FROM OUR BAKERY
Ingredients
PUT THAT TOFFEE TO GOOD USE 🤤
Make our Salted Toffee Banana Bread Cookies next. They’re thick, soft banana bread cookies packed with this homemade toffee and semi-sweet chocolate, then rolled in cinnamon sugar.
DIRECTIONS
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Have your vanilla bean paste measured and flaky sea salt ready before you begin. Once the toffee reaches temperature, things move quickly.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan melt the butter on medium-low heat.
- Add the brown sugar and fine sea salt, then whisk gently until the mixture is fully combined.
- Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring occasionally (rather than constantly) to help prevent scorching. The mixture will bubble and gradually deepen in color as it cooks.
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Cook until the toffee reaches 300°F (hard crack stage) on a candy thermometer. It should be a rich golden amber color and noticeably thicker.
No thermometer? Drop a small amount of the hot toffee into a glass of cold water. It should harden almost immediately and snap rather than bend. For the most consistent results, though, we highly recommend using a candy thermometer. I love this one.
- As soon as the toffee reaches 300°F, remove the pan from the heat. Carefully stir in the vanilla bean paste. The mixture may sputter and bubble when you add it, so don't be alarmed. Stir just until incorporated.
- Immediately pour the hot toffee onto your prepared parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to gently spread it into an even layer. It doesn't need to be perfect. (You can even see those pretty vanilla bean specks in there 😍).
- While the toffee is still hot, sprinkle with flaky sea salt to your desired level (we tend to go a little wild but that's our taste haha).
- Allow the toffee to cool completely at room temperature until fully hardened and crisp.
- Once hardened, break the toffee into pieces to eat as-is, or chop it into smaller chunks for baking. You can also place large chunks in a zip-top bag and gently tap it with a rolling pin or meat mallet for smaller pieces.
TOFFEE TROUBLESHOOTING & FAQs
My butter separated or looks oily.
This usually means the heat was a little too high or the mixture wasn't stirred enough early on. Don't panic. Lower the heat slightly and whisk gently to help bring it back together. Even if it doesn't fully re-emulsify, it may still taste great once hardened.
My toffee looks grainy or sugary.
This can happen if sugar crystals form during cooking. Make sure the butter and sugar are fully melted and combined before the mixture comes to a boil, and avoid aggressively stirring once it's bubbling (I personally do still gently occasionally stir while it's coming to temp). Even if a bit grainy, it can still taste super yummy in baked goods!
I'm not sure if it reached hard crack.
If the toffee is a deep golden amber, bubbling vigorously and smells lightly nutty but not burnt, you're probably close. If it hardens quickly when cooled, it's done. A candy thermometer takes the guesswork out of this, so we recommend using one whenever possible.
My toffee burned.
Unfortunately, burned toffee can't really be saved. It turns very dark brown or begins to smell sharp instead of buttery and caramelized. Next time, use medium (or medium-low if your stove runs hot) heat and remove it as soon as it reaches 300°F.
My toffee didn't harden.
It most likely didn't reach a high enough temperature. Toffee needs to reach the hard crack stage, around 300°F, to become crisp once cooled.
NOTES
- A heavy-bottomed saucepan helps distribute heat more evenly and reduces the chance of scorching.
- Have everything measured and ready before you begin (including the parchment paper ready on the pan). Once the toffee reaches 300°F, you'll want to add the vanilla and pour it immediately.
- Vanilla bean paste is intentional here. It gives the toffee a deeper vanilla flavor and those beautiful little vanilla bean specks throughout, but it can be left out if you don't have any or prefer not to use it.
- The flaky salt on top is optional, but we love the contrast against the buttery brown sugar toffee.
- One batch makes approximately 300g of toffee, the perfect amount for one batch of our Salted Toffee Banana Bread Cookies.
WANT TO TURN THIS TOFFEE INTO YOUR OWN COOKIE FLAVOR?
Use our FREE Bakery-Style Cookie System to help you build your own cookies! You'll get our bakery-style master base recipe, 10 flavor combinations, and the same framework we use to think through flavor, texture, mix-ins and balance.