English Toffee Recipe

     Every December, as far back as I can remember, our Mom, her sister Katie, Jess and I get together and make English Toffee to hand out to our friends and family. The four of us spend the day in the kitchen and catch up, laugh, and listen to our Mom and Aunt's high school choir Christmas album.  (Thank goodness they had a good choir.)  It has been a Christmas Tradition for the last 4 generations on our Mom's side of the family, the Dunahoo side, and now it's a Wheeler/Bailey/Kahn tradition as well.  It is always one of my favorite parts of the season, not to mention delicious.  

Ingredients for one batch:

1 lb. Salted Butter   

2 cups ground Pecans (Use a metal blade in the food processor, and grind the pecans before the chocolate, so clean-up of processor will be easier.)

2 cups Sugar      

2 cups ground Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (Chill the chips in the freezer ahead of time, so they don’t melt in the food processor...but you may want ear plugs, cause it's very loud.)

Step One:

     Lay out a strip of foil on a hard surface.  Then spread 1 cup of ground pecans in a rectangle about the size of a cookie sheet, and then sprinkle on top of that the 1 cup of ground chocolate.

Step Two:

     Over med-low heat, melt 1 lb. of Butter.  Then add 2 cups of Sugar. (I know that much butter and sugar may make you uneasy, but it's amazing, and just keep telling yourself, you're not going to eat the whole batch, you're going to share it with others, so it's ok.)

Stir gently about once per minute for about 20 minutes- the toffee will turn the color of peanut butter when it is ready to pour.  When you think you are close, dribble a small amount of toffee into a glass of ice water.  If the toffee is ready it will taste crunchy.  If it is chewy, you need to cook it a little longer.  If you are using a candy thermometer, it is done at 302 degrees “hard crack” (if you like it slightly softer you may stop at 300 degrees).  If you find at the end that the oil is separating add 1 Tsp. of cold water and stir quickly.

Step Three:

     Choose your strongest cook and stir once before pouring.  Pour toffee as thinly as possible, back and forth over the chocolate/pecan mixture covering the area

wear hot mitts.  As soon as the toffee is poured sprinkle the other cup of Chocolate, and then the Pecans. Let it cool over-night and break apart and Enjoy!!

From our family to yours!

LLLove,

Jen & Jess