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Homemade Pecan Chocolate Toffee Bark. This easy recipe is perfect for holiday gift giving. These DIY toffee candies make for great hostess gifts! #holidays #homemadegifts #DIY #homemadetoffee #toffee #toffeebark #chocolate
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Homemade Toffee

Sweet buttery homemade toffee is simply made with a handful of ingredients. Customize toffee bark with your choice of toppings. This is a great DIY gift for the holidays!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Calories: 715kcal

Ingredients

Toffee:

  • 2 cups granulated sugar (400 grams)
  • ½ cup water (113 grams)
  • 1 ½ cup unsalted butter (340 grams) sliced into tablespoons
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Bark Toppings:

  • 1 cup chopped dark chocolate (170 grams) melted
  • 1 cup toasted pecans (120 g) roughly chopped
  • Maldon sea salt flakes, as needed for sprinkling

Instructions

Toffee:

  • Line rimmed half sized baking sheet (18x13-inch) with silicone baking mat. Set aside.
  • In a heavy bottomed sauce pot, add sugar, water, and butter. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil without stirring. Continue to boil for about 2 minutes until butter and sugar has completely melted.
  • Attach candy thermometer to sauce pot. Continue to boil until mixture reaches 300°F. This will take anywhere from 8-15 minutes depending on size of pot, ambient temperature, and humidity of room. At this point, you may whisk the mixture as needed to distribute heat and prevent mixture from burning along the edges of the pot. Mixture will change colors from pale yellow to caramel brown as it reaches 300°F.
  • Remove from heat. Whisk in salt. Whisk in vanilla. Immediately pour hot mixture into prepared baking sheet. Let sit at room temperature. Toffee mixture will harden and solidify as it cools. This will take anywhere from 15 minutes to 35 minutes.
    NOTE: mixture will bubble and steam when you add in vanilla extract.

Bark Toppings:

  • Gently melt chopped chocolate over bain-maire, or double boiler until smooth. Spread melted chocolate over hardened toffee. Sprinkle chopped toasted pecans on top. Garnish with Maldon sea salt.
  • Let rest at room temperature until chocolate has set. This will range anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour depending on temperature of room and if melted chocolate is still in temper.
  • Once chocolate is set, transfer assembled toffee bark to cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut toffee bark into desired portions.
  • Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Notes

  • Bark topping alternative options: your choice of different toasted nuts (almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, etc), different chocolates (milk, white, or marbled), dried fruits, seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds), or chopped cookies (Oreos, shortbread cookies, etc).
  • To keep melted chocolate in temper melt the chocolate slowly and gently. Overheated chocolate will be taken out of temper. Out of temper chocolate will dry dull or contain unattractive white streaks called "bloom."

Nutrition

Calories: 715kcal, Carbohydrates: 62g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 53g, Saturated Fat: 28g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 17g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 92mg, Sodium: 301mg, Potassium: 219mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 56g, Vitamin A: 1079IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 36mg, Iron: 3mg