Blue Ribbon English Toffee by Linda Latimer (David’s Mom)

blue ribbon English toffee

Linda has been tweaking and perfecting this English Toffee for 50 years, and over the Holidays and David says she makes batch after batch to share with family and friends. This English Toffee has a layer of chocolate and almonds on both the top and the bottom. And it sets up with the perfect crunch. Not hard enough to break a tooth and not soft enough to pull out a filling – but just right. And we thought it was so fun that she won a couple of blue ribbons at State Fairs when her husband submitted the recipe without her knowledge. It is that good! 

Just as a tip, get all the prep work on this recipe done first because once the sugar mixture reaches the proper temperature you have to work fast. So chop up all your almonds and shave up all your chocolate first, set up the first two layers in the baking tray, and then get ready to mix your toffee with a flat wooden turner while it heats up so you can continuously scrape the sides and bottom of the pot. 

For this recipe, we tried out a couple of different ways to chop the almonds and the chocolate. We thought the food processor would speed up and simplify the process, but it didn’t really meet our expectations. We liked the coarser texture of the almonds when we used the NorPro Stainless Steel Chopper. And while chopping the snaps in the food processor worked just fine, the chocolate comes out with a smoother finish if you manually shave it off of a bar. So sure, using the food processer did save time, but in this case the toffee just comes out better when you do it the old fashioned way.

Blue Ribbon English Toffee by Linda Latimer

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (20 votes, average: 3.45 out of 5)
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Ingredients

  • 1 lb butter
  • 2 ½ cups white granulated sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 Tbsp corn syrup
  • 3/4 cup chopped almonds
  • 1 lb Van Leer milk chocolate snaps
  • 2 cups chopped almonds

Instructions

1

Chop almonds into coarse chunks.

2

Chop up chocolate snaps in the food processor until fine.

3

Cover bottom of a half size baking sheet with chopped almonds then add a layer of shaved chocolate. (No need to butter or use parchment paper in the pan).

4

Heat butter, sugar, water, corn syrup, and 2/3 cup chopped almonds in a 7 quart, heavy bottom pot over medium heat. Continue stirring and scraping until mixture reaches 290℉ (this is for Salt Lake City elevation and should take about 25-30 minutes).

5

As soon as mixture reaches temperature, pour it over the middle of the almonds and chocolate in the baking sheet. Use a spatula to spread mixture evenly over the top.

6

Quickly add a layer of chocolate shavings to the top and then a final layer of chopped almonds.

7

Allow 5 hours to cool and set up before breaking up with a knife.

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  • Jen Jensen
    December 26, 2023 at 7:19 pm

    Why is there so much water in the recipe? Looks amazing, just curious before i try it. THanks!

    • london
      January 4, 2024 at 3:09 pm

      It seems like a lot, but the measurements are correct. It helps with the crystallization.

  • Cassandra Evje
    December 20, 2023 at 5:54 pm

    If you don’t have a good processor can you just chop the chocolate finely? Or is the food processor mandatory?

    • london
      December 21, 2023 at 2:01 pm

      Sure! We love the food processor, but if you don’t have one, then chopping finely with a grater or a knife will work.

  • Maria
    November 14, 2023 at 11:47 am

    Do you chop whole almonds or sliced almonds to make the coarse almonds for the top and bottom? It will alter how coarse they end up. Also is the brand of milk chocolate snaps you sell in store Van Leer? I didn’t see that name.

    • london
      November 30, 2023 at 3:03 pm

      We chopped whole almonds. And yes, the brand for the chocolate is Van Leer.

  • Jill Peterson
    August 28, 2023 at 8:16 pm

    Is the half size baking sheet a silver jelly roll pan? Just want to clarify the size:)

    • london
      August 31, 2023 at 11:45 am

      Hi! Our half size baking sheet is 13″x18″. Hope that helps.

  • Kenna
    January 1, 2023 at 4:27 pm

    The recipe calls for shaved chocolate. What chocolate are you using please?
    Thank you
    Kenna

    • Whitney
      January 10, 2023 at 2:22 pm

      We used a food processor to shave down Van Leer milk chocolate snaps.

  • Kelsey
    January 1, 2023 at 2:31 pm

    What makes it grainy/would help prevent it from getting grainy? I watched your videos on instagram and then followed the recipe but it turned out grainy.

    • Whitney
      January 10, 2023 at 2:25 pm

      There are honestly a few factors that can cause this. If your thermometer is off, it may not have been heated high enough. We have this post here that walks you through how to test your thermometer accuracy: https://www.gygiblog.com/blog/2022/12/02/testing-a-thermometer-for-accuracy/. Weather also can play a factor, believe it or not. So if it was a stormy day and the pressure was different in your area, it can cause it to be grainy.

  • Trish
    December 30, 2022 at 12:03 pm

    Can you dip the broken toffee into this chocolate, as opposed to spreading it on?

    • Whitney
      January 10, 2023 at 2:25 pm

      You can definitely try but we have found that the chocolate doesn’t stick as well to the toffee doing it that way.

  • Caren
    December 20, 2022 at 10:38 pm

    Hello, what would the temp be for sea level (California)? Thank you!

    • Whitney
      January 10, 2023 at 2:32 pm

      David’s parents lived in California and made this same recipe at sea level and they never adjusted the cook-to temperature. But according to the candy-making rules, you should add about 8 degrees to the cook-to-temp to adjust from our Salt Lake City elevation to sea level. We have a post and chart here that can help you to adjust candy-making temperatures: https://www.gygiblog.com/blog/2022/12/02/testing-a-thermometer-for-accuracy/

  • Cecily
    December 20, 2022 at 2:30 pm

    What temp would you use for lower elevations, or what stage and i taking the candy to?

  • Kathy
    December 19, 2022 at 11:23 am

    On Linda Latimers English Toffee recipe is says to cook to 290 degrees ? Is that the final temp . …. All other recipes I have go to 300 for hard crack stage ?

    • Whitney
      December 19, 2022 at 1:47 pm

      Yes, that is the final temp for our Salt Lake City elevation.