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This holiday season, you will LOVE this easy recipe for homemade keto English toffee! Made with 5 ingredients, it’s sweet, addictive and secretly low carb and sugar free! Perfect for all your holiday parties and gifts!
Toffee crack, Christmas crack, and old fashioned English toffee candy- Whatever you call it, it’s a classic Christmas recipe that ALWAYS appears during the holidays.
I’ve been meaning to try a sugar free and low carb version for ages, but always seem to put it off until the next holiday season. This time, I was prepared and ready to give the classic English toffee a keto and low carb makeover!
What is English Toffee?
English toffee, as opposed to traditional toffee, is thicker, more buttery and often can include nuts. Traditional holiday style English toffee often has a layer of chocolate, making it the perfect dessert or portable gift.
It can sometimes be said that traditional toffee uses white sugar and English toffee uses brown. I’ve tried with both keto options (swerve and golden monk fruit) and both work.
How to make easy keto English toffee
Making English toffee is deceptively easy, provided you have a candy thermometer. Using one solves the issue of how to stop the butter and sugar from separating.
The Ingredients
- Butter. The quality of the butter you use makes a HUGE difference. I’ve used grass-fed butter and good quality traditional butter and they have been great. Some dairy-free butter will work too, but any of the cheaper ones tend to contain water and can affect the toffee.
- Granulated Sugar Substitute. Homemade brown sugar substitute should be used. I cannot vouch for any other sugar substitutes. If you can tolerate sugar, table sugar and brown sugar will work.
- Chocolate chips. Chocolate chips to top the warm toffee with and melt beautifully to form a gorgeous layer.
- Chopped nuts of choice. Optional, but I love adding a handful of finely chopped almonds or pecans for some added crunch.
The Instructions
- Line a small loaf pan or square pan with parchment paper. Place some of the optional nuts over the bottom and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine your butter and sugar. On low heat, heat up the mixture, stirring regularly. Once it starts to bubble, add your candy thermometer and keep an eye on it. Stir every 30 seconds, until it reaches 300F.
- Remove from the heat and whisk very, very well, to ensure the mixture doesn’t separate. Gently pour into the lined pan and let sit for a few minutes.
- After the toffee has sat for several minutes, top with chocolate chips in an even layer and cover with tin foil for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, use a rubber spatula to spread the chocolate over the top.
- Refrigerate until firm, before breaking up into pieces.
Dietary Substitutions
- Paleo English Toffee. Be sure to use good quality. grass-fed butter and refined sugar free chocolate chips on top.
- Vegan English Toffee. Use dairy-free butter and dairy-free chocolate chips on top.
How long can you keep homemade toffee?
- To store. Store English toffee in a sealable container. They will keep fresh for at least a week. You can also refrigerate them, and they will keep for at least a month.
- To freeze. You can freeze English toffee, but the texture will not be the best once thawed. Wrap toffee in parchment paper and place it in a ziplock bag.
More healthy holiday dessert recipes
- Walnut Brownies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Almond Butter Cookies
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Pecan Pie Bars
- Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Tools to make the best easy English Toffee recipe
- Candy Thermometer. A MUST for ensuring perfect toffee, without the fear of it burning or separating!
- Non-stick saucepan. A good quality saucepan ensures even heating throughout.
English Toffee {Keto, Vegan, Paleo}
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1/2 cup allulose or brown sugar
- 1 cup keto chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup raw almonds chopped finely
Instructions
- Line a small loaf pan or square pan with parchment paper and spread out the chopped almonds. and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine your butter and sugar substitute. On low heat, heat up until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Stir regularly. Once the mixture begins to bubble, add your candy thermometer into the center of the mixture. Continue to stir every 30 seconds, until the thermometer reaches 300F (hard crack). Remove from the heat.
- Once you have removed from the heat, stir continuously to ensure the butter and sugar doesn't separate. Pour into the lined pan and let sit for several minutes.
- After several minutes, top with chocolate chips, before covering with tin foil. Let sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, use a rubber spatula to spread out the toffee in an even layer.
- Refrigerate until firm. Once firm, break apart into pieces.
Notes
- To store. Store English toffee in a sealable container. They will keep fresh for at least a week. You can also refrigerate them, and they will keep for at least a month.
- To freeze. You can freeze English toffee, but the texture will not be the best once thawed. Wrap toffee in parchment paper and place it in a ziplock bag.
This is just too good!!
Thanks for the recipe! Great flavor! I used roasted unsalted almonds which give a super nice crunch. Next time will probably toss raw almonds in with butter and sweetener to give them a toast. Are the pictures you posted of the toffee made with the monkfruit or swerve? So often it seems the sweeteners tend to crystalize which your pictures show no sign of. I accidentally let mine get a little hot (316) and part of the candy crystalized, but some remained hard crack. I’m actually pretty impressed, but would like to avoid any crystalization. Any advice?
love,love,love this recipe. have made at least 12 double batches since 12/2020!! this is my go to CANDY. my 411 is, not all my batches have done this, but the last 3-4 batches do not keep the chocolate chip coating on top when I cut or break it up. it cracks off. Any thoughts on this, I am not doing anything different from my first batch back in 2020. it still tastes wonderful, but when i plan on giving as a gift, which i frequenly do, I would like it to “look” as good as it tastes. I read other recipes, and one recipe said to blot the top of the toffee mixture before adding choc. chips to remove excess butter? Any thoughts or suggestions? Thx in advance
And alternative for one who doesn’t have a candy thermometer?
I wouldn’t try, as this recipe isn’t very forgiving.
This looks beautiful. I tried a different recipe and after having serious separation problems, I’d like to try yours…is it really a full cup of butter to 1/2 cup of erythritol sweetener?? That ratio is really heavy on the butter (or light on sweetener) compared to all the other recipes I’ve seen. Thanks so much for all you do!
I have Natvia Gold Sweetener, brown sugar substitute.
Would it be ok for this one as well?
This is just too good!!! It’s TOO good!!
Can you make a video? I feel like a video would make it easier to understand how I should be making the toffee, every time I’m cooking it on low, it stays grainy or it starts burning or doesn’t get to a caramel state. I’m more of a visual learner. And when I keep it on low, it takes forever to get to 300.
Yes! On the books 🙂
Hey,
I was wondering if I could use powdered xylitol (morningpep brand because it’s from birch bark) as I am allergic to all corn products like erythritol, which is made from corn?
Try allulolose
I made the toffee and it tasted amazing 😻. Couldn’t stop myself from eating more than 1 piece or more 😉. Thanks for your wonderful recipes.
This looks and sounds delish! I don’t have Golden Monkfruit just regular (didn’t know there was a difference). will regular Monkfruit work too? 2nd question: is Hershey Sugar Free chocolate chips considered Keto? I think it’s sweetened with sucralose. Thank you.
I am famous for my Holiday Toffee but always made it with real sugar. What is the brand of the monk fruit you used? Going Keto and this is one of the last “hurdles” to accomplish!
Used allulose 🙂
Make sure to use an 8×8 pan to insure the toffee hardens correctly. Anything else makes it too thick and chewy rather than crunchy.
You commented that you use Flora dairy free butter. Never heard of it. Where do you get it?
Supermarkets.
It tastes great, but the texture was grainy and a bit crumbly. Is it supposed to be solid, like a Heath bar?