How To Make Toffee Bits With 3 Ingredients You Already Have

Toffee bits are a delectable holiday treat that can both taste and look high maintenance when in fact they are very simple to make. Perfect to snack on, serve with dessert, or as a feature in a holiday snack box, toffee bits only require three ingredients you already have in your kitchen: All you need is butter, light brown sugar, and some salt.

To make your toffee bits, start by lining a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper; set this aside, prepped to receive your toffee mixture. In a pot, melt together your butter, brown sugar, and salt and whisk consistently until the ingredients are smooth.

Note that even though their ingredients are similar, toffee is different from caramel, specifically the heat needed to cook them. Toffee needs to be cooked to about 300 degrees in order to cool to a hard-crack consistency. Once the toffee is smooth and thick, pour it into your baking sheet and let it cool until hard.

When the toffee has solidified, you can crack it with a kitchen mallet or rolling pin to create individual snacking pieces, and you are all set! Minimal cracks will yield larger pieces, which are great to serve as a featured dessert, but really crushing the toffee gives you the small bits you can use as toppings — it's simply a matter of preference. With their versatility and easy recipe, there's no reason not to make toffee for your next dessert.

Despite having simple ingredients, you'll still want to make sure you're using the right type of butter for your toffee. If you're wondering about the different kinds of butter, don't worry — your trusty American butter is all you need. Just be sure not to use European (like Irish) butter because they have a higher butterfat percentage that causes the toffee to separate. Sure, Irish Kerrygold ranks the best out of all the butters we tried, but its fat content is just too high.

You'll also want to be specific about what sugar you use. Some recipes use white sugar, but brown sugar has molasses in it that enhances the toffee's flavor. Just be careful — the molasses makes burning the toffee more possible, so patience is key.

While this recipe is fantastic alone, you can make it even more delicious by adding other delicious ingredients to the toffee. Spreading melted chocolate over your hardened toffee adds an extra layer of sweetness that complements the crunchy consistency. Just be sure you know how to easily temper chocolate when melting it for the best results.

Before the chocolate hardens, you can drizzle classic pantry staples like chopped nuts, crushed candy canes, or seasonal sprinkles into the chocolate for a festive topping. It's also possible to add nuts to the toffee itself, but be sure to do so before the toffee sets. All of these customizations enhance the flavor and presentation of your toffee bits for an even more unique bite-sized treat.