There’s something so special about Chocolate-Toffee Bark. This candy-treat is easy to make and enjoy all year round, but it always seems to make its way into our celebrations around Christmas and New Year’s. The base of this bark is toffee – always gluten-free and you can get creative to sprinkle in additional toppings to make it extra-special. Although my desserts are always free of peanuts and tree nuts, yours don’t have to be. I’m sharing all the wonderful ways to make this happen, and I give the scoop on how to make this crowd-pleaser vegan too.

This is the first of a three part, toffee recipe series that I’m sharing. The second is Just Toffee, and for Brittle and the final recipe in this series is my family’s all-time favorite thing to do with chocolate chips: Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cookies.

Mili's Chocolate Toffee Bark recipe — Mili’s Chocolate Toffee Bark with cacao nibs and coarse salt.

This week I’m posting a series of handcrafted toffee desserts, so hold tight for more – to make just toffee, and for brittle and for Chocolate-Toffee-Crunch cookies. I just thought it would be easier and best to start here. The first thing we’ll prep is the cooking the toffee over a stove top. I’ll take you step by step so you can see how I created both Salted Pretzel Chocolate Toffee Bark and Salted Cacao Nib Chocolate Toffee Bark, from just one batch.

Simply crush candy canes or peppermint candies and lay down before pouring for holiday-inspired, Chocolate-Peppermint Toffee Bark.

Equipment

stove top, saucepan, spatula, candy thermometer, slotted spatula, cookie sheet, parchment paper or silpat mat

Ingredients

in a saucepan

1/2 cup salted butter, cut into pats (one stick or 8 tablespoons) If you'd like a vegan dessert, substitute the butter for vegan butter
2 tablespoons filtered water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar

set aside

1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips I used 1/2 dark and 1/2 semi sweet Guittard brand chocolate chips. If you want this to be vegan, use vegan chocolate chips.

optional additions

coarse salt
chopped pretzels
cacao nibs
dried cherries, cranberries
if you use nuts: chopped almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios

Instructions

prepare a cookie sheet

Lay down parchment paper or a silpat mat and sprinkle down anything you want to add to the toffee. You'll be pouring the finished toffee here. For this recipe example, I laid down half with cacao nibs and the other half with chopped pretzels. I sprinkled coarse, Kosher salt over all of it.

make toffee

in a saucepan, place butter, water and sugars
set aside the baking soda and pure vanilla extract
At medium heat, start to melt these ingredients in your pan.
Place a candy thermometer into the mixture. You'll keep close and watch as the mixture comes to 300 degrees Fahrenheit or 150 degrees Celsius.
As soon as it hits temperature, remove from heat.
Stir in baking soda and vanilla
The end result will be smooth and with a lot of air in it.
Pour over ingredients.
If plain, pour down directly onto the parchment paper in one pool of toffee.
Cover the poured toffee with one cup of chocolate chips.
Let the chocolate chips sit for two-five minutes.
Use a slotted spatula spread-in the chocolate.
Cover the toffee with the chocolate chips.
Let the chocolate cool and set completely. It will be dry and crisp. This could take up to an hour or more, depending on the humidity in the room.
Use your hands to break up the slab into pieces of bark. You are set! The chocolate is re-tempered and will not smudge. This dessert is basically candy, so it can be stored at room temperature, in a sealed container, for up to two weeks.