Homemade Toffee Bits
These Homemade Toffee Bits recipe is everything you want in toffee minus all of the filler ingredients. Using just 4 ingredients, you can make your own toffee bits in under 30 minutes to add to cookies, muffins, brownies, or even sprinkle over ice cream. They’re deeply buttery, slightly salty, and break into little bite-sized pieces that soften as they bake. Once you make them from scratch, the store-bought bag doesn’t compare.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
This recipe uses just 4 ingredients: Butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. This recipe will give you photos to see what your toffee bits should look like during the process, and they’re great to make in bulk and stash in the pantry for later.
Ready in just 30 minutes, skip all of the extra ingredients and make your own toffee bits right at home!
Tools You’ll Need:
- Medium-sized pot or saucepan- for cooking the toffee.
- Whisk- to stir the toffee.
- Measuring cups and spoons- to measure ingredients.
- Kitchen digital scale- recommended for easy measuring.
- Food or candy thermometer- this helps assess the temperature to achieve the perfect consistency. I love this candy thermometer linked here for this process.
- Parchment Paper- to line the baking sheet to avoid toffee from sticking.
- Baking Sheet- to pour toffee on.
- Spatula- to spread the toffee.
- Knife and Cutting Board- to chip the toffee up.
- Glass Jar- for storing the toffee bits, or any airtight container.
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Gather Your Ingredients:
- Unsalted Butter- the base of your toffee. I recommend using unsalted butter, but you can use salted just reduce the salt by 1/4 teaspoon.
- Brown Sugar- sweetens and thickens the toffee bits. Use brown sugar for that molasses flavor instead of white sugar.
- Vanilla Extract- balances flavors of the toffee.
- Sea Salt- any sea salt will work, but I recommend a fine salt.
Now let’s make toffee bits!
Instructions
Fit a medium-sized pot with your candy thermometer. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Add the butter and vanilla to the pot and heat over medium low heat, allowing the butter to melt.
Once the butter has almost fully melted, add the brown sugar and salt to the pot. Whisk together continuously and vigorously, do not leave this to sit or it can separate from the butter or worse burn.
It’s important the sugar melts into the butter at this stage. If the sugar doesn’t dissolve into the butter, it’ll separate and ruin the toffee.
Keep whisking your toffee and watch the temperature- when the toffee reaches 300°F (hard crack stage), remove immediately from the stove. You’ll see it go from a dark syrup to getting lighter and marshmallow like.
Immediately pour out the toffee on to the baking sheet lined with parchment, spreading it to about 1/8 inch thickness. You’ll have to work fast with this because the toffee hardens fast!
WARNING: Don’t ever taste or touch the toffee at this stage, it’s incredibly hot and easy to burn yourself.
Allow the toffee to cool for 20 minutes, then chop up with a knife to the size pieces you’d like.
Transfer the toffee bits to a glass jar for storage, and use as needed!
Yields roughly 2 cups of toffee chips
How To Store:
Room Temperature- transfer toffee bits to a glass jar or airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to 1 month.
FAQ’S:
Can I use white sugar instead of brown sugar?
You can, but you’ll lose the warm molasses depth. Brown sugar makes these special.
Do I need a candy thermometer?
I highly recommend it for the right texture for toffee.
Why did my toffee feel greasy or soft?
It didn’t quite reach hard crack temperature. Make sure it reaches 300 F before removing from the heat.
Why did my butter separate from the sugar?
Either you added the sugar after the butter was too hot and it wasn’t incorporated, or you didn’t whisk the toffee enough for the butter and sugar to blend. Add the sugar just before the butter fully melts, and whisk whisk whisk!
If you loved this recipe, don’t forget to drop a comment below! Enjoy!
Homemade Toffee Bits
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons – to measure ingredients.
- Medium sized pot – to cook toffee.
- Digital kitchen scale (optional) – for easy measurements.
- Whisk – to stir toffee.
- Spatula – to spread the toffee bits.
- Parchment paper – to line the baking sheet.
- Baking Sheet – to spread the toffee.
- Knife and Cutting Board – to chop the toffee bits.
- Candy Thermometer – to accurately asses when toffee is done.
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup (300g) brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Fit a medium-sized pot with your candy thermometer. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add the butter and vanilla to the pot and heat over medium low heat, allowing the butter to almost melt. It's important to watch this and add the sugar at this stage to avoid separation.12 tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Once the butter has almost fully melted, add the brown sugar and salt to the pot. Whisk together continuously and vigorously, do not leave this to sit or it can separate from the butter or worse burn.1 1/2 cup (300g) brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- It’s important the sugar melts into the butter at this stage. If the sugar doesn’t dissolve into the butter, it’ll separate and ruin the toffee.
- Keep whisking your toffee and watch the temperature- when the toffee reaches 300°F (hard crack stage), remove immediately from the stove. You’ll see it go from a dark syrup to getting lighter and marshmallow like.
- Immediately pour out the toffee on to the baking sheet lined with parchment, spreading it to about 1/8 inch thickness. You’ll have to work fast with this because the toffee hardens fast!
- WARNING: Don't ever taste or touch the toffee at this stage, it's incredibly hot and easy to burn yourself.
- Allow the toffee to cool for 20 minutes, then chop up with a knife to the size pieces you'd like.
- Transfer the toffee bits to a glass jar for storage, and use as needed!
- Yields roughly 2 cups of toffee chips
