English Toffee

English Toffee is my all time favorite Christmas recipe. I first made it in 1986 (really! I marked it in the cookbook).  A neighbor of mine gave me a church cookbook from her hometown in Arkansas. Love those local cookbooks where everyone submits their very best dish. This was submitted by a Mrs. Van Moores, Jr.

Favorite recipes collected by First United Methodist Church of Russellville, Arkansa.

I should warn you, if you're planning to make this to share with family and friends, plan on making it for the rest of your natural life! Try slacking off a year, and they'll give you those sad puppy faces and ask why you don't love them anymore.
I should also warn you that this is definitely not the recipe to try when you have young children or pets under foot. Seriously y'all, 300 degree toffee is molten lava ( I have tiny scars to prove it). When it reaches that temp., you need to pour it quickly onto the foil and you really don't want to splash any on yourself or anyone else!
Lastly, spend a couple of dollars on a candy thermometer. Butter and chocolate are too expensive to waste because you thought you knew what "hard-crack" meant. Know this from experience!
K? Here we go...


English Toffee
*Cook to hard crack stage, stirring constantly----
1 C.sugar
2 sticks butter (not margarine!)
3 Tbs. water
1 Tbs. Karo syrup (light)
Spread 1 C. broken nutmeats (I use pecans) on sheet of foil. Pour mixture over nuts. Spread over top of mixture with a knife: 4 Hershey bars, broken. When cool, break into pieces.
*Hard crack is 300 degrees.

And that's my last recipe for 2011. Probably. Enjoy!