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Dark Chocolate Buttercrunch
This recipe requires few ingredients and little effort, but the result is superb, making it appear you slaved over a hot stove all afternoon. What's more, this candy is so rich that a few pieces go a long way, making it ideal for holiday gift bags. For those of you unfamiliar with buttercrunch, it's a lot like a Heath Bar. And, like a Heath Bar, not only is it tasty candy; it's delicious crunched up and stirred into ice cream, or mixed into whipped cream and spread between layers of a chocolate cake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 2 cups diced pecans or slivered almonds, toasted
- 2 2/3 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped; or chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large, deep saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the salt, sugar, water, and corn syrup, and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil gently over medium heat, without stirring, until the mixture reaches hard-crack stage (300°F on an instant-read or candy thermometer). The syrup will bubble without seeming to change much for awhile, but be patient; all of a sudden it will darken, and at that point you need to take its temperature and see if it's ready. (If you don't have a thermometer, test a dollop in ice water; it should immediately harden to a brittleness sufficient that you'll be able to snap it in two, without any bending or softness). This whole process should take about 10 to 12 minutes. Pay attention; too long on the heat, and the syrup will burn.
- While the sugar mixture is gently bubbling, spread half of the nuts, in a fairly closely packed, even single layer, on a lightly greased baking sheet (a half sheet pan works well here). Top with half the chocolate.
- When the syrup is ready, pour it quickly and evenly over the nuts and chocolate. Immediately top with the remaining chocolate, then the remaining nuts.
- Wait several minutes, then gently, using the back of a spatula, press down on the chocolate-nut layer to spread the chocolate around evenly.
- While the candy is still slightly warm, use a spatula to loosen it from the baking sheet. When cool, break it into uneven chunks.
- Store cooled candy tightly wrapped; it'll stay fresh for a couple of weeks at room temperature. Freeze for longer storage.
- Yield: about 24 big bite-sized pieces.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 53g
- Servings Per Batch 24
Amount Per Serving:
- Calories 269
- Calories from Fat
- Total Fat 19g
- Saturated Fat
- Trans Fat
- Cholesterol
- Sodium 2mg
- Total Carbohydrate 5g
- Dietary Fiber 2g
- Sugars 22g
- Protein 2g
* The nutrition information provided for this recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information.
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Reviews
I made the toffee as instructcted . When it got to about 275° I put the heat on low and stwirled the pan around. Gets this wonderful Color when it is done!I then poured it over a parchment covered half sheet pan that was covered with sheets of matzo that I had warmed up. I then put it in an oven and covered it with a little bit of chocolate and nuts! Wonderful thank you KAF
Delicious! And it makes a ton - I gave away lots in my holiday tins and still had plenty leftover to chop and swirl into homemade vanilla ice cream as it churned. I HIGHLY recommend that! I used parchment like others and had no issues.
Disaster. Should have read the reviews first. What the heck is a half sheet pan, anyway? Way too thick, and the chocolate did not adhere to the caramel. You could not eat it without trauma to your jaw! I pulverized some of it, but it's way too sweet. Not sure what to do with it now. But I will try it again as I've seen it done correctly and it was yummy.It sounds like this was quite the ordeal! A half sheet pan is commonly found in bakeries, restaurants, and home kitchens, and is 13" x 18" x 3/4". We encourage you to reach out to our friendly Baker's Hotline staff to help troubleshoot at 855-371-2253. We hope the next batch is a winner! Annabelle@KAF
I've made this before and I think had better results. This time there was WAY too much chocolate and it looked kind of messy with all the nuts. I think next time I'll use about half the chocolate. I used four 31/2-oz bars of Ghiardelli dark chocolate which was actually less than recipe called for.
I love this recipe. I made it last year and found it so easy I decided to make it again. I followed the recipe exactly--it's easy and delicious. When I make it next year I will follow the other reviewers suggestions and use a 9x12 pan to contain the buttercrunch.
After reading the reviews, since I was afraid it wouldn't set up, I lined a 9 X 13" pan with parchment and poured the toffee directly in without layering the chocolate and nuts in the bottom. I put half the total chocolate on top, waited for it to melt and spread it over the toffee. Then I pressed in the pecans. I was able to lift the candy out of the pan after about 10 minutes, and I cooled it a bit on the counter before putting it on a cutting board (still on the parchment) in the fridge to harden a little more. I didn't bother melting chocolate for the bottom, as it looked like it might be too much chocolate (if there is such a thing). The candy is incredible and quite addictive. The small bits left over from cutting it will be used to top ice cream. I'm a chocoholic, and I think the flavors are well balanced with just half the total amount of chocolate. Thanks for a simple and amazing recipe!
This truly is as easy as they say, and so delicious. Breaks easily, not hard on the teeth. I have always had uneven luck with candy and so followed the suggestion of one commenter to use parchment paper to pour only the toffee out first (in case of error you can then just redo the sugar without wasting pricey nuts and chocolate). I poured it out on parchment in a half sheet pan, put the chocolate and nuts on top, and then put another sheet of parchment on top. I laid another sheet pan over that (bottom down so it nested the sheet pans) and then flipped the whole thing over and put more chocolate and nuts on the other side. The toffee was still plenty warm to melt the second layer of chocolate, and I was able to press the whole mess well together between the parchment and sheet pans. Afterwards I used the parchment to help break the pieces up. No mess! Lots of candy and delicious. I am 100% doing this every year. Big payoff for the amount of effort and $$.
Easy to follow (with help from the blog post), and super yummy! Very rich-tasting & crunchy
Made exactly as directed. Turned out awesome
Oh wow! This candy turned out perfect! Crispy and crunchy without being too hard to chew! I only used about half the amount of chocolate chips (bittersweet) and only put them on top. Next time, I may try dark chocolate as the recipe calls for. The process was very easy and forgiving, too! I accidentally forgot to stir the ingredients before they came to a boil. Panicky, I decided to give it a quick, gentle swirl with a wire whisk, and it still worked! I highly recommend trying this recipe. It is very much like Heath or Score, but better because it's homemade by you. Plus, you can use your favorite chocolate! I generally prefer Ghirardelli Bittersweet or Dark Chocolate chips.
