to Store Toffee Bits

Once cooled and cut or broken into pieces, freeze in an airtight container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw at room temperature before enjoying or adding to cookie dough, streusel or other baked goods.

Recipes Using Toffee Bits:

Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins
Salted Caramel Toffee Cupcakes
Caramel Apple Streusel Pie

How to Make

Homemade Toffee Bits

By: Tessa Arias

Ingredients

▢ 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted American butter*
▢ 1 cup (200 grams) light brown sugar
▢ 1 teaspoon fine salt

Instructions

Line a small rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
In a heavy-bottomed small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar and salt and whisk vigorously for one minute until combined. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture looks like melted peanut butter and a candy thermometer reaches 295 to 305°F, about 10 minutes.
If the mixture separates at all, remove from heat and whisk vigorously until recombined. Return to heat and continue cooking.
Immediately and carefully pour the hot toffee onto the prepared baking pan, allowing it to spread into an even layer. Let cool and harden for about 20 minutes.
Place the sheet of toffee on a cutting board or in a zip top bag. Use a mallet, rolling pin, or heavy object to crack it into small pieces. You can also cut into bits with a sharp serrated knife. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Show us!If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture and share it on Instagram with #handletheheat so we can all see!

Recipe Notes

*Don’t use European-style butter (82% butterfat+) in this recipe. It contains too much butterfat and will cause the toffee to separate.

Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.

FAQs

What can go wrong when making toffee? ›

Stirring too quickly or too often can cause the toffee to separate. Moderate the heat as needed – turn it down if the toffee is boiling or cooking too fast so it doesn't burn. Cook until the toffee registers 285-290 degrees on an instant-read or candy thermometer and is deep amber brown in color, about 20-25 minutes.

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What is toffee bits made of? ›

Not to be confused with chocolate-covered toffee bits such as Heath bar or Skor bars, homemade english toffee which is made with almonds, or saltine toffee, toffee bits are made simply from brown sugar and plenty of butter. Smaller than bark, this toffee is technically candy, but don't let that intimidate you!

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Why is my toffee chewy and not crunchy? ›

Low and slow

Simmering the syrup for English toffee to the requisite 300°F temperature can (and should) be a slow process — up to 20 minutes or so. Don't hurry this gradual transformation; syrup that doesn't reach 300°F, or close to it, will make candy with timid flavor and chewy (not crunchy) texture.

How do you keep butter from separating when making toffee? ›

If the two elements melt unevenly it can result in separation. If you have good stovetop burners, we recommend turning them to medium-low to allow the butter and sugar to melt gently in the beginning stages. If the heat is too high, but butter might melt too quickly and can separate from the sugar.

Should I stir while making toffee? ›

You can stir the mixture while the sugar is dissolving – but once it has started to boil, stop stirring. Instead, tilt and swirl the pan. Make sure your tin is prepared and sitting on a board or damp cloth before you start. Once you pour the hot toffee into the tin, it will heat up quickly.

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What happens if you cook toffee too long? ›

Toffee Making Tips + Troubleshooting

Your toffee is better off overcooked than undercooked! Undercooked toffee won't be anything more than a caramel sauce. But overcooked toffee will be just slightly crunchier (almost unrecognizably). So, always err on the side of over-cooking!

Why do you add baking soda to toffee? ›

Brittles and toffees accumulate small amounts of acid from the browning reactions that occur during cooking. This is one reason why the baking soda is added at the end of cooking. The soda reacts with the acid to make bubbles, and the syrup foams.

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What is the best pan for making toffee? ›

This should NOT be a non-stick pan, because non-stick pans allow crystals to be pulled into the cooking toffee and will cause the batch to crystallize. The heavy pan distributes heavy evenly so the toffee cooks without burning.

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Should homemade toffee be refrigerated? ›

Store homemade toffee in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week or in the fridge for up to two weeks.

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Can you fix separated toffee? ›

If the sauce has separated then warming it gently and stirring occasionally should help it to come back together. If it still has a film of fat on the surface after warming then whisking in a tablespoon of hot water (from a freshly boiled kettle) can also help.

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Should you store homemade toffee in the fridge? ›

For maximum taste and texture, we do recommend that you either enjoy your toffee immediately, or store it in a refrigerator or freezer. Once opened, unrefrigerated toffee will retain maximum freshness for about a week. Refrigeration adds 3-6 months of shelf life, while freezing adds up to a year or more.

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How do you know if toffee is bad? ›

According to Blakeslee, if a candy appears extremely sticky or has a grainy texture, then it has most likely expired due to temperature abuse and the crystallization of sugar. As a result, she said, it may develop an off flavor, have a change in color or turn moldy if it contains fruits or nuts.

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Why does my toffee keep separating? ›

If the butterfat separates out then usually this is due to the mixture being either heated or cooled too quickly, which "shocks" the mixture and causes the fat to separate out.

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How do you know when toffee is done? ›

Hard-Crack Stage

Drop a little of the molten syrup in cold water and it will form hard, brittle threads that break when bent. CAUTION: To avoid burns, allow the syrup to cool in the cold water for a few moments before touching it! Toffee, nut brittles, and lollipops are all cooked to the hard-crack stage.

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Why did my toffee not set? ›

Why is my toffee soft? If your toffee doesn't have a hard texture (where you can snap it in half) you did not cook it long enough. Again, the 5-minutes is just a guide. Cook it until it is the color of a brown bag.

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