Sweets for Your Sweetie: Toffee

I love toffee! I usually make it around Christmas, but since I love it so much, I thought it would appropriate to start our Sweets for your Sweetie series with this.

Doesn't it look divine?

Toffee scares some people, but I'm going to walk you through this. It's so much easier than you'd expect and I'm here for you.

Needed:

1c sugar

1c butter

3Tbsp water

semi-sweet chocolate chips (I'll explain amount later)

cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper

Pour sugar, water, and butter into a heavy-bottom sauce pan. Cutting the butter into chunks helps with the melting process.

Heat on med-high and stir constantly. Even when it looks a little scary like this:

keep stirring. Don't scrape down the sides of the pot. Just sit there and stir. It will get foamy and that's okay. It will eventually start to turn colors. You want a nice amber color. Once it starts to turn colors, it will turn amber rather quickly. Pour onto the paper-lined cookie sheet. Do not scrape the sides of the pot! Scraping during the cooking process or while pouring it out will cause the toffee to crystallize and it is not a pleasant thing. You may have to help it along after it's poured by spreading it out a bit.

Let it sit for about 10 minutes. While it's still warm, sprinkle chocolate chips on top. You really have to eyeball it and it depends on how much chocolate you want on the finished product. I like a little more toffee than chocolate. My husband likes a little more chocolate than toffee. When I make it to give away it pretty much looks like this:

Let the chocolate sit for about 5-10 minutes. You want the chocolate to melt. You can tell it's ready when the chocolate looks shiny. When it's melted, spread the chocolate around with a butter knife or spatula. If it needs a little help, place the pan the oven or on top of a running dishwasher. The oven will help trap the heat from the toffee and the dishwasher will help keep it warm.

Let sit for a few hours. I usually make this right before bed then let it harden overnight. Break into pieces then enjoy!