Gluten Free Recipes from Gluten-Free-Desserts.com
Gluten-Free & Wheat-Free
English Toffee Recipe
GF Recipe Summary
Exclusive recipe from our Gluten-Free Gourmet Desserts Cookbook collection (pages 218-219)
Gluten-Free English Toffee: A sweet, crunchy, buttery-rich toffee with almonds and a bit of chocolate makes for a great treat anytime.
English Toffee has always been a favorite of mine, especially as prepared here with the chocolate / nut coating! And, I must admit, I burnt the first batch that I tried to make, but I learned how quickly candy cook-temperatures can change and prevailed on the second attempt — definitely worth the effort!
Gluten-Free Recipe Card and Pictures
1½ Cups Whole Almonds 3½ Cups Sugar ¾ Cup Water 1½ Cups (¾ Pound, or 3 Sticks) Butter ¼ Cup Light Corn Syrup 1 Tablespoon Vanilla 12 Ounces of your Favorite Chocolate
Light corn syrup refers to the color of the corn syrup, meaning not dark. It does not mean thin or reduced-calorie corn syrups.
Although you can try to get the proper results by gauging the temperature by the color of the cooking candy (reaching a deep caramel color), a candy thermometer is recommended. A heat-resistant spatula (the silicone type works well) is recommended too.
Read all instruction steps first to make sure you are prepared for each step, as candy cooking moves fast when desired temperatures are reached. Use care when working with hot sugar syrup, as it can cause severe burns.
Chocolate can be omitted from top — just decrease almonds by ½ since you will not have chocolate surface onto which they would otherwise be placed.
- Prepare almonds by chopping into fine pieces. If using raw almonds, you may wish to toast them in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes to crispen them up a bit first.
- Prepare a 1" deep cookie pan (11x17" or similar) by applying light coat of cooking spray.
- Select a 5 to 6 quart heavy-bottomed pan. Place sugar, water, butter, and corn syrup into pan. Place candy thermometer in pan completely submerging tip in the mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with spatula until mixture is completely dissolved — about 15 minutes.
- Increase heat to medium / medium-high, stirring occasionally until temperature reaches 340°F on a candy thermometer (about 10 to 15 minutes). The temperature will rise quickly towards the end. During this time, watch for the toffee to turn the desired medium-deep caramel color.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla and ½ of the chopped almonds; mix well. Immediately pour into prepared cookie pan.
- Once toffee has cooled for ½ hour at room temperature, melt the chocolate in the microwave until smooth consistency and pour onto surface of toffee. Spread evenly with icing knife or spatula. Sprinkle remaining ½ of chopped almonds over surface. Allow chocolate to set (either at room temperature or in fridge).
- Gently twist pan to release toffee, then chop or break into chunks of desired size.