Marcona Almond-Sea Salt Toffee

Did you hear all of that yelling right before Christmas?!?  It was me!

I was yelling, "I DID IT!!!  I MADE TOFFEE!!!"

I've tried making toffee before...and failed.  Miserably.  Twice.  I'm not sure if it was the recipe, or my skill set, but it made me very sad.

So, this time, I used the toffee recipe from Sweet Confections and guess what?!?  It worked like a charm!

{The only bad part; we gave most of it away.  Sad face.}

Can we talk about Marcona almonds for a minute?   If you've never had them, let me describe.  Imagine crunchy little nuggets of salted butter.  Yep, that's pretty much it.

One of the grocery stores near me sells them in the bulk section...the other has them with the deli cheeses.  They're pricey, but oh-so-worth-it.  Try a few plain with a clementine for an afternoon snack.  Heaven.

Marcona Almond-Sea Salt Toffee
{adapted from Sweet Confections Toffee recipe}

1 TBSP water
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiradelli)
1/2 cup Marcona almonds, roughly chopped
pinch flaky sea salt

Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

Combine the water, butter, cream, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan.  Attach a candy thermometer, but don't let it touch the bottom of the pan.

{I have this one and love it.}

Bring the pan contents to a boil.  Stir slowly and continuously with a silicone spatula until the syrup reaches 300.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Pour onto the parchment paper.  Let stand one minute.

Sprinkle the chopped chocolate onto the toffee. Wait 3-5 minutes for the chocolate to melt.

{See it getting melty?}

With an offset spatula, spread the chocolate evenly.

{{sigh}}

Sprinkle on the chopped almonds...

...then, a bit of the flaky sea salt. 

I was afraid to get too heavy-handed with the salt; you could totally add more.

Refrigerate until the toffee has set; about 45 minutes.

Break into pieces; I use waxed paper to touch the toffee to avoid fingerprints.

Store in an airtight container...if you don't eat it all immediately.

Go on; have a piece! ;) 

{psst...have you ever tried Marcona almonds?}