đ This is a fun and delicious English toffee made with real white chocolate and toasted pistachios! Itâs rich and buttery, with a crunchy crisp texture that doesnât stick to your teeth! We wanted something with an Easter flair, so this candy could be included in Easter baskets or for Easter brunch dessert. The green color really comes out when you chop the roasted pistachios and is so pretty against the cream-colored white chocolate.
We also made some of the toffee with chopped Jordan almonds, which is festive and fun with an explosion of pastel colors, but we have to admit, we really preferred the chopped pistachios. It was more aesthetically pleasing and plus it tasted amazing. The combination of the caramelized flavor of the toffee along with the white chocolate is perfectly accented by the pistachios.
Making toffee takes practice and you may go through a few batches before you get the perfect batch, but hang in there ⊠itâs so worth it. I think one reason itâs challenging is because everyoneâs stove is different, and often one stoveâs medium is another stoveâs high! Candy thermometers were not all born alike, either, so you may have to do a test run on your thermometer. Also, different brands of butter have different water content, so you will have to get it just right for the butter you use. We use Land O Lakes unsalted butter for this recipe. The key is to watch the changes in the color and texture as you cook it. If your toffee begins to separate, add a tablespoon of water to the mixture and stir well with a wooden spoon to get it back together.
Our in-house candy maker, Joel, literally made several batches a day for a several day binge until he got it just right! He landed it perfectly in our opinion!
White Chocolate & Pistachio Toffee
Equipment
- 1 large nonstick skillet
- 1 Candy thermometer
- 1 large rimmed baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- cookie cutters *if you plan to make shapes out of your toffee
Ingredients
Toffee
- 8 oz. unsalted butter, warmed to room temperature
- 1 cup fine granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp. water
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Toppings
- 8 oz. real white chocolate, chopped Donât use white baking chips, just white chocolate made with real cocoa butter
- 1 tsp. freshly ground pink salt *We just use the grinder for this.
- 2 cups roasted, unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped, or
- 2 cups Jordan almonds, chopped this is optional for Easter, but we prefer the pistachios!
Instructions
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place butter, sugar, water and salt in a flat nonstick saute pan. Heat over low heat, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.
- Increase heat to medium-low for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mixture will begin to bubble and foam.
- The mixture will change in look from curdled-looking to foamy-looking.
- Increase heat to medium, and stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the mixture turns golden-amber and the temperature reaches 290â to 300â. (The perfect temp will depend upon your stove and your candy thermometer.)
- Once youâve achieved the amber color, and the temperature is in the 290 to 300â, you will be ready to pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread out to a rectangle about 9 x 12 inches.
- Let the toffee cool for 2-3 minutes. (If you want to try to make shapes with cookie cutters, this would be the time to press the cutters into the toffee.)
- After the 2-3 minutes, immediately distribute the white chocolate pieces over the toffee and as it melts, spread it evenly using an offset spatula. Grind a little pink salt over the white chocolate.
- Then, sprinkle the chopped pistachios over the melted white chocolate while itâs still soft. Press down a bit with a spatula or your fingers into the chocolate.
- Allow the toffee to cool completely before breaking into pieces. Store in an airtight container.
