Aunt Janets White Trash Toffee Recipes

TINA'S TOFFEE

Steps:

• Grease 2 sheet pans with butter.
• Heat the butter, sugar, kosher salt and 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. When the mixture starts to boil, turn the heat up to medium. Cook until the mixture reaches 302 degrees F, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the vanilla, stirring to incorporate. Be careful not to burn yourself or the mixture.
• Immediately pour the hot toffee into the 2 prepared baking sheets and smooth until evenly coated and 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Put the pans into the fridge to let the toffee cool (this will take several hours, or leave the toffee in overnight, uncovered).
• Once the toffee has cooled, carefully loosen the pieces (you can do this by hand or with a knife). If it cracks, it's not a big deal.
• Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, stirring to combine. Use a spatula to coat one side of the toffee with the chocolate, and then immediately top with a heavy sprinkle of the pecans and a sprinkling of flaked sea salt. This must be done immediately, because the cold toffee can cause the chocolate to harden before the pecans can stick. Put the toffee back in the fridge to cool the chocolate. Once it has hardened (it takes about an hour), flip and coat the other side with the chocolate, pecans and sea salt. You will probably have chocolate and pecans left over, which you can use for more toffee. Let the toffee cool in the fridge until hardened again.
• When the toffee is ready, crack it into irregular pieces with your hands. Bag them or stick them in a tin for your own enjoyment.

CONTEST-WINNING HAZELNUT TOFFEE

Steps:

• Line a 13-in. x 9-in. pan with foil; coat the foil with cooking spray and set aside. Butter the sides of a large heavy saucepan with 2 teaspoons butter. Cube remaining butter; place in pan. Add the sugar, water and corn syrup. Cook and stir until mixture turns golden brown and a candy thermometer reads 300° (hard crack stage)., Remove from the heat; stir in hazelnuts. Pour into prepared pan without scraping; spread evenly. Let stand at room temperature until cool, about 1 hour., In a microwave, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Spread evenly over toffee. Sprinkle with hazelnuts, pressing down gently. Let stand for 1 hour. , Break into bite-sized pieces. Store in the refrigerator.

EASY, EASY ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, melt SALTED butter on medium heat. Do not burn butter. It needs to stay yellow. (NOTE: I had many batches fail and separate until I figured out, upon investigation, that you MUST use SALTED butter. I think it has to do with a chemical reaction.).
• **Tip** Bring out a jar of peanut butter and turn it upside down near the skillet to use ONLY as a color guide to know when the mixture is done.
• Add sugar and stir until incorporated (sugar does not need to be "melted" into the butter, just no longer dry) Edited to add on 12/25/16, the temperature MUST STAY CONSTANT or the butter and sugar MAY separate during the final stages. Too high and your butter will burn, too low and you'll be stirring forever!
• **At no time can you walk away at this point, you must keep stirring so that the butter will not burn. It's very crucial.
• Add water, pouring it all over the pan. The butter/sugar will get bubbly and frothy -- keep constantly stirring -- stirring low and slow -- I use a rubber spatula. As you stir, angle your spatula down as low (level to the pan) as you can to have few air bubbles.
• I timed it, as you are stirring the yellow, sugary, melted, bubbly butter, at the 4 minute mark add the slivered almonds. Keep stirring.
• Stir continuously and slowly in a small circular motion bringing the outside mixture edges to the center as the sides will tend to cook faster than the middle. It will slowly begin to caramelize and toast up -- about 6 minutes more.
• Cook this mixture until it is the color of the inverted peanut butter jar.
• **Important** It will brown fast in the end, so don't let it get too dark or let the almonds get really burned).
• Pour into a 9 X 13 pan. (you could use disposable aluminum pans also). with your rubber spatula, spread the mixture quickly to the edges before it starts to harden on you.
• Let cool completely, remove from pan and pat off any extra butter from both sides with paper towels.
• Place on wax or parchment paper.
• Topping:.
• Microwave chocolate for 1 minute on high. (be mindful that every microwave is different and you must watch your chocolate closely so that it won't overcook). If a few seconds more are needed to melt completely, do so in small increments. You can also use a double boiler to melt chocolate -- I do prefer to do it this way.
• Coat toffee with chocolate (like frosting) and top with slivered almonds. I only cover one side but you can do both if desired.
• Lightly press down almonds to make sure they stick to the chocolate.
• Cool on the counter for at least 30 minutes, then put the pan into the refrigerator for 2 hours (You can stack multiple batches on top of each other as long as the chocolate is pretty solid).
• Break into pieces after it has hardened and store in a covered container.
• Variations: Use different kinds of chips. (mint, white, dark, milk chocolate).

WHITE TRASH / TRAILER TRASH

Steps:

• For "WHITE TRASH," use the first four ingredients only. Or for a fun variation - add the optional chocolate chips and dry roasted peanuts to make "TRAILER TRASH!".
• Melt butter, peanut butter (and chocolate chips) together in medium sauce pan OVER LOW HEAT. Place Rice Chex (and dry roasted peanuts) in a large container (plastic salad mixing bowls with lids work great!). Pour melted mixture over Rice Chex (and peanuts) and toss, until evenly coated throughout.
• ---Kids love this part!---.
• Then pour conf. sugar over mixture (1 box at a time), place lid on container, and shake shake shake! Shake well, until all the mixture is coated with sugar. Repeat with second box.
• Serve, and enjoy!

CHRISTMAS TRASH

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients but the white chocolate morsels in a large bowl.
• Melt white chocolate morsels according to directions on the package.
• Pour melted white chocolate over the cereal mixture and toss well to coat.
• Spread on waxed paper and let sit until the white chocolate hardens.
• Store in an airtight container.

THREE-CHIP ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Butter a 15x10x1-in. pan with 1/2 teaspoon butter. In a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, bring sugar and remaining butter to a boil, stirring constantly. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes., Uncover; add almonds. Cook and stir with a clean spoon until a candy thermometer reads 300° (hard-crack stage) and mixture is golden brown., Pour into prepared pan (do not scrape sides of saucepan). Surface will be buttery. Cool for 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle with milk chocolate chips. Let stand for 1-2 minutes; spread chocolate over the top. Sprinkle with walnuts; press down gently with the back of a spoon. Chill for 10 minutes., In a microwave, melt semisweet chips; stir until smooth. Drizzle over walnuts. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Melt vanilla chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over walnuts. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Break into pieces.

WHITE CHOCOLATE TOFFEE

Steps:

• Generously grease a 9-by-12-inch metal cake pan with butter, making sure all the sides and corners are greased. Combine the butter, sugar, vanilla and kosher salt in a medium (10- to 11-inch) pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter melts. Continue cooking for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the mixture turns a pale golden color. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture turns a deep caramel color. (Be careful, it will be extremely hot!) Immediately pour the mixture into the prepared pan, tilting the pan to distribute it evenly. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes, then use a paring knife to score lines in large irregular serving pieces. Allow the toffee to cool for 5 minutes, then retrace the lines you drew with the paring knife.
• Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (see Cook's Note). Pour the chocolate over the toffee, using a spatula to spread it evenly. Immediately sprinkle on the cashews, pistachios, ginger and cranberries so they're evenly distributed. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and set aside at room temperature for at least 2 hours, until the chocolate is completely set. Break into pieces along the scored lines and serve at room temperature.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

Steps:

• Grease a 15x10x1-in. pan with 1 tablespoon butter; set aside. In a large heavy saucepan, melt the remaining butter. Add the sugar, corn syrup and salt; cook and stir over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 295° (hard-crack stage). Quickly pour into prepared pan. Let stand at room temperature until cool, about 1 hour. , In a microwave, heat chocolate chips for 30 seconds; stir. Repeat until chocolate is melted and smooth. Spread over toffee. Sprinkle with pecans. Let stand until chocolate is set, about 1 hour. Break into bite-size pieces. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.