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Fantastic Microwave Oven Toffee

I have followed food blogger Jaclyn of Cooking Classy for many years. Visit her site and click Microwave Caramels for her mother-in-law’s recipe. I have adapted the recipe to suit my needs. I incorporate this toffee into Butterscotchies and Crater Cookies. The story of my inspiration for developing the recipe for my Crater Cookies is featured in the 2022 spring issue of Prairies North Magazine. I hope Jaclyn discovers this post so she knows how much I love this toffee and how often I incorporate it into other recipes. 

My old family recipe for making toffee is similar to this microwaved version. It contains 2 cups brown sugar, ½ pound butter, ¾ cup golden syrup, and 1 tin of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk. It suggests boiling this mixture for about 20 minutes or until the toffee forms threads when dropped into cold water. Pour the resulting toffee onto a buttered baking sheet. Once cool, break the toffee into shards. Although this old recipe is simple enough, I now prefer making Microwave Oven Toffee.  

Microwave Oven Toffee

If you have a candy thermometer, use it for this recipe.

Ingredients:

½ cup butter

½ cup Rogers Golden Syrup

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup sweetened condensed milk 

A pinch of salt

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract 

Sea salt

Method:

Butter an 8 by 8-inch baking dish. I use my silicone folding pan. Set aside.

Place the ½ cup of butter into an 8-cup microwave-safe batter-bowl and heat until melted. 

Add Rogers Golden Syrup, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and a pinch of salt to the melted butter and whisk until well-mixed. 

Microwave mixture on HIGH power for 6 minutes. After 6 minutes, remove from microwave and test the temperature with a candy thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer, drop a small amount of toffee into ice water and remove it. It should still be pliable, not too soft, or too hard. The thermometer should read between 238°F and 242°F. 

Add cooking time in 20-second intervals, if required. The wattage of your microwave makes a difference but so does altitude. I usually find 6 minutes is perfect. 

Once you feel the toffee is cooked, add vanilla extract, and mix well using a whisk.   

Pour the toffee into the buttered pan and sprinkle with sea salt. Place in the refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes or until set. 

Cut toffee into rows of under ½ an inch in width and then cut the rows into 2 or 3 pieces. Wrap the thin rectangles in wax paper and twist the ends. 

I prepare one cup of toffee chips to use in my Crater Cookies, and I set aside 130 grams of toffee to make gluten-free Butterscotchies for my grandson.

I am allergic to soy, and this toffee recipe is soy-free and has paved the way for me to enjoy several new treats. I plan to make Gluten-Free Applescotch Muffins next. Stay tuned for that recipe. 

I store the toffee in the refrigerator. Five minutes on the counter makes it ready for serving. It remains soft and chewy, and my husband enjoys it often. I have now made this recipe over a dozen times.

I hope you try it and that you check out Jaclyn’s Cooking Classy site for other great recipes.  

Maureen's Crater Cookies

Preheat oven to 350° F

The complete story of my inspiration for developing these cookies was featured in my "Eats and Treats" column in the Spring 2022 issue of Prairies North Magazine.

Dry Ingredients:

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Whisk the dry ingredients together

Prepare:

1 cup of toffee chips (Chop home-made toffee or use your favourite brand. Harder toffee may need to be crushed with a mallet.) 

8-ounces, about 2 cups, pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (see note below for toasting)

Moist Ingredients:

½ cup butter 

¼ cup shortening (I use Compliments vegetable shortening)

1¼ cups packed dark brown sugar

Beat butter, shortening, and sugar on medium speed until very light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. 

Add:

2 large eggs

1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Beat in eggs until incorporated with the butter-sugar mixture. Beat in vanilla.

Then, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture, folding in until combined. 

Mix in nuts and toffee, just until blended. Refrigerate for approximately 10 minutes. 

To Bake:

Place scoops of dough 3 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets using a 2-inch scoop. Dampen hands and gently press cookies to flatten. Chilling the dough reduces spreading a little. Some spreading is required to create toffee craters. 

Bake cookies for about 12 to 14 minutes. Serve warm or store up to three days in a cookie tin at room temperature. The cookies become softer with storage, and I like that. Freeze after three days. 

NOTE: To toast pecans, preheat an oven to 350°F. Spread them on an aluminum cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, stirring at 2 or 3-minute intervals. Keep a close eye on the pecans because they burn quickly.  

A Modern Take on Vintage Butterscotchies

Awe, the ever-popular cornflake - Kellogg’s is a name synonymous with pressed, toasted corn, but there are other brands, including some that are gluten-free.  

Butterscotchies are a delicious treat made by coating cornflakes in a toffee mixture. They are easy to make. I am allergic to soy lecithin, an ingredient in most purchased toffee. I found a soy-free recipe for Fantastic Microwave Oven Toffee so that I can partake in this treat too. 

My vintage recipe for Butterscotchies originally called for 2 boxes of Mackintosh Toffee. Over the years, packaging sizes changed. Some years ago, I determined a weight measure for the toffee required in this recipe. 

Recipe Ingredients:

130 grams of the toffee of your choice. I make microwave oven toffee and love the results. 

1 tablespoon of butter or margarine

1 tablespoon milk or milk alternative

2 cups Kellogg’s Corn Flakes or corn flakes of your choice

Melt the toffee, milk, and butter in a double boiler. No cooking is required. 

If you don’t have a double boiler, try to buy or borrow one, but as an alternative, you can melt ingredients in a heat-proof bowl over a pot containing boiling water. You could also melt the ingredients on medium-low in your microwave oven. A Staybowlizer makes one vessel fit another perfectly.

When the toffee mixture has melted, add the cornflakes to the pot.

Stir gently until the cornflakes are entirely coated, then drop small mounds of the mixture by teaspoon onto waxed paper and place in the fridge to harden. One can use a mini-muffin pan to make portions even. If you are using home-made toffee and gluten-free corn flakes, adding the mixture to mini-muffin cups helps hold these treats together. 

These melt-in-your-mouth treats are easy to make and delicious to eat. I often double this recipe. Put them in a tin and hide them because they disappear faster than you can make them.