BUTTERY CHOCOLATE TOFFEE November 14, 2008

Anyone out there old enough to remember “Got a Nickel? Butter Brickle!”?  If you do, then you  probably also remember Black Jack gum,  Nut Goodies, and Mallo Cups.  A tiny bit of Googling just informed me that Butter Brickle candy bars were originally made in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which could explain why I get so many blank stares when I mention my old favorite.  The Fenn Bros. Ice Cream and Candy company of Sioux Falls sold the formula to the makers of Heath bar in the 1970’s.  This explains their uncanny similarity.  HOWEVER, to the toffee connoisseur  which I  apparently believe I am, there is a difference.  Heath bars have nuts in the toffee; Butter Brickle did not.  Heath bars are slightly thicker than Butter Brickle was.  This is an amazing amount of detail coming from a woman who consistently forgets why she has entered a room! 

This diatribe about Butter Brickle candy bars is just my way of introducing a recipe for something JUST as good as Butter Brickle AND Heath Bars!!  AND it is very easy to make.  It is a great candy to put in little boxes for small gifts for those people on your list who you want to remember, but don’t know well enough to buy something personal. 

Again, thanks to Grandma Alice who discovered this recipe!  It is slightly thinner even than my old Butter Brickle bar, and has pecans sprinkled on the chocolate covering.  Don’t care for nuts?  Have too many in your family already?  They are optional, obviously.

This recipe is not nearly so temperamental as my previous, somewhat frightening, recipe for chocolate frosting. (“See Cream Puffs aka Eclairs”)  It is one of those things that you make that AMAZES people, despite how easy and fast and nearly foolproof it is!  I like that in a recipe, don’t you? 

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter, slightly softened and cut into pieces

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds or NOTHING

1/4 tsp salt

I do not recommend that you double this recipe, unless you have a cookie sheet the size of a pool table to spread it on to cool.  It cooks quickly anyway, so making several batches is not that time-consuming. 

Combine sugar and butter and salt in 2 quart sauce pan.  Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees, or until a small amount of candy dropped into cold water forms brittle strands.  (It will be about the same color as a Kraft caramel)

Immediately pour the hot candy on cookie sheet lined with parchment (or wax) paper.  Spread with back of a large spoon until it is evenly spread across the cookie sheet.  It will be pretty thin, much like my beloved Butter Brickle. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over the hot candy. Let the chips fall where they may (HA!)  and let set for about 5 minutes when they will begin to melt.  Spread melted chocolate evenly over candy and sprinkle with chopped nuts of your choice (or not).

When candy is completely cooled, break into irregular pieces.  You will be heaped with undeserved praise for making this candy, but consider it compensation for all the times you made something terribly difficult that no one appreciated.  See, feel better now?  It works for me.