Dark Chocolate Sea Salted Toffee vs Best Toffee Ever

I have to say that I live on the best street ever.  All of my neighbors are friends with each other and we all look out for one another.  Let me also say, there are A LOT of summer parties on this street.  We always do a cul-de-sac party for actual holiday's but in between all of that we usually have a party at someone's house.  It's so nice, they are almost all child friendly and we just hang out in the back yards or the driveways and play corn-hole.  It's so much fun!

I was at a party this past weekend and intended to make toffee.  OK, so I started out making this recipe and continued on to make the one below, simply because I wasn't sure this one was turning out well.  I wanted a backup plan in case it didn't taste good.

One thing I noticed about this recipe was that when I poured it into the baking sheet after cooking, there  was a layer of unincorporated butter on top.  Also, the toffee didn't look smooth like I think it should.  After it cooled it still had excess butter on top, I poured that off.

Maybe I didn't stir it often enough while cooking? Not sure.

Anyway, I kept on to the finished product and tasted it, expecting that I might have to throw it away.  Luckily the taste and texture were still right on.  This toffee was much thinner than the one below simply because I only have one rimmed cookie sheet and this one was already using that pan - so the one below had to go in a smaller pan and therefore the toffee was thicker.

After taking both to the party, having multiple people test them both, it was sort of a tie with taste.  I happened to like the one below a little better but other's liked that this one was thinner. I'm not going to lie, if I need to make toffee again I'll make the one below only I'll use a large pan.  Both were good but I liked the texture of the one below better.

Dark Chocolate Sea Salted Toffee

Recipe from Bread & Wine page 196

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 tsp coarse sea salt

Cooking Directions

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet (a 9x13 inch dish works well)  with parchment paper, set aside.
2. In a saucepan, combine the butter and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Keep stirring until it turns a deep amber color. Temperature should be 285º
3. Remove from the heat and pour into the prepared baking sheet.
4. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or until cool and solid to the touch.
5. Melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler. When smooth pour it over the toffee and spread it with a spatula.
6. Sprinkle with sea salt, refrigerate until cooled and solid.
7. Break into pieces.

VS

This toffee was the winner for me but not for everyone.  I don't think it helped that this one was pretty thick.  People prefer the thinner kind but as far as taste and texture go, I liked this one better. 

Much better consistency while cooking, didn't get the butter pooling butter as I did above.  The recipe should be poured into a rimmed baking sheet such as a jelly roll pan because there is a lot more of it.  I used a 9x13 inch dish which was fine but the toffee is much thicker. 

I sprinkled on the chocolate chips right after I poured the mixture into the pan and found that they sunk into the mixture a little.  Next time I will either wait until it's cooled slightly or I will wait until it's solid and cold and then melt the chips separately and spread on top. 

I had no problem breaking the toffee even though it was pretty thick.  The toffee is very buttery, crunchy, exactly what I like in toffee.  The perfect texture.  I'm not a toffee expert by any means but this one was my favorite of the two. 

Best Toffee Ever  

Recipe from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup almonds, chopped (optional)

Cooking Directions

1. Line a large rimmed baking dish with parchment paper or tin foil. 
2. In a large saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and salt.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat until it reaches 285º, stirring occasionally. 
3. Remove from the heat and pour into the prepared pan. Let sit for about 5 minutes. 
4. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and use a spatula to smooth them over the top. 
5. If using almonds, sprinkle those over the top and press into the chocolate slightly. 
6. Refrigerate until completely cool and set. 
7. Break into pieces and serve.