This Salted Soft Butter Toffee is a delicious treat that's the perfect combination of sweet and salt, with a hint of licorice. Although it tastes like butter toffee, it has the texture of caramels.
Butter Toffee is a candy that's a staple during the holiday season. This chewy butter toffee recipe is a great edible gift to give on its own or add some of this delicious sweet treat to your baking/treat trays! If you've never made candy, this is a good one to start with.
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I was given a variation of this recipe by a former colleague. I made some changes to it and this is the delicious result. It's seriously the best butter toffee you'll ever try!
What's the difference between toffee and caramels?
The difference between toffee and caramels is both the ingredients and temperature, although the cooking process is the same. Caramel is made with white granulated sugar and cooked at a higher temperature (340 degrees Fahrenheit,) whereas toffee is generally made with butter and brown sugar and cooked to 295 - 309 degrees Fahrenheit. However, this delicious toffee is made with powdered sugar and only cooked to 205 degrees F, keeping it soft and yummy!
🥘Ingredients
For this salted butter toffee, you'll need a few simple ingredients:
- powdered sugar (aka icing sugar or confectioners sugar)
- milk *I use 1% milk
- light corn syrup
- vanilla extract
- salted butter
- star anise
- coarse salt (not shown)
*See recipe card for quantities.
🔪Instructions
Prep: Line a 9X5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
In a saucepan, combine icing sugar, milk, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and star anise.
Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove star anise.
Gradually combine butter.
Cook, stirring frequently over medium heat until temperature reaches 230 degrees f (110 c) with a candy thermometer or instant-read thermometer.
Pour the toffee mixture into a parchment lined loaf pan and cool at room temperature for at least 2 hours before cutting.
*Do NOT use wax paper (it will stick) or spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray, as I did this with the first batch. It was almost impossible to remove.
Trim the uneven edges and cut into 18 pieces. Sprinkle with coarse salt (I use sea salt).
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Vanilla - you can use a vanilla bean instead (you will remove it when you remove the star anise)
- Milk - you can use 2% or whole milk instead
- Star anise- you don't have to use this, but you won't get that hint of licorice (and it's delicious)!
- Butter - you can use unsalted butter and add ¼ teaspoon of salt
- Coarse salt -you can use sea salt or kosher salt
🍽Equipment
You will need a medium-sized heavy saucepan and an instant-read thermometer or a candy thermometer, as well as a high-heat silicone spatula for this butter toffee.
🌡️Storage
Store this homemade butter toffee in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. They keep their shape better if they are kept refrigerated. I found, that if they are not refrigerated, they will swell.
This homemade toffee recipe can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
👪 Serving Size
This soft caramel toffee recipe makes 18 servings. However, you can cut the pieces smaller (into 24 pieces) if you desire. You can also half, double or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust. You will just need additional loaf pans.
🦺Food safety
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
- Never leave cooking food unattended
❔ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Yes, it will eventually go bad. Homemade butter toffee has a shorter shelf life than store-bought and is best consumed within 1-2 weeks.
So, if you're looking for a sweet treat you'll love this buttery toffee recipe! And for more candy recipes, see below the recipe card.
📋 Salted Soft Butter Toffee Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups icing sugar
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup corn syrup
- 3 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup salted butter
- 4-5 star anise
Garnish
- coarse salt
Instructions
NOTE: The photos in this recipe card will NOT print unless you set them to print by selecting "recipe image"
- Prep: Line a 9X5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a saucepan, combine iceing sugar, milk, corn syrup, vanilla extract and star anise.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon.
- Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove star anise with a slotted spoon.
- Gradually stir in butter.
- Cook, stirring frequently over medium heat until temperature reaches 230 degrees f (110 c) with candy thermometer or instant read thermometer.
- Pour hot toffee into prepared pan and cool at room temperature for at least 2 hours before cutting.
- Trim the uneven edges and cut into 18 pieces. Sprinkle with coarse salt (I use sea salt).
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container. Place in mini muffin cups in a cookie tin, if giving as an edible gift.
Crystal
This was so simple to make and came out perfectly! They are delicious and the perfect addition to the Christmas boxes and dessert tray! They have a really nice, soft texture and smooth buttery flavour. I didn’t have star anise, so substituted with a few whole cloves. Thanks for the recipe, Terri!
Terri Gilson
Hi Crystal,
I'm so glad to hear it worked well and you loved it. The clove substitution is a great idea!
Merry Christmas 🙂
Terri