Salted Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee.

This homemade salted dark chocolate almond toffee is completely over the top in the best way possible. Covered in rich salted dark chocolate, each sweet buttery bite is filled with crunchy toasted almonds. 

Toffee. I’m all about it right now. I went on a major toffee kick for a few weeks, making batch after batch after batch. It was a little personal challenge I made for myself: master the art that is stovetop toffee making.

I wrote a lengthy, super detailed post that maybe no one read all the way through because it is snoring-boring long about making toffee. I filled the post with step-by-step photos, troubleshooting tips, and a kick-a$$ (are there children reading?) cinnamon almond toffee recipe. Today, I’m sharing a little spin on that toffee flavor.

It’s all about salted dark chocolate now!

This salted dark chocolate almond toffee is completely worth every single second making it from scratch. It’s the kind of toffee that won’t break your teeth; rather, it’s on the crispy-tender side. Completely melting in your mouth as you chew. Not something you get with all toffee recipes. And that is why I call this one my favorite.

The dark chocolate and toasty almonds are an obvious addition to my butter toffee. I remember eating toffee exactly like this during the holidays when I was growing up, easily demolishing the entire batch over the course of a couple days. And as the weather starts to get cold, I crave salty sweet candy exactly like it. After one taste, you’ll begin to crave this ridiculous-in-the-best-way toffee too.

This recipe is a lot like my cinnamon almond toffee recipe. The only difference is that I spread dark chocolate over the cooling toffee– on both sides!!– and finish it off with a generous sprinkle of crushed toasted almonds and sea salt. I brought it along with me to a book signing last weekend and, naturally, people were going insane over it.

Old-fashioned, authentic toffee making takes some time, some practice, and some patience. Don’t be intimidated. You can absolutely do this if you have just a few special tools. These three items will make your toffee making experience easier, as well as guarantee toffee success. Sweet, sweet success. In case you haven’t read my in-depth tutorial on toffee making, let me list them again:

Candy thermometer. There is no way you can make old-fashioned toffee with no sugar graininess, a hard yet soft texture, and a toffee bursting with the toasty caramelized flavors of properly cooked butter and sugar without this tool. I recommend a digital candy thermometer. The one I own is easy to hook onto my pot and very easy to read. No mistaking temperatures with this particular model. Don’t be scared of a candy thermometer! It’s literally just a thermometer telling you when your candy reaches certain cooking stages. Using a candy thermometer is so much easier and more accurate than using your eyes to detect doneness.

A heavy bottomed saucepan. Oh, the many batches of toffee I ruined from using a cheap saucepan. An ideal saucepan for making today’s candy is one that is deep and thick. Thin pans, which often have hot spots, do not withstand the heat needed for toffee to cook. I burned 1,000 batches of toffee before realizing this. Well, not really. But it sure as heck seemed like it. I have a few pans I use for making toffee: here, here, and here (copper is pricey but it’s awesome for candy making).

A silicone baking mat. This will make your candy making experience much easier. Why? Well, when you pour the toffee out onto a large baking sheet, it is so much easier to spread onto and remove from this slick silicone surface compared to a bare baking sheet, parchment, or aluminum foil. Not only this, I don’t bake cookies on any other surface! Always a silicone baking mat. I own 9 of them. I wish I was joking. I’m ridiculous.

Besides these three items, you’ll also need a wooden spoon, the ingredients, and some self control if you plan to share it or gift it. Ironically, I just told you the other day that I have a lot of self control around desserts. Ugh. That’s a big fat lie when I’m around crunchy chewy dark chocolate toffee. I wanted to devour this entire stack. ↓

I really, really want you to make this. I sound like a walking (typing) advertisement for any and all things toffee. But really! I want your holidays to include homemade toffee and I want you to challenge yourself in the kitchen. Your family, friends, and absolutely anyone with tastebuds will thank you for this recipe. They will get down on their knees and praise your toffee making abilities. Or something like that.

Perfectly salty, sweet, chewy, crunchy, buttery, sugary, toasty dark chocolate toffee bliss.

Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥

Salted Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee

Yield: about 1 pound

Total Time: 2 hours, includes cooling

This homemade salted dark chocolate almond toffee is completely over the top in the best way possible. Covered in rich salted dark chocolate, each sweet buttery bite is filled with crunchy toasted almonds.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (340g; 12 ounces) whole unsalted almonds, such as Diamond of California Whole Almonds ¹


• 1 cup (230g; 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed


• 1/2 cup (120ml; 4 ounces) warm water


• 1 cup (199g, 7 ounces) granulated sugar


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon light corn syrup


• 8 ounces (224g) dark chocolate, finely chopped²


• sea salt for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1. Here are step-by-step photos of making the toffee on the stovetop, so you can see the process and more importantly, the coloring of the toffee as it cooks.


2. Preheat oven to 300°F (149°C) degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. (Silicone baking mat is preferred.) Spread the almonds onto the sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring them around twice during that time. Toasting the almonds brings so much flavor to the toffee. Remove from the oven, allow to cool, and set 1 cup aside. Chop up the other cup of almonds nice and fine. Or pulse in a food processor a few times to break them up. These will go on top of the dark  chocolate.


3. Line a 12x17 inch jelly roll pan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Set aside.


4. Melt the cubed butter over medium heat in a 3-quart heavy duty saucepan. Stir occasionally (about every 2 minutes) with a wooden spoon as it melts. Once melted, add the water, sugar, salt, and corn syrup. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves, then brush down the sides of the pan with a water-moistened pastry brush. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan. Do not let it touch the bottom of the pan.


5. Once dissolved, stir occasionally as you bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, stop stirring. Rapid bubbles, a thicker consistency, as well as a slightly darker color forms around 235°F (113°C). At the 265°F (129°C, hard ball stage) point, stir in the 1 cup of toasted whole almonds. The mixture may separate when you add the nuts. If it does, temporarily remove the candy thermometer and stir vigorously until it all comes back together. Carefully reattach the thermometer and brush off any candy on the side of the pan with the pasty brush. Cook and stir the candy until it reaches 290°F (143°C, soft crack stage).


6. Turn off the stove, remove pan from the heat, and pour the toffee out onto the prepared jelly roll pan. Smooth into an even layer. The toffee should be thick and not spread all the way to the edges of the jelly roll pan. Allow the toffee to cool for 5 minutes. Sprinkle half of the chopped chocolate on top. Allow the chocolate to soften and melt from the heat of the toffee, then spread the melted chocolate into a thin, even layer. Sprinkle half of the crushed almonds onto the wet chocolate and press down gently with the back of a spatula to adhere them. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to set the chocolate.


7. Once set, flip the toffee over as a whole. You should be able to just peel it off the silicone baking mat. Melt the remaining chopped chocolate in the microwave, in 10 second spurts, stirring after each until completely smooth. Spread over the toffee and top with remaining chopped almonds, pressing down gently with the back of a spatula to adhere them. Sprinkle the top with sea salt. Refrigerate toffee again to set the chocolate, about 20 minutes. Once set, slice with a sharp knife or break into pieces-- as large or small as you want.


8. Make ahead tip: Store toffee in an airtight container at room temperature in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks. For longer storage, freeze up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Recipe Notes:

1. I prefer unsalted almonds here; salted are just a little TOO salty for this toffee. Instead, I add a little sea salt on top of the finished toffee (which already has some salt in it). You have control over how much you're adding this way.


2. I prefer Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate. You can use quality semi-sweet chocolate instead, either Ghirardelli, Baker's, or your favorite brand. If chocolate chips are more convenient, you can use semi-sweet or dark chocolate morsels instead-- no need to chop them. Since they are not pure chocolate, they are not my first choice for candy making. Pure, quality chocolate tastes best.

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© Sally’s Baking Addiction. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Some of the links above are affiliate links, which pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting Sally’s Baking Addiction.

For step-by-step toffee making photos, please see my Cinnamon Almond Toffee recipe. There I walk you through some troubleshooting tips, as well as explain the importance of each ingredient and why I use it. Candy making is chemistry! And every ingredient serves an imperative role in the cooking process.

Instead of almonds and sea salt, sprinkle the dark chocolate almond toffee with festive sprinkles during the holidays! I admit, I din’t spread chocolate on the bottom of this batch. I used it all on top.

Also something you need to try… (award winning) Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies

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