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.
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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!
Sprinkle of Science
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.
But trust me, this homemade toffee recipe is even tastier than the Heath version! Plus, no preservatives or artificial flavors in these homemade sweet morsels!
Only 3 Ingredients Are Needed for Homemade Toffee Bits:
- Butter (more on this below)
- Light brown sugar
- Salt
Why American-Style Butter?
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 unless you add in 1-2 tablespoons of water to the melting butter.
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:
Homemade Toffee Bits
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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, begin melting the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar and salt to the partially melted butter 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.
Recipe Notes
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Mine separated at about 250 degrees, and the suggested “vigorous whisking” was splashing molten butter at me, so I added a little water and it came right back together! Unfortunately it broke again right at 300, so I just poured it out and am hoping for the best. I’m sure it’ll taste delicious in cookies or banana pudding even if I messed up the texture!
This turned out perfectly! I used PC plant-based unsalted butter, and it worked well 🙂
I just wanted a bit of toffee pieces to put into my chocolate chip walnut cookies – these should work a charm. Thank you for this!
Thanks for sharing your substitution, Rachel! Happy to hear it worked well 🙂
I’m having an issue with my mixture seizing up at 8 minutes and the butter completely separating from the sugar. My candy thermometer was at about 250
This happened to me too. I was at about 270 and it looked like PB and then split. The more I mixed to incorporate, the grainier it got can’t seem to salvage it unfortunately
Turns out if you sir too much it can cause separation. That was probably my problem. Was able to add heavy cream to my grainy mess and melt it down into an excellent caramel at least. Will try again and try to hold back on the stirring!
In making a gluten-free/dairy-free version of Tessa’s Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies this week, I made a dairy-free version of these homemade toffee bits. I used Miyokos salted European-style plant butter and omitted the extra salt as well as followed Tessa’s advice for European butters and added 1 Tbsp of water as the plant butter melted. It turned out great, though I might suggest cooking it to the higher end of the temperature range as some of my bits stayed a little softer than I’d expected. Overall, on their own, they are a fantastic substitute for dairy-based toffee bits and in the cookies, they dissolved into little caramelly pockets, just like the regular toffee bits do. I hope this is helpful in case anyone else needs a dairy-free alternative!
These look fantastic, Sarah! My nephew is allergic to dairy, and (once his braces are off) I am so excited to try your substitutions out for him 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I searched high and low at all the health food stores both in person and online to find healthy toffee bits. I previously used the Heath brand, but we completely cut seed oils out of our diet. I was becoming so discouraged, as I could no longer make some of my favorite dessert recipes; that is, until I found this recipe! I only had European style butter, so I followed the recommendation of adding water. The end product turned out perfectly! I will never buy store bought toffee bits again. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Obsessed! Just made my second batch after we crushed the first. This is my new favorite thing. So delicious! And so easy. My first batch got a bit hotter than the recipe recommended but comparing it to the second batch where I stayed to the recommended temp, I think I prefer the more caramelized taste of the first batch. Both taste incredible though. Highly recommend!
Completely burned after 9 minutes 🙁
Sugar and butter to the garbage can
Oh no! I’m sorry that happened, Tina, how frustrating! Were you using a candy thermometer to check the temp? It sounds like your mixture may have reached temperature faster than expected, possibly due to your stovetop running hotter than medium heat. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, it’s super important to rely on visual cues (and the scent of the sugar cooking): as soon as the mixture starts turning a darker brown color (like it’s on the verge of burning), it’s time to remove it from the heat and pour it onto the baking sheet. You’ll definitely be able to smell the change if you waited too long to take it off the heat. I’d love for you to give this recipe another try, keeping a close eye on either the temperature and/or the color of the sugar mixture as it cooks. You don’t want to walk away or stop stirring the sugar even for a few seconds. That’s all it takes sometimes for a recipe to burn 🙁 Please let us know how it goes—we’re happy to help troubleshoot further!
Changing my previous one star rating. I persevered and tried again and turned out spectacular. Definitely taking it out after 7 1/2 minutes, that was the perfect timing. I used a cast iron saucepan, not sure if that makes the caramel to be done faster. Thanks for sharing this recipe! An absolute keeper!
Ah yes, it could have been your pan! Yay, I’m so happy that you tried again, Tina 🙂 Thanks for sharing the update!