Before I attempt to clear up the confusion between Toffee & Buttercrunch, I'd like to wish everyone a prosperous and Happy New Year!
Two turkeys, two hams and numerous holiday side dishes and dirty dishes later I'm happy to be posting recipes again. Each holiday I like to make a few homemade gifts in the form of candy and/or cookies, this year I kept it simple and settled on toffee and buttercrunch. Such an easy, rich buttery recipe yielding lots of yums and requests for more. Mighty Moe's coworkers wife requested the recipe and I'm happy to share.
Now whats the lowdown? Traditional English Toffee is made from brown sugar vs. Buttercrunchs' white granulated sugar. Traditional English Toffee doesn't contain nuts, just a nice topping of rich chocolate. Buttercrunch is much more casual and usually made with a plethora of nuts and other flavorings like flavored extract, coconut, dried fruit etc.
I made 2 different batches of "Americanized Toffee" (meaning I used brown sugar but still added nuts and other flavorings) Dark Chocolate Almond and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter. I also made a batch each of Milk Chocolate Almond Joy Buttercrunch and White & Milk Chocolate Almond Buttercrunch.
I have to say I do prefer using the brown sugar. The white sugar Buttercrunch tends to stick to teeth alot more then the brown sugar does. I also noticed a happy accident--if you heat the brown sugar up more than 300 degrees it has a slightly smoky chicory taste. . . I sense a bacon toffee experiment coming soon.
Here are recipes for the 4 varieties I made, each yielding 2 pounds of goodness.
Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee Ingredients:
2 Cups Butter (not margarine)
1 Cup Chopped Almonds
2 Cups Dark Chocolate
2 Cups Light Brown Sugar (packed)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (depends on your own taste)
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Toffee Ingredients:
2 Cups Butter
1 recipe of reeses peanut butter filling. (recipe is: heat 1/2 Cup Peanut Butter in microwave bowl for 40 seconds then mix in about 1/2 cup of powered sugar. Add more sugar per your taste).
1 Cup Dark Chocolate
2 Cups Light Brown Sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (depends on your own taste)
Milk Chocolate Almond Joy Buttercrunch Ingredients:
2 Cups Butter
1 Cup Chopped Almonds
2 Cups Milk Chocolate
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
2/3 Cup Flaked Coconut
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (depends on your own taste)
White & Milk Chocolate Almond Swirl Ingredients:
2 Cups Butter
1 Cup Chopped Almonds
1 Cup Milk Chocolate
1 Cup White Chocolate
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (depends on your own taste)
Directions:
For fool proof melting purposes, chop up the Chocolate chips or chunks in a food processor.
Remove chopped chips and transfer to bowl. Wash and dry the food processor basin and add the almonds, pulsing until the almonds are small chunks. Remove nuts and spread on baking tray. Place into preheated 350 degree oven and roast until lightly toasted, approximately 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat.
Prepare your cookie tray by lightly buttering and set aside (some people prefer lining their tray with wax paper but the butter works fine for me).
In a saucepot (I use a non-stick pot with a wooden spoon to make clean up easier) on medium high heat, add butter, salt and sugar (brown or granulated depending on if you're making Toffee or Buttercrunch). Bring to a boil while stirring consistency (you don't have to be constant but consistent so it doesn't burn).
The mixture will start forming larger and larger "boils" the hotter it gets. Using a candy therometer check the temperature after 15 minutes. I like a soft crack and heat my mixture up to about 285 to 290 degrees. For hard candy crack heat until it reaches 310 degrees. Once it reaches your desired temperature immediately remove pan from heat and pour hot mixture onto prepared tray.
Quickly sprinkle the chocolate evenly over the hot yummy ooze. If you're making white & milk chocolate swirl, place the white chips on first and spread. Then sprinkle milk chocolate chunks in smaller patches and let melt. Swirl the darker chocolate through the white chocolate to make a nice pattern. Use the same technique for the peanut butter and chocolate combination. Let sit for about 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt.
Spread the melted chocolate.
Add nuts, coconut or other enhancements. Place into fridge for at least 1 1/2 hours.
To "crack" remove cooled tray from fridge and using the corner of a counter place tray onto counter surface, hang half of the tray over the edge and gently pressed bottom of tray over corner to break up the candy. After you've placed a nice wedge on a dessert plate for yourself, place the rest into airtight containers or gift packaging and store in fridge.
Check back for Bacon Toffee and Chicory Coffee Toffee recipes!
