English Toffee

This is so easy to make. I can no longer justify paying per pound price at the farmer's market. 

The following recipe will yield about a pound. 

1 cup butter (only real butter can be used in this recipe)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 semi-sweet chocolate baking squares or 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely broken pecans or walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. In heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugar, water, and salt. I like to use a pan with non-stick coating. There's no need to scrape the sides or bottom- the finished product will slide right out!

2. Cook to hard-crack stage (300°F) on LOW stirring CONSTANTLY and watching carefully. You have to be patient here. It will take approximately 20-30 minutes to reach  this stage. You will notice the color change from the buttery color to eventually the brown toffee color we're familiar with. If you do not have a candy thermometer, you can test the hard-crack stage by dropping a little bit of the molten syrup in cold water and it will form hard brittle threads that break when bent. Be sure to let it cool down to avoid burns.

(http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar-stages.html)

3. Immediately pour into ungreased 13"x9" pan. I like to use a pizza pan with parchment paper. You can also use foil.

4. Let it cool from its scorching temperature (but still warm and maleable) and take a pizza cutter or knife and cut the toffee into bite-size pieces.

5. Melt chocolate and spread over the toffee.

6. Sprinkle with nuts, pressing them into chocolate.

7. Let stand 2-3 hours or chill 30 minutes.