English Toffee is a classic, timeless candy for a reason: IT IS DELICIOUS. With this recipe, you’ll have a whole bunch of candy made in as fast as 15 minutes!
Make this to feed a crowd or to assemble for gifts. The recipe makes a lot, and trust me, you don’t want to be home alone with this temptation.
There is nothing healthy about this candy. It is pure indulgence. It’s also a cheap indulgence–you’d pay a lot of money at the store to get this much candy of quality!
This classic candy is deliciously perfect for holiday gatherings and gift-giving! With a cooperative stove, the candy is made in as fast as 15 minutes, and just needs more time to set.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British
Keyword: almond, candy, chocolate, no bake
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
10x15x1-inch jelly roll pan
candy thermometer
uneven spatula
Ingredients
nonstick spray
1cupunsalted butter 2 sticks
1 1/4cupwhite sugar
2Tablespoonswater
1/8teaspoonsalt
3/4cupsalmonds slivered or sliced, divided
1 1/2cupsmilk chocolate chips use medium-sized chips, not gigantic gourmet ones
Maldon sea salt or other fancy salt for top, optional
Instructions
Apply a generous amount of nonstick spray to a 10x15x1-inch jelly roll pan. Measure out the almonds and the chocolate and set them aside in separate dishes.
In a large saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sugar, water, and salt, and continue to stir it as the sugar cooks and dissolves. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce temperature to simmer. Continue to stir frequently for the next 5 to 6 minutes as the mix darkens to the color of a brown paper bag; on a candy thermometer, it should be 300-degrees.
Remove pan from heat. Stir in 1/4 cup of the almonds (meaning there is still 1/2 cup reserved for later). Pour the toffee onto the prepared pan. Use a greased uneven spatula or tilt the pan to carefully spread the candy into an even layer.
Immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips all over the top. Let them sit for a minute or two to soften, then use an uneven spatula to spread the chocolate across the toffee. Promptly sprinkle the remaining almonds over the top. Add Maldon or other fancy flaky salt, if desired.
Cool to room temperature, then chill for a while to completely set. Use hands to break toffee into pieces. Some nuts and chocolate will fall off, but it’s all good.
Store between layers of waxed paper in sealed containers. Keeps for at least 2 weeks.
Last year I shared my recipe for Cookies and Milk Quick Fudge. This new version builds on that with a holiday twist: I used Voortman Bakery’s holiday special Snickerdoodles plus caramel chips!
Old-fashioned stovetop fudge is great. It’s also fussy, prone to crystallize or not set. Quick fudges are no-fuss and just as delicious.
Any time of year, make this using crisp cookies like many from Keebler. For this holiday take, I used Voortman’s Snickerdoodles, but you could also use gingersnaps or other classic favorites and switch out the kind of sweet chips.
Prep the cookies by chopping up a cup and a half. Freeze those bits; it won’t take long. From there, it takes just a few minutes to mix up the fudge.
The hardest part is waiting for the fudge to set for the next few hours. This recipe makes a lot of fudge, but it’s easy to portion out. Slice it small, and keep it sealed and stored in the fridge!
This quick fudge is fast to prepare and ready to eat after a few hours of chilling. Use any variety of crisp, firm store-bought cookies; Keebler cookies are great year-round, or use holiday cookies as in this version. Chop up the cookies and spread them on a wax paper-covered dish to freeze, which won’t take long at all. This recipe makes a lot of fudge, and it can keep for weeks if sealed in the fridge.
1 1/2cupsstore-bought holiday Snickerdoodle cookies chopped and frozen
3cupswhite chocolate chips
14ouncessweetened condensed milk
1/3cupcaramel chips
Instructions
Line an 8×8 or 9×9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray. Set aside.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, heat the white chocolate and sweetened condensed milk in 30 second increments, stirring well after each bout, until it is melted and smoothed. Watch it closely!
Quickly stir in the frozen cookies, and pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle caramel chips on top and tap them into place.
Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Use foil to lift fudge onto a cutting board to slice into small squares. Store in a sealed container in the fridge. Keeps for weeks.
This Apple Calvados Galette is a perfect dessert for one or two people. Plus, it’s rustic and pretty to behold!
Calvados is an apple brandy made in Normandy. The price point of it can vary quite a bit. Feel free to use another kind of apple brandy in the recipe.
The delicious, original aspect of this treat is that you use the calvados to make a quick stovetop jelly that you then coat the apples with at the end of the bake time.
The alcohol flavor doesn’t linger. What you get is a concentrated sweet flavor of apples, right atop the fresh apples.
The baked galette keeps for days wrapped up in foil in the fridge. A quarter slice is the perfect amount for breakfast or dessert, and it’s not anywhere near as bready and dense as a full piece of pie.
This Apple Calvados Galette evokes the yummy goodness of apple pie, but in a more rustic, simple form. This is the perfect dessert for one or two people! If French calvados isn’t available, use another apple brandy.
Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: French
Keyword: alcohol, apple, pie
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
baking sheet
parchment paper
basting brush
Ingredients
Galette
1single-layer pie dough store-bought or homemade
4medium apples such as Gala, Fuji, and Ambrosia
1Tablespoonlemon juice
1/3cupcalvados or other apple brandy
1Tablespooncornstarch
3Tablespoonsbrown sugar packed
1/2teaspoonground cinnamon
Glaze
1Tablespoonpure maple syrup
1Tablespoonmaple sugar or turbinado sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven at 400-degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie crust to about a 10-inch diameter circle. Transfer it to the baking sheet and set in fridge while the other ingredients are prepared.
Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples, placing them in a large bowl. Pour in the lemon juice, calvados, cornstarch, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Toss the apples to coat them completely.
Pull out the chilled crust. Begin to arrange apple slices in the middle, fanning them out and stacking them, but leaving a 2-inch border of dough around the outside. DO NOT DISCARD THE LIQUID IN THE BOWL! Once the apples are arranged, fold the dough over to partially cover the apples.
Start baking the galette for 15 minutes. While that is cooking, pour the leftover liquid into a small pot on medium-high. Stay close to the stove and stir liquid often. As soon as it gels, which is right at right about boiling temperature, remove it from heat. Set aside.
Reduce oven temperature to 350-degrees. Bake galette for another 20 minutes.
Pull out the galette. Drizzle the gel over the exposed apples in the middle of the galette then use basting brush to coat every nook and cranny. Measure out maple syrup. Use same brush (no need to wash it) to coat the top crust, then sprinkle maple sugar or coarse sugar over it to add a crystalline crunch.
Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until apples in middle are fork-tender.
Let cool slightly before cutting–a pizza cutter is ideal. Leftovers can be kept wrapped up in foil in the fridge for days.
The 2020 pumpkin theme ends with a perfect fall treat: Pumpkin Pie Biscotti.
These things are dangerously good, and yes, they really do taste like pumpkin pie–in crisp, crunchy form.
I always keep pumpkin kernels around. I always use them in my Healthy Breakfast Cookies and in other things I make for myself, including salads. Use unsalted ones, if you can, or reduce the salt in the recipe.
Like all biscotti, these are great not simply because they are delicious, but because they should keep quite well if kept in a sealed container.
Enjoy these twice-baked treats with your hot drink of preference and feel appropriately autumnal.
These perfectly-autumn biscotti embody mild flavors of pumpkin and spice. Dip them in a refreshing hot drink for the perfect breakfast or midday snack!
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: biscotti, chocolate, cookies, pumpkin
Author: Beth Cato
Ingredients
4Tablespoonsunsalted butter half stick, softened
2/3cupwhite sugar
1 1/4teaspoonspumpkin pie spice
3/4teaspoonground cinnamon
1 1/2teaspoonsbaking powder
1/2teaspoonsalt
1large egg room temperature
1/2cuppure pumpkin puree
2cupsall-purpose flour
1/2cupunsalted pumpkin kernels also called pepitas
3/4cupsemisweet chocolate
Instructions
Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, blend the butter, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt, until smooth and creamy. Mix in the egg and pumpkin puree. Gradually mix in the flour followed by the pumpkin kernels.
Divide dough in half. Place each piece spaced out on parchment. Dough will be very sticky, so shape with plastic spatula or greased or floured hands into 1-inch high flat rectangular logs.
Bake biscotti for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes. Use a long bread knife and slice down--don't saw--into long, even cookies. Space out cookies upright, if possible, or lay on sides.
Bake for another 25 minutes; if cookies are laying on sides, flip them to other side halfway through. Set out on stove or counter to cool and dry for several hours.
Melt chocolate in microwave or using a double-boiler on the stove. Drizzle chocolate over the ends of the biscotti and set again on parchment to set.
Store biscotti in sealed containers at room temperature for days or weeks.