Chewy Toffee

Dear Lauren,

What do I love more than anything? More than anything that's not living?! Yes, that's right. Rolos. And I try not to buy them too often because I have absolutely NO self-control when they're here.

Oh, there's a pack of Rolos in the house? Nope, they're gone. Oh, they're a bag of Rolos in the house?? There was yesterday! 


I don't like to admit this.

And I know you don't understand it, Lauren. You don't even like sweets! Imagine Rolos are lasagana...or Dad's mac and cheese.

I am well known for my love of Rolos. So when I was planning my Christmas baking, I decided to make a homemade version. Homemade Rolos. Can you imagine? Well, these are not homemade Rolos at all. But they are fantastic!

Some recipes just start out as one thing and turn into quite another. This is one of those recipes. Yes, I had the chocolate out. But I never used it. These chewy toffees are wonderful on their own. And they're really pretty in a bowl or placed on a guest's pillow when you do their turndown service. Oh, you don't do turn-down service for your guests? I guess that's a subject for another day!

Chewy Toffee

1 cup butter, plus extra for lightly greasing your dish

1 cup sugar

1 cup dark corn syrup

1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

You will need a candy thermometer, aluminum foil, and an 8"x 8" dish.

Lightly grease the 8"x 8" dish with butter and then line that dish with aluminum foil. Make sure you press out all of the creases carefully with your fingers. Then lightly grease the aluminum foil with butter. Set aside.

Add the first three ingredients to a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat. Let cook without stirring for 7 minutes. Add the condensed milk and stir it in. Bring the mixture to a boil and affix the candy thermometer to the side of your saucepan and cook, stirring constantly for about 11 1/2 minutes or until the mixture reached 245 degrees. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour the mixture into the  8"x 8" dish and let stand for 8 hours at room temperature.

Pull the candy from the dish and remove the aluminum foil. If you didn't press out the creases well enough, the foil won't remove easily as seen in the photo to the right. (Yes, this was about 1/4 of my chewy toffee! Don't be like me!) Cut the toffee into 1/2- inch strips and then into 1/2- inch squares.

Cut parchment paper into 3 1/2- inch by 5- inch pieces and wrap each piece of toffee individually. The toffee makes a great gift.

Love,

P.S. I couldn't wait for another day. Let's talk about turndown service. Small to medium-sized children really love to help out with this. It's so easy and your guests feel pampered. Simply go to the guest room when the guest is not there and turn down the bedding so it's ready for them to jump in. And leave a wrapped homemade candy on their pillow. That's it!

P.P.S. These chewy toffees work perfectly for turndown service. We also like to leave Rockin Rolos and I will wrote up a recipe for you very soon so you can too!