Dark Chocolate Hazelnut English Toffee
Dark Chocolate Hazelnut English Toffee is a homemade, 6 ingredient English toffee that comes together in less than 30 minutes. It’s perfect for holiday gift giving!
Happy Black Friday! I will be doing anything that doesn’t involve shopping today…I’m more of a Cyber Monday kind of girl. What about you? I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I’ve been on a dark chocolate bender as of late, eating my fair share of this fudge, and I’ve also been using a lot of hazelnuts in dishes such as this brussels sprout salad.
I kept the ball rolling by combining the two, with none other than bourbon.
I’ve been wanting to make homemade English toffee forever, and since I’ve gotten way too comfortable using my candy thermometer to make caramel sauce, marshmallows, etc., nothing was standing in my way.
English toffee has always been one of my biggest weaknesses, but I had no idea how easy it was to make. You can make it in about 30 minutes, and put it down in much less time.
Figure out who you’re going to give it to and package it up quick, because this stuff is dangerous. 🙂
I wanted to give you something that would be great to give as a holiday gift, and this toffee is the perfect thing. I mean, homemade English toffee? With dark chocolate and hazelnuts? Yes, and double yes.
We all know that bourbon is great in caramel and desserts, so it wasn’t a stretch adding it here. You can sub it out with water or another alcohol if you don’t have any on hand — this toffee will still be phenomenal! Oh, and I forgot to tell you that I added flaky sea salt to the toffee and topped the dark chocolate with it, too. You all know I get a little crazy with the flaky sea salt.
This toffee is not too sweet — it’s a perfect balance with the dark chocolate, sea salt, bourbon, and beautifully toasted hazelnuts. Once you try making your own, you may never buy it again — it’s just too easy not to make yourself. And homemade gifts are always the best gifts, don’t you agree? The people on your gift list certainly will, and don’t be surprised if they request it from you every year from now until the end of time. It’ll go down in history. 🙂
Dark Chocolate Hazelnut English Toffee
Ingredients
- 1 cup hazelnuts toasted, and roughly chopped, divided*
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon*
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt plus more for the top
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips I used Guittard extra dark
Instructions
- Line a rimmed baking sheet (mine was 8 1/2 x 12″) with foil and sprinkle half of the toasted hazelnuts evenly over the foil.
- In a medium saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer, add butter, sugar, bourbon, corn syrup, and salt. Cook over medium-high heat until the mixture reaches 290 degrees, or soft crack stage. Be sure to keep a close eye on it as it can burn rapidly. Immediately pour the mixture evenly over the hazelnuts. Let stand for 5 minutes, until firm, but still hot.
- Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the toffee and let them stand for 1-2 minutes or until beginning to melt. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the top of the toffee and sprinkle with remaining nuts and more flaky sea salt, if desired. Chill until it hardens completely, then use a sharp knife to cut. Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container and enjoy!
Notes
- Total time above includes 2 hours of chilling time.
- *I used pre-toasted hazelnut from Trader Joe’s. To toast your own, place hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until fragrant. Place in a bread towel and rub vigorously to remove as much of the skins as possible, then roughly chop.
- *You may substitute the bourbon for water or alcohol of your choice.
- I cut my toffee like chocolate bark, using the tip of the knife to help me break them into rustic, jagged pieces.
- Adapted from Baked Bree.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
50 Comments on “Dark Chocolate Hazelnut English Toffee”
I love this toffee Marcie! It looks like the perfect gift to give someone this Christmas!! 🙂
Thank you, Renee! I will definitely be making more of this to give away (and not eat) next time! 🙂
I love this !!!! I added almonds too!!!! So……. good !!!!
Normally I eat English toffee with almonds, so this was a nice change! Thank you, Jacqueline! 🙂
Everything about this is absolutely delicious! Wow!
Thank you, Jocelyn! This is one of my biggest weaknesses ever! 🙂
This looks amazing Marcie! You can certainly package it up and send it to my house! Haha! Pinned!
I’ll send you some of this if you send me some butter crunch! lol Have a wonderful weekend, Kristi! 🙂
It means a lot to get a thumbs up on this from someone from England! lol Thanks, Dannii! 🙂
No Black Friday shopping for me, either! Not worth the crowds or long lines. Instead, I think I’ll munch on this toffee! It looks amazing, Marcie! Such a fun treat for the holidays!
Toffee munching is much more fun than long lines! haha Thanks, Gayle, and hope you had a great Thanksgiving! 🙂
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Marcie! This toffee looks incredible! Love the dark chocolate and toasted hazelnut combo and oh my goodness, did you say bourbon? Swoon! That makes this the perfect holiday gift!
I had a nice Thanksgiving and I hope you did as well! This toffee is a great Christmas gift IF it makes it out of the house! haha 🙂
It’s funny because I’m so not into black friday shopping, but my husband was up so early trying to get some deals! Unfortunately they were out of the tv he wanted! Hopefully we can get something on Cyber Monday! These toffee bars look amazing and I want to eat them all right now!!
It’s so crazy you have to leave Thanksgiving dinner to get out and get the big deals or they’re all gone these days! Cyber Monday is where it’s at for me. 🙂 Thanks, Izzy, and have a great rest of the weekend!
I did buy something online today. . it was crazy. . there were so many sales. . that even started the day before Thanksgiving! and will probably just see what I can find, if anything, on Monday but yeah, no going to stores for me! way too crowded. Anyway, love love love this Dark Chocolate Hazelnut English Toffee!!! LOVE making sweet treats like this over the holidays!!!
I happened to go to the mall the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and scored big time. Who needs Black Friday! Thank you, Alice, and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 🙂
What a fabulous homemade gift! I love the addition of bourbon and sea salt 😉
When I saw bourbon on the list, I knew it had to go into that toffee! lol Thanks, Allie! 🙂
Thank you, Arpita! It was certainly calling MY name. 🙂
Thank you ladies, and it was very addictive! I hope you both had a great Thanksgiving as well! 🙂
Freaking yum!! hazelnut and toffee? What a unique combo 🙂
You can never go wrong with chocolate and hazelnuts!
This looks amazing! Toffee has never been so easy 🙂
Thank you, Medha, and this was ridiculously easy!
This would be such a perfect gift to give this Christmas … it looks wonderful. I didn’t know there was a type of toffee called ‘English toffee’! Here it’s just called ‘toffee’ obviously! I also didn’t know about cyber Monday. Strangely, over the last couple of years (literally) we’ve ‘imported’ your black Friday over – all the stores have big bargains and everyone fights over discounted TVs, etc. I’d rather import thanksgiving instead – now that sounds like a nice holiday! 🙂
I guess in England there is only one toffee! Lol. We need to find a way to get Thanksgiving over there for you, Helen. Much better than the sales!
Hi Marcie, what a fun group you belong to, love everything about this toffee. I’m waiting for cyber Monday!
Thank you, Cheri, and I can’t wait for Cyber Monday either!
I loooove toffee! This looks amazing!
Thank you, Ashley! This toffee was a major weakness for me!
Cyber Monday all the way! I’m not a big crowd person, so the thought of waking up ultra early to have to throw elbows to maneuver through a crowd is SO unappealing. Just give me a coupon code and free shipping and I’m a happy girl. 🙂 I would also be super happy to snack on this toffee. How delicious!! This would be the perfect thing to gift to our neighbors and all for the holidays, but also for us to enjoy. Pinning! 🙂
I don’t like crowds a bit either — I’d rather pay more than deal with that! I will definitely be making more of this toffee to give as gifts…it will keep me out of the stores, too. 🙂
Looks right up my alley – chocolate and nuts and bourbon. Hellow! I definitely need some of this. I would totally eat it all in less than 30 minutes!
I almost did eat it that fast, Liz — I’m not kidding when I say it’s dangerous! 🙂 Apparently it was right up my alley, too. 🙂
Love snacking on toffee.. this chocolate and hazelnut version looks and sounds incredibly delicious Marcie. I have a feeling it would make a great gift too!
Thank you, Thalia, and I certainly plan to give it as gifts this year. So easy and so delicious!
Gosh, this looks delicious! Nice pick on the ingredients! We did do a little shopping on Friday, which is actually very unusual for us, however, we’ve done more shopping, today! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you, Annie! I got out and did a lot of shopping Sunday and it was wonderful…probably because it was raining and everybody was recuperating from Friday. Whatever it was, I really enjoyed it! 🙂
Love what you have created. Would be better if I had some right this minute 🙂 LOL! I am going to have to check out how to get involved with the mystery dinner. I love being thrown a good cooking challenge 🙂
Thank you, Kristen! I love Mystery Dish because I’m a huge fan of the show “Chopped” on Food Network. Thank goodness this challenge is much easier! 🙂
This will be no trouble for you whatsoever, Lindsey — you got this! And thanks for the pin! 🙂
These posts are so fun and creative, I love them! You chose three great ingredients and this toffee looks spectacular! So perfect for holiday gift-giving!! 🙂
Thank you, Jess! And this toffee will be happening for gifts! 🙂
what yummy toffee, marcie! mmm!
Thank you, Sarah! 🙂
Thank you, Sherri! Toffee will be on my gift list every year from now on — it’s way easier than cookies! 🙂
Hey! This looks like the perfect recipe to make for my dad but i was wondering, does the bourbon have a strong presence in the final product or does it just add a good flavor to it?
Hi, Jules! The bourbon is more of a background flavor, and if you want to omit it altogether it would still be fantastic! 🙂
Hey I tried this recipe however my toffee never made it to 290 and burnt then I tried it again I used it but still was a little crystallised and smelt a bit burnt
What am I doing wrong 🙁