Elevate your dessert recipes with these homemade toffee bits. They’re the perfect additions to your baking recipes or eating on their own.
Table of Contents
Easy toffee bits recipe
Homemade toffee bits are so easy to make, and they taste so much better than the store-bought bag ‘o bits. Plus, these tasty treats don’t have any artificial flavors or artificial colors like the store-bought ones do. Use them for all your baking projects, like cookies, muffins or ice cream sundaes.
Here’s how to make homemade buttery, sugary goodness in less than 15 minutes. You can break them up into small pieces for cookies or break them into larger chunks to eat as a snack. Go ahead and dip them in chocolate and make chocolate-covered toffee bits.
Start by placing butter, sugar, water and salt in a saucepot and bring it to a boil. After it boils for about 8 minutes, it will begin to caramelize. It’ll be tempting, but don’t stir it. If you stir it, the sugars will crystallize and you’ll end up with grainy toffee. This is an important point of the process.
You want it to brown to a dark golden color for rich homemade toffee bits, but if you cook it too long, it will burn and become bitter.
It’s better to pull it off the heat a little early. Just make sure it reaches 300F degrees with a candy thermometer. That will ensure it hardens when cooled.
Pour the mixture onto a Silpat-lined cookie sheet and allow it to cool until hardened. It smells so good, it’s going to be really tempting to taste it. Don’t do it! I speak from experience. This candy is screaming hot and will burn you. Be patient. It’s almost ready.
Once cooled, break it into bits and enjoy it in cookies, muffins or on ice cream. You can also give these out as delicious holiday gifts. These sweet morsels also add a delicious crunch to cake mixes, hot cocoa or your favorite brownie mix. They’re the best way to elevate your dessert recipes to sweet new heights. Forget chocolate chips and add these sweet toffee bits to your desserts.
Homemade Toffee Bits
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbls water
- pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- Boil: Place all ingredients in a saucepot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (about 5 minutes.)
- Cook: Continue cooking for about 8 more minutes, until the mixture reaches 300 degrees and begins to turn brown.
- Pour: Pour onto a silpat-lined baking sheet and spread thin.
- Break: Allow to cool. Place in a plastic bag and break the bits with a can or measuring cup.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients for homemade toffee bits
- Butter: Use unsalted butter.
- White sugar: Dissolves, creating a sweet flavor, eventually hardening to create toffee. You can also use brown sugar for a depth of flavor.
- Water
- Kosher salt
See the full recipe card for servings and a full list of ingredients.
How to make toffee bits
- Boil: Place all ingredients in a saucepot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat (about 5 minutes.)
- Cook: Continue cooking for about 8 more minutes, until the mixture reaches 300 degrees and begins to turn brown.
- Pour: Pour onto a silpat-lined baking sheet and spread thin.
- Break: Allow to cool. Place in a plastic bag and break the bits with a can or measuring cup.
How to serve toffee bits
Sprinkle some toffee bits into your morning pancake batter or luscious brownie batter for an extra sweet crunch. They’re the perfect additions to cookies like these Soldier Cookies, Chocolate Stout Pretzel Toffee Bars or any of your favorite desserts.
Storage
Leftover toffee bits can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week and in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Toffee bits can also be frozen for up to 1 year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Toffee is a sweet, buttery confection made by caramelizing sugar and butter. It often includes nuts, like almonds, for added crunch and flavor. Toffee is known for its rich, indulgent taste and hard yet brittle texture, making it a popular sweet treat enjoyed on its own or incorporated into various desserts.
Yes. They do not contain any flour, making them gluten-free.
Yes. Just double the ingredients. You may need a second baking sheet to pour the entire mixture.
More dessert recipes
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Caramel Fudge Brownies
Can you use parchment paper instead of a nonstick mat?
Sure. You can also use wax paper.
I am going to make your recipe tomorrow. I just wanted to say thanks for posting a recipe for home made toffee bits. They would not be easy to find.
I’ve scrolled through all of the comments and have seen inconsistent advice about stirring or not stirring to avoid separation of the butter/sugar. Once the ingredients are incorporated, do I stir constantly at med-low heat or leave it to boil for 8 minutes without stirring? I’ve experienced the separation issue 3 times now and want to perfect this technique once and for all! Thank you for answering my question.
I have found I get the best results, if I don’t stir. Also, I get the best results when I use Challenge or Kerrygold butter.
I live where buying a bag of toffee and a lot of other convenience things aren’t available so do a lot of things homemade. I found several toffee recipes that are exactly the same but I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to stir or not stir. Thank you for stating in your instructions not to stir and why not to stir.
Hi, I’m wondering if you really need a thermometer or can you just stop cooking when it is dark golden brown
I use this recipe every few months and never use a thermometer. I just go till it is the color I like
My suggest…. have a container ready for the finished product. I was having difficulty finding a lid, by the time I did I had eaten most of it. Think I even tried a round lid… was a rectangle container.
Gosh, easy peasy! Except I am the flub. . . when I poured it out it was soppy with butter. I read one of the comments you made that the heat was too high so will try it again in a few minutes. They taste correct! Look fabulous, albeit a bit greasy, so I am confident this next time will be perfect – like yours.
This is the third recipe I have tried this morning. I followed the recipe’s exactly and they came out horrid. So, I am on the right track with yours! I want to use them in cookies and I know they will be fabulous!
Thank you for such a great recipe. I am going to check out some of your other recipes.