Toffee

My favorite dessert to make for any holiday is toffee.  I could eat toffee every day of my life, but pecans give me a stomachache if I eat too many.  It is probably a good thing, but I am not quite convinced. 

I am going to give you the base recipe.  Because I am an addict I double the recipe as a rule, triple it when I am happy, and quadruple it when I am cooking for friends.  When you first start I suggest that you stick to the base recipe.  Once you learn how the toffee needs to look and feel like, then you can start increasing the recipe.  Cooking times may increase as you increase the ingredients. 

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup of butter
2. 3/4 cup of brown sugar
3. pinch of salt
4. 1 1/2 cups of raw pecans
5. chocolate chips

 Instructions:

1. Spray a cookie sheet with a cooking spray.  (My favorite spray right now is grapeseed oil.)  Chop up most of the pecans and place them in the middle of the pan.  (Reserve about 1/3 cup of the pecans for end.)
2. In a good quality sauce pan melt the butter.  After the butter is melted stir in the brown sugar and salt.  Once the mixture starts to boil set a timer and cook the toffee for 7 minutes.  You must stir the toffee the whole time.  The 7 minutes is really just a guide.  You know the toffee is done when it is just about to burn.  I know this sounds crazy, but it is the same advice my grandmother gave me for making peanut brittle (and it really is good advice).  
3. Once the toffee is ready pour it on top of the pecans.  Sprinkle chocolate chips on the toffee.  Wait a few minutes to let the chocolate chips melt.  After they have melted spread the chocolate smoothly to cover all of the toffee.  Sprinkle the remaining pecans on top of the chocolate. 
4. Let the toffee cool.  I like to put the cookie sheet in a snow bank.  If there is not enough snow I put the toffee in the fridge.  Once the chocolate is hard, get a small stiff, strong knife and break up the toffee into small pieces.