by KetoFocus.com
4.4 Stars (10 Reviews) 21 Comments
5 Ingredients or LessCandyEasyEgg FreeKid Friendly
This buttery crunchy keto toffee uses only a few ingredients and has all the salty chocolate toffee flavor you love with none of the sugar!
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Nutrition Facts
Serving Size:
1 piece
20
Servings
143
Calories
14.5g
Fat
0.3g
Protein
0.1g
Net Carb
6g
Total Carbs
If you love the sweet buttery crunch of toffee but hate all the sugar that comes with it, this keto toffee recipe will quickly become a holiday favorite. With only a few ingredients, you’ll have a batch of salty, chocolatey, and crunchy toffee that won’t stick to your teeth.
If you’ve made other keto candies, this toffee recipe is similar to making keto caramel candies, except the mixture is heated to the hard-crack stage for a crunchy candy instead of soft caramels and I use a different sweetener which also affects how quickly the caramel mixture reaches hard crack stage.
You and your holiday guests will love this sweet toffee coated in sugar-free chocolate and sprinkled with pecans and flaked salt for the perfect salty-sweet finish.
- How to make keto toffee
- Recipe Details
- Watch the recipe video
- Keto Toffee Ingredients
- Keto Toffee Directions
- Similar recipes others love
- What is English toffee?
- Keto chocolate
- What is the hard crack stage in candy making?
- Storage information
- FAQs
How to make keto toffee
- Add butter, sweetener and salt to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Stir and cook until the temperature reads 300 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
- Stir in vanilla, and pour it into a baking dish that’s been lined with parchment paper, spreading it out until even.
- Let the toffee sit for several minutes. Then sprinkle chocolate chips evenly on top and cover with foil to help melt the chocolate.
- Once melted, spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee and top with flaked salt and pecans.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours to set.
Pro Tip: If the chocolate doesn’t melt after covering it with foil, remove the foil and place the dish under the broiler for 30-60 seconds.
Key ingredients & substitutions
- Butter – I used unsalted butter for this recipe. Salted butter may lead to the recipe tasting too salty and the salt levels in many butters vary from brand to brand.
- Brown sugar-free sweetener – I prefer the brand Swerve, which bakes just like regular brown sugar with no added calories or sugars.
- Sugar-free chocolate chips – If needed, you can substitute a sugar-free chocolate bar that’s been crushed into bite-sized pieces.
- Salt – You’ll need fine-grained sea salt or table salt for the low carb toffee mixture and flaked salt to use as a topping. Flaked salt is coarse and adds the perfect amount of saltiness to each sweet bite of toffee.
- Pecans – Slivered almonds, crushed walnuts or pumpkin seeds will also work.
Keto Toffee Recipe Video
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Keto Toffee Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter - 1 cup sugar free brown sweetener
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 7 oz sugar free chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon flaky sea salt
- 1/3 cup crushed pecans
- candy thermometer
1 cup unsalted butter Keto Toffee Directions
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Prepare baking dish
Prepare a square baking dish or ¼ sheet baking tray by spraying cooking spray first then lining it with parchment paper. Set aside.
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Boil ingredients
In a large saucepan, add butter, sweetener, water and salt. Heat over medium heat and bring to a boil.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (unsalted)
- 1 cup brown sugar free sweetener
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
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Hard crack stage
Continue to let cook, stirring occasionally until temperature on a candy thermometer reads 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Pour caramel
Once temperature reaches 300 degrees, remove from heat. Immediately stir in vanilla and pour into prepared baking dish. Evenly spread toffee mixture and let sit for several minutes until the toffee starts to harden on the top. The toffee will turn opaque as it cools.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Add chocolate
When the majority of the toffee is opaque, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the toffee. Cover dish with aluminum foil and let sit for 4-5 minutes to help melt the chocolate.
Ingredients
- 7 oz sugar free chocolate chips
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You made it to the top!
Remove the foil, and spread the melted chocolate evenly over the toffee. Top with flaked salt and crushed pecans. Cover again and place in the refrigerator to further set for 1-2 hours.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
- 1/3 cup crushed pecans
What is English toffee?
Toffee is a hard candy made from butter and sugar and covered in chocolate. True English toffee does not include nuts, but in most Americanized versions of the recipe, nuts are added for a fun and flavorful crunch. You’ll often find almonds, peanuts, pecans, or walnuts added to Americanized “English” toffee.
To make keto English toffee, simply remove the nuts from this recipe!
Keto chocolate
To keep the carbohydrates down in this recipe, use sugar-free chocolate. Here are a few keto-approved chocolate brands to choose from.
- ChocZero Chocolate Baking Chips – use code KETOFOCUS to save 10% off your order
- Lakanto Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips – higher in carbs (2 g net carbs per serving)
- Hu No-Added Sugar Chocolate Chips – higher in carbs, but no stevia or erythritol
- People’s Keto Chocolate Chips
- Lily’s Semi-Sweet Baking Chips – available at most grocery stores
For a twist on the flavor, try using white chocolate or milk chocolate.
What is the hard crack stage in candy making?
Candy making is a true science, as the highest temperature you reach significantly impacts your candy’s texture. Between 300 and 310 degrees Fahrenheit, there is almost no water left in the syrup. This stage is used to make hard candies like toffee, peanut brittle, and lollipop suckers.
If you fail to reach 300 degrees Fahrenheit, the candy will be much softer and more pliable, like saltwater taffy.
This recipe and other keto candies are heated to the hard-crack stage but won’t reach the same level of hardness as traditional toffee since the sweeteners are sugar-free. It will be harder than saltwater taffy but not as hard as true toffee.
Storage information
Store your toffee in an airtight container (a cookie tin works great if given as a gift!) at room temperature for up to a week. It may last longer, but the quality will start to suffer past the one-week point. If refrigerated, it should last 2-3 weeks.
If you’re looking for longer storage, freeze your keto toffee in an airtight container for up to 3 months in an airtight container or freezer bag.
TIP: If your container has multiple layers of toffee, keep them from sticking together by separating the layers with a piece of wax paper.
Keto Toffee: FAQS
Can I substitute granulated white sugar-free sweetener instead of brown sweetener?
You can use white sugar free sweetener, but your toffee won’t have the classic golden brown color that toffee has.
Is toffee the same as caramel?
While toffee and caramel have similar flavors, they’re not the same. Caramel is made of sugar, water and cream and heated to the “firm-ball” stage of candy making, while toffee is made from sugar and butter and is heated hotter to the “hard-crack” candy stage.
What is sugar-free toffee made of?
This keto toffee recipe uses Swerve brown sugar, which is sweetened with the sugar alcohol erythritol, sugar-free chocolate, butter, pecans, and salt.
My butter separated in the toffee mixture. Why did this happen and what can I do to fix it?
Making candy can be tricky. Heating the butter-sweetener mixture too quickly can cause the butterfat to separate out. Heat the mixture no hotter than medium heat. If it still separates, it could be your stovetop gets too hot, so heat over low-medium heat. This can happen during cooling as well if the toffee is cooled too quickly. Using a thin pan creates hot spots in the liquid and can cause the fat to separate as well. Instead use a heavy bottom pan and heat the mixture slowly. If the mixture still separates, whisk in a tablespoon or two of hot water or add to a food processor and mix until combined again.
Nutritional information & Macros
Nutrition Information
Keto Toffee
Servings: 20
| Amount Per Serving | |
|---|---|
| Calories | 143 |
| Fat | 14.5g |
| Protein | 0.3g |
| Total Carbs | 6g |
| Net Carbs | 0.1g |
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Absolutely loved these. Candy thermometer is essential. Warning, don’t lick the wooden spoon. I burnt my lip with my enthusiasm.
I used half the chocolate…one 90% Lindt bar (anout 3 oz.) with about 1/4 c. Splenda and a tbsp of butter. I melted the chocolate ahead of time. Just seemed easier to me.Reply
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Excellent! No one could tell it was not the classic sugar laden recipe.
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Tastes great, but didn’t come out quite right. The chocolate was harder than, and separated from the toffee when I tried to break it up. The toffee did get up to 300F. What did I do wrong?
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What brand of chocolate did you use? Maybe your chocolate got too hot. Did you put it in the oven?
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Followed with a candy thermometer but it still separated. Found a solution online- poured it all in food processor and it came together. Chilled it then just melted the chocolate and spread it on the hardened toffee in thirds to keep it speadable. Just posting this in case someone else has an issue and ya don’t think it needs to hit the trashcan. It’s delicious!
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Can you tell me what size pan you used? Thanks!
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I used a quarter baking sheet.
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What’s the inches on that? Yours looks very small. A quarter sheet is 9×13. I don’t want to make a mistake…
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Quarter sheets are small. I’m is 9.6×13 inches. Here is the one I used: https://amzn.to/3rYJesg It has the exact measured on there.
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Annie, Do you pack the brown sugar? I have made toffee for years but I have switched to the microwave since it’s easier & less likely to fail. I have great results. But I haven’t tried Keto toffee in the microwave do you know anybody that has & if they were successful?
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Yes, I packed the brown sugar when measuring. I haven’t heard of a microwave version, but there might be one out there. I would love to try it too.
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Did not set up for me. I used TWO candy thermometers, one that was immersed in the candy as it cooked and one instant read, to assure that I had reached the 300* mark. The butter separated and would not come back together. Wish I had seen the earlier comment about putting the whole mess into the food processor but hadn’t seen that til now, sadly!
However not a total loss. I had to pour off all that beautiful butter, and then the candy was at least edible – it’s soft and chewy but it does taste good.
I used my new Lakanto golden monkfruit/allulose blend for the “sugar” and followed the recipe exactly. Humidity is 21% today so it’s not that.
Will try again some day….Reply
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I’m sorry you had trouble with this recipe. Making candy can be tricky. I updated the recipe adding some more notes. The most common reason that causes the butterfat to separate is the mixture was heated too quickly. You don’t want to heat higher than medium heat. If you find that the mixture still separates, it could be because the burner on your stove gets too hot, so you may need to only heat over low-medium heat. A thin bottom pan can also cause the mixture to separate. Use a good quality saucepan with a heavy bottom base.
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I used an allulose, monkfruit brown sugar. I cooked it to 300° and it did not harden. I am assuming it’s because of the allulose. Tastes like delicious carmels.
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I haven’t tried using allulose. I will have to experiment with that.
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Mine turn out grainy. Is it supposed to be grainy?
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This sounds like the sweetener that was used. Some sweeteners don’t dissolve when heated.
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I’d used the Swerve brown sugar sweetner. They dissolved and the temp reached 300F, but as they cooled, they turned grainy. This seems to be the case every time I try to make these candies. I’d thought the Swerve brown sugar would make a difference. I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I make regular toffee for years, so I’m familiar with the candy making process. Does anyone have any idea? Thanks.
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Most delicious keto toffee!! It came out perfectly first try. I think people should read the tips in the faq section before attempting if they they have never made toffee before. Everyone loved this! Will make again next week.
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Followed the instructions to a T and it came out just fine. I read through some of the comments. Some people just don’t know how to read or how to bake. This toffee is incredible. I just wish there was a keto saltine you could come up with so I can make that Christmas crack I keep seeing. My sister makes some and it is to die for!
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I’ve made this twice.
First time, I made it with the chocolate and it came out perfect. Trick is to melt butter on lower medium heat and after all ingredients are in slowly graduate to high for boil.
However, I loved the nuts and didn’t care for the chocolate so I made it without chocolate the second time. Reminds me of fudge with nuts. I added chopped hazelnuts and it’s now a family favorite.
If you stick to the instructions, no need to premix. This is a wonderful recipe.
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