Chocolate Almond Butter Toffee

"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love."

-Hamilton Wright Mabie

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This post is part of a series, Handmade Holiday Gifts

.So it was my birthday on the 11th. My husband and I went to Vancouver, BC for one fun night. We went there pretty much exclusively to dine at my very favorite restaurant in the whole world, Le Crocodile. Stay tuned, I'm going to blog about the experience.

So now that all of my birthday celebrations are over, it's time to get off my butt and really focus on the holidays. I'm kicking it into high gear making treats. The next week or so, I'll be posting more often with different food gifts.

all wrapped up

Starting with this buttery, delicious toffee. It's not only absolutely scrumptious, but it also makes quite a lot. I could fill 2 tins with it, or package it in small cello bags to be added to a basket filled with different items.

It's also pretty simple to make and takes, from start to finish, about a half an hour.

before adding the nuts

Ingredients

2 cups (4 sticks, 1 lb.) butter, I used salted, I also used 1/4 tsp salt, if using unsalted butter, increase salt to 1/2 tsp. or so.

salt as indicated above, (1/4 tsp if using salted butter, or 1/2 tsp- if using unsalted butter)


2 cups white sugar


2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips or milk or dark, your preference


1 1/4 cups chopped almonds, toasted

Directions

Line a jelly roll pan with heavy duty foil and spray lightly with non stick spray.

In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter, with the sugar and salt. Stir until it's melted. Allow to come to a boil over medium to medium high heat, and don't stir from this point on. Only swirl the pan periodically to prevent the bottom of the pan from burning. If the heat is on the highest setting, there is more of a chance of it burning before it reaches the called for temperature, so keep it close to medium. This takes a little time and patience, but it really sucks to have the bottom of the pan scorch. Cook the mixture till a candy thermometer reaches 290-300 degrees, the hard crack stage. It will be an amber color.

When it comes to temperature, carefully pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Wait a few minutes, until the chocolate has melted, then spread the melted chocolate over the toffee using an offset spatula. (or a knife.) Sprinkle on the chopped nuts. Gently press them into the chocolate.

Put it in the fridge to cool down. When totally cool, break into pieces.