Happy National Buttercrunch Day! I knew I loved this stuff, but had no idea what it was actually called. I’ve just been happily eating it whenever Christmas snack packages would arrive at work from clients. Even better? It’s super easy to make, so you can have it all year 'round. So, if you like chocolate, toffee, and nuts, what are you waiting for? Get stirring and chopping, friends!
Buttercrunch
1 cup salted butter + 1 tbsp
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp light corn syrup + 2 tbsp warm water, whisked
1.5 cups whole salted, roasted almonds
3 tbsp blanched sliced almonds, lightly toasted
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Grease a baking sheet with the tbsp of butter and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt 1 cup of butter over low heat.
Meanwhile, pulse half of the whole almonds until diced fine (or chop with a knife). Note: you’ll want to fish out the chopped almonds and put them in one bowl and keep the smaller dust in a separate bowl. Continue this process until you have ¾ cups of chopped almonds.
Then using all but 3 tbsp remaining almonds**, process the remaining almonds in a food processor until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Set the fine crumbs aside in a small bowl
Once the butter has melted, add the sugar, increase the heat to medium and stir constantly for about 4 minutes, until dissolved. Add the corn syrup/water mixture and stir to incorporate. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir continuously until the mixture reaches 310 degrees. Note: start monitoring the temperature when you see dark streaks appear in the mixture while stirring (this will occur around 270 degrees). The mixture will bubble up as you stir, this is normal.
When the mixture reaches 310 degrees, turn off the heat and quickly stir in the chopped almonds. Immediately transfer the mixture to your greased baking sheet, ensuring it spreads out evenly and thinly (about ¼ inch thick). It may not fill the entire baking sheet - this is fine. Then, top with the chocolate and let sit for 4 minutes to melt.
**Pulse the remaining 3 tbsp almonds into large chunks, about 8-10 pulses and set aside.
Using a butter knife, or offset spatula, spread the melted chocolate across the top of the toffee. Sprinkle on about half of the almond dust. Then top with the remaining chopped almonds and toasted sliced almonds. Lightly press the nuts into the chocolate and dust with remaining almond crumbs.
Let sit for about an hour or so until it cools completely and solidifies. You can set in the refrigerator for 25 minutes, as an alternative, but it works bets to let the cooling occur naturally. Use a chef's knife to chop into various sized pieces. ___________________________________ Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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