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Simple Toffee Recipe

A sweet pecan and chocolate chip toffee made by cooking sugar, butter, and salt to hard crack.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pecans and chocolate work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 804 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Simple Toffee Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scatter the pecans around the bottom.

Make the toffee

  1. Boil the sugar, butter, and salt over low heat until it reaches 300 °F, or 'Hard Crack' on a candy thermometer.

  2. If the ingredients start to separate, turn off the heat and stir until they re-combine.

  3. Pour the sugar mixture into the baking sheet and let it cool for a bit.

Top and cool

  1. Before it is completely cooled, put the chocolate chips on top.

  2. Once they melt, spread them around evenly.

  3. Let it cool completely.

  4. Eat it all before anyone sees you.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

326Calories
2 gProtein
22 gFat
30 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Pecan1 half (4g)20
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pecans + chocolatetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together804 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Pecans + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,416 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Butter + chocolatetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,543 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds fat and richness, and helps give the toffee its smooth, tender texture.
Sugar
Forms the brittle, glassy candy structure as it cooks to hard crack stage.
Pecans
Add a toasty, nutty crunch that contrasts with the chewy toffee.
Chocolate chips
Melt over the hot toffee to form a sweet, creamy topping.

The step that matters

Cooking to 300 °F (hard crack). Sugar syrup must reach about 300 °F to set hard and brittle once cooled. Stopping early leaves a soft, sticky toffee, while overcooking can scorch the sugar and taste bitter.

Swap the pecans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, chocolate):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Pecansthe original
  3. Hazelnutfits about as well
  4. Peanutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, chocolate. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More toffee recipes

Everton 28Russian 17Almond 16Treacle 8Coconut 6Vanilla 5 See all 36 →

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