Classic 5-Ingredient English Toffee Recipe

Although often thought of as a holiday treat, classic English toffee is the kind of candy you can enjoy all year around. If you have ever eaten a Daim bar or a Heath bar you'll know what we mean: Rich, buttery toffee is topped with silky smooth and sweet chocolate for the ultimate combinations of flavors and textures. There's never a bad time for English toffee, and once you've made a fresh batch at home you'll never reach for a store-bought version again.

This classic 5-ingredient English toffee from the kitchen of recipe developer Jennine Rye is both wonderfully simple to prepare and utterly delightful to eat. The thick, chewy toffee layer is topped with rich semi-sweet chocolate and then finished off with plenty of nutty pecans and a little flaked sea salt to cut through the sweetness, for a wonderfully balanced treat that will put a smile on your face. This classic English toffee also doubles up as a thoughtful homemade gift for birthdays or special events, so it is worthwhile to keep the recipe in your back pocket for when the occasion arises.

To begin this classic 5-ingredient English toffee recipe, first, you will need to gather the ingredients. You will only need a few items; light brown sugar, salted butter, semi-sweet cooking chocolate, chopped pecans, and flaked sea salt.

Prepare a medium-sized baking sheet by lining it with baking paper.

Add the brown sugar, butter, and 2 tablespoons of water to a saucepan.

Heat the mixture, stirring continually.

Continue heating and stirring until it reaches 290 F on a candy thermometer. This could take 10 to 15 minutes.

When the toffee has reached temperature, remove it from the heat and pour it directly onto the prepared baking sheet.

Set the toffee aside to cool for at least 20 minutes.

Set the chopped chocolate in a bowl over a Bain Marie.

Melt the chocolate, stirring continually.

Pour the melted chocolate over the cooled toffee.

Spread the chocolate out to coat the toffee layer.

Top with the chopped pecans and flaked sea salt.

Set the English toffee aside to harden completely for about 2 hours.

Break into pieces and serve.

This classic 5-ingredient English toffee can be adapted in a variety of ways, meaning that you can add your own spin on the recipe according to your personal preferences. A simple yet effective way to switch things up is by using a different type of chocolate. Dark chocolate will give you a less sweet, more intense and sophisticated finish to your English toffee, whereas white chocolate will give you a rich, vanilla-like sweetness that is perfect for those with a seriously sugary tooth. Using a different kind of nut for your topping is another way to adapt this recipe, and while pecans make a great pairing, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and even cashews also work well and will give you something a little different.

Depending on your preferred toffee texture, you also have the option of slightly adapting the recipe to give you a different result. If you prefer your toffee to be on the softer side, you can heat the mixture to the soft crack stage — 275 F to 284 F — or if you prefer your toffee to be more brittle, keep going until you reach between 293 F to 311 F  on your candy thermometer, to reach the hard crack stage.

It really is amazing what you can do with a few simple ingredients, especially when it comes to sugar and butter. These kitchen staples can be combined in a wide variety of ways to give you a selection of sumptuous sweet treats that you can enjoy on their own or as part of a more elaborate dessert. Toffee, caramel, fudge, and also butterscotch are made using different quantities of sugar and butter as their base, so what is the difference?

Toffee and butterscotch are essentially the same thing: sugar and butter cooked together, however, toffee is heated to a much higher temperature giving it a much more brittle texture than butterscotch. Fudge is softer, with a texture similar to butterscotch, however, it is made with the addition of milk. Caramel is made using sugar, butter, and cream, to give you a silky smooth confection that can be spread or drizzled depending on its consistency. As well as this, sugar can be cooked up by itself or with a splash of water to create caramel that is used as shards or spun sugar; both of which are used primarily in cake decoration and to add elegant finishes to sophisticated bakes. These sweet treats may share many similarities, however, each has its own unique qualities, all of which can be enjoyed in a great multitude of different recipes and desserts.