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!
Sprinkle of Science
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 These?
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:
- 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.
Step by Step:
- 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.
- Use a heavy-bottomed 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. You may need to add a tablespoon of water to re-emulsify.
- 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.
- If the toffee is flexible instead of hard, it wasn’t cooked long enough. You can break into pieces, return to the stove, and re-melt and cook to 295-305°F.
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.
Try Next: Dutch Apple Pie With Caramel Streusel Topping
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 sea salt
Instructions
- Prepare your pan first: Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. This will make it easy to pour and cool the toffee later.
- Melt the butter: Place butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and let it melt gently. Heating over high heat may cause the mixture to separate.
- Add sugar and salt: Once the butter is partially melted, stir in the brown sugar and salt, then use a whisk to whisk vigorously for 1 full minute until smooth and evenly combined. The sugar won't be fully dissolved yet—that's normal.
- Cook carefully: Keep the pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, including the edges to scrape up any sugar that sticks. The mixture will bubble, thicken, and look like smooth, melted peanut butter.⚠️ Important: Don't leave the pan unattended or stop stirring, even for a moment. Toffee can burn very quickly if ignored.
- If the mixture separates: If the butter and sugar split at any point (see Notes), remove the pan from heat and whisk vigorously until smooth. Return to medium heat, stirring constantly, to finish cooking.
- Check for doneness:*With a candy thermometer: 295°F-305°F (about 8-10 minutes)*Without a thermometer: Watch and smell closely. The mixture is ready when all three of these happen: the mixture is very smooth and glossy, the color turns a deep golden-brown, and a rich, toasty caramel aroma fills the air.
- Pour and spread: Immediately pour the hot toffee onto the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread evenly. Be careful, it's very hot! Let cool and harden, about 20 minutes.
- Break into pieces and store: Once hardened, crack into small pieces with a mallet, rolling pin, or heavy object, or cut with a sharp serrated knife. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Recipe Notes
- Butter: American-style butter gives the best texture and flavor. If using European-style butter ( 82% or more fat), add 1 tablespoon (14 g) of water as it melts to compensate for the lower water content. Cook to 300°F. The resulting toffee may be slightly greasier and is best used immediately.
- Salt: Don’t skip it! Salt helps stabilize the mixture and enhances the flavor overall.
- Pan: Heavy-bottomed pans distribute heat evenly. Avoid thin-bottomed or cheap pans, which can create hot spots and cause separation or burning.
- Heat: Keep medium heat consistent. Avoid abrupt changes or cooking on higher temperatures to speed up.
- Timing: Cooking time depends on your pan and stove. If separation happens within the first few minutes or your toffee cooks much faster than the time listed, your heat is likely too high. Always rely on sensory cues — texture, color, and aroma — rather than the clock alone.
- Toffee not hardening? If your toffee hasn’t set and is bendy, it likely didn’t cook long enough. To fix it, simply return the mixture to the pan over medium heat and cook while following the three sensory cues listed in the recipe — texture, color, and aroma — to know when it’s ready.
Recipes Using Toffee Bits:
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin. Recipe instructions updated in December 2025 for clarity.
Super easy recipe, turned out perfect and oh so tasty. Just enough toffee bits to add to my cookie recipe, changed up my semi-sweet chocolate chips for chopped milk chocolate. My kids think they’re the best cookies. Thank you for creating such a delicious, simple recipe.
Hi Susie! So happy to hear that these toffee bits are such a hit with you and your kids! 🙂
WOW!! This toffee is amazing! I was a little worried that is wouldn’t harden after it cooled but it’s perfect! I doubled the recipe but used salted butter so I only added half a teaspoon of salt and it turned out absolutely perfect. I made it just to eat as candy and honestly I’d be extremely surprised if any is left in a few days! So good!
Yay! So glad to hear you loved this toffee, Kynzie!
What an easy and delicious treat!!! Honestly, I ate half before I could bake my cookies Her recipe is super easy. Try it!!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed this toffee so much, Cheryl!!
These toffee bits are the perfect addition to any recipe! They are so easy to make and taste great. I will definitely be making them again.
Hi Aman! So glad you enjoy these toffee bits! Thanks so much for the comment!
I made this and it came out with still some butter on my toffee and I whisked it for 10 but still had some butter on it. Did I do something wrong? It tasted like toffee and hardened really well but still got some butter on the toffee
Hi Kemora! It sounds like perhaps your butter might have a higher fat content than some brands. This toffee can separate like that if your butter contains anything higher than 80% butterfat. If that’s not the case, and your butter only contains 80% butterfat, perhaps the toffee got a little too hot before you removed it from the stove? Please let us know if you would like to troubleshoot any further; we are always happy to help!! 🙂
this is NOT easy to make :/
THREE failed attempts using two different kinds of unsalted butter, both american style. Butter and sugar separated, and no matter how hard I whisked, it would not come back together. I thought perhaps I wasn’t cooking it long enough, but the first batch got scorched and the second batch I gave up on. The third try was almost there…it came together with peanut butter consistency, but never solidified beyond a soft-fudgy texture once poured out onto parchment and cooled. I used a candy thermometer too, but as soon as it hit 250 degrees, butter and sugar separated…bummer!
Hi Pete! I’m sorry this toffee recipe did not work out for you! It sounds like something was going wrong for sure. I will drop a few suggestions here, in case that helps and you wish to give this another try!
– Your pan might be too thin. If one of your batches was scorched, it may be because the pan you were using wasn’t heavy-based enough. Perhaps try using a more heavy-based pan, so the heat can be better distributed as the toffee cooks, and avoid scorching the base in the process.
– When your toffee begins to separate, you have to stir vigorously to bring it back together, over a low heat, and then continue cooking. Sometimes it takes a bit to get it to come back together!
– We have not tried this ourselves, but other readers have suggested that if your toffee begins to separate, it can sometimes be salvaged by adding one tablespoon of water. This should help the sugar to fully dissolve again and bring the mixture back together. Again, once you add the water, stir vigorously to bring it back together, over a low heat, and as soon as the mixture comes back together, remove it from the heat and pour onto the prepared pan.
I hope something here may help your future attempts! Feel free to reach out to us if you have any further questions – we are always happy to help! Good luck 🙂
Hi! Can I use a salted butter, and omit the addition of salt in the recipe?
Hi JM! Tessa always recommends using unsalted butter, because there is no standardization of salt levels between brands of butters. One brand could contain twice as much salt as the next brand. She therefore always writes recipes to use unsalted butter, and adding a specified amount of salt. That said, if all you have is salted butter, I would recommend reducing the salt content by 1/2 teaspoon per 1/2 cup (stick) of butter. I hope that helps!
Hi tessa…. I tried making the toffee and I stopped cooking when it reached 300 f… but my candy has a slight burnt flavor.. I was wandering if its right.. I followed all the steps exactly kept whisking it except when I had to see the temperature.. heat could have gone wrong,?
Hi Rabia! This toffee definitely should not taste like that! It’s difficult to know what went wrong here without having made this toffee alongside you, but perhaps your saucepan has a thinner base? That would make sense as to why it may have a bit more of a burnt taste. A thicker-based saucepan will protect the toffee from scorching as it cooks. You also could have had your heat up too high, which also could have scorched the bottom a little. I would try it again in a thicker-based saucepan, and try lowering the heat slightly, taking care to stir well and scrape the bottom of the pan frequently while cooking. I hope that helps!! 🙂
Wow, this is very delicious toffee! I made a double batch with no issues thinking I would need it. One batch was actually just enough for a double batch of my cc cookies (around 5 dozen, using 2oz scoop). It took awhile but I stuck 3 little pieces of toffee onto each scoop of dough and they baked beautifully with pools of toffee, which is the look I was going for. I have made toffee with white sugar before but this is hands down way better!!
Yay! So happy to hear you loved this toffee Camille – and your cookies sound terrific! Bonus – now you get to snack on the leftover toffee 😉 That’s my favorite part haha!
When would you add toppings like chopped nuts or melted chocolate to the top of the toffee if you want to eat it like candy?
Hi Beth! We haven’t tried that, but if you want to add nuts, I would suggest mixing them in immediately before pouring the toffee onto the prepared pan, and then wait until the toffee has completely cooled before pouring or drizzling on some melted chocolate. Again, we have not tested this, so I cannot guarantee it will work perfectly, but it should be worth the experiment! Let us know how it goes 🙂
Why do you use fine sea salt instead of coarse kosher salt?
Hi Brissa! Kosher salt is too coarse for a lot of baking, as it won’t melt as evenly as fine salt. Tessa also just prefers the flavor of sea salt, over regular table salt! Hope that helps 🙂
I live in Europe and can only get European butter…is there anyway to make this recipe work?
Hi Mikayla! Unfortunately, it likely won’t work unless you can find butter with closer to 80% butterfat. You can always experiment, though, and it still could be delicious – it just might not set properly at stay kind of soft … or it may separate and not work at all. There’s no way for me to predict from here, unfortunately; it all just depends on the specific butter you can find. We always encourage experimentation, though! You never know how it might work for you unless you try! Good luck 🙂