I make kick-ass toffee.
Care to share a recipe?
OMG, Our oven broke last night! It took over an hour to pre-heat for pizza! And our holiday cookie party/neighborhood food drive is only a week away. Gah! Until DH fixes it, It's toffee and no-bake cookies for me. Any recipe ideas greatly appreciated. Oh yeah, the printer crapped out, in apparent in solidarity with the oven. WTF??
As for the enclosed toffee recipe: Since almonds are pricey, it is not cheap, but shopping at Costco for butter and chocolate chips helps. Toasting/chopping nuts is a pain in the ASS, and a food processor doesn't give as good a result as hand chopping, so I pay a little more for the toasted, chopped nuts at Winco (IIRC, about 8.50/lb, but: No Chopping!) It is fairly foolproof, if the directions are followed exactly, and it is 100% delicious. This is a double batch, so the yield is good. I've made scores of batches and only lost one, which I crumbled up and saved for ice cream topping, so not a total loss. This was passed on to me by a friend, so I do not know the source of the recipe, but God bless him or her, whoever they are.
Chocolate-Almond Buttercrunch Toffee
4-6 cups toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons water
1 cup (2 sticks) salted or unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
1. Sprinkle half the nuts into a jelly roll pan*. Nuts should cover the entire surface of the pan. If not, chop more!
2. In a medium size heavy-duty saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer, melt the butter; add water, then both sugars. Stir to mix sugars and butter. Cook, stirring as little as possible (really), until the thermometer reads 300 F degrees. (There will be a point, at about 280 degrees, when it may smell like it’s burning, but it’ll be okay. If you pull the mixture from the heat before 300, it’ll still taste okay, but it won’t hold its crunch.) Have the vanilla and baking soda pre-measured and ready to go.
3. Once the thermometer hits 300 F degrees, immediately remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and baking soda. Stir rapidly to distribute baking soda evenly. (Yes, it is HOT, so be careful!)
4. Quickly pour the mixture over the nuts on the baking sheet. Try to pour the mixture so it forms a relatively even layer. (Gently but quickly spread to the edges of the pan with a spatula, but don't overwork it.)
5. Strew the chocolate chips over the top and let stand 2 minutes, then spread in an even layer, as if frosting a cake. (It helps to cover pan with foil or an inverted cookie sheet to soften the chocolate.) If desired, dust with a small amount of sea salt if using unsalted butter.
6. Sprinkle the remaining nuts over the chocolate and gently press them in with your hands.
7. Cool
completely and break into bite-size pieces to serve. If there’s any left, store in an airtight container.
*Jelly roll pan is 12”x17”x1”. If you don’t have one, use the largest cookie sheet you have. P.S. If this recipe should be posted somewhere else, feel free to move it.