Recipe Friday: Toffee

I made toffee today to take to the Heart of Dixie annual retreat. Just so I don't deceive you, that is not a picture of my toffee, though it almost could be. I say almost because I didn't drizzle white chocolate on mine. Otherwise mine looks like that. Though I did make half with milk chocolate and half with white. I got that picture straight off Photobucket.

Chocolate Almond Toffee

6 oz. sliced almonds

1 lb. butter

2 cups sugar

pinch of salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

12 oz. chocolate chips—milk or semi sweet

Spray a cookie sheet (with sides) with nonstick spray.  Spread with half of the almonds.

Melt butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Increase heat to high and stir, working butter into melted sugar.  You will think you have too much butter but you don't.  It will happen. 

Cook, stirring constantly, until it is the color of a Heath bar.  (You can cook it until it comes to 300 degrees on a candy thermometer, but I just cook by color.  Normally, I am a great believer in the candy thermometer but this is a shallow mixture and I find it works better to just watch it.)

Pour mixture over almonds, spreading to cover them.  It doesn't have to go all the way to the edges.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Give it a minute for them to melt, and then spread chocolate to the edges of the toffee. Sprinkle with remaining almonds.

Refrigerate until hard—it doesn't take long, maybe an hour. Break into pieces.

The original recipe says to store it in the refrigerator but I never do.