Treacle toffee recipe

Treacle toffee is ready to share in 50 minutes and is perfect for bonfire night or Halloween celebrations. 

The combination of black treacle and dark brown sugar gives this treacle toffee a gorgeous dark colour and a delicious rich flavour. It’s not as sweet as classic toffee but has deep caramel notes. It’s a very traditional sweet for Guy Fawkes Night and is sometimes called plot toffee, or claggum in Scotland.

Ingredients

• 350g salted butter, softened
• 200g black treacle
• 425g dark brown muscovado sugar
• 397g can condensed milk

Method

1. Gently melt the butter, treacle, sugar and milk in a large saucepan, stirring occasionally. If you stir too often you risk the sugar crystallizing which will result in a grainy treacle toffee.
2. Once the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth turn up the heat to high and boil to 130C, stirring so the mixture doesn’t catch and burn on the bottom.
3. Once your toffee mixture has reached 130C, pour into a 24cm x 32 cm baking dish lined with buttered greaseproof paper and leave to sit for 10 minutes before putting in the fridge to set.
4. Once set, bash with a rolling pin to break up and serve, or alternatively pop into little bags as gifts for friends.

Watch how to make treacle toffee

Top tips for making treacle toffee

Once you’ve finished making treacle toffee, it’s best to clean the pan and thermometer straight away. Simply fill the pan with water and bring to the boil until the sugar lifts and dissolves. You should then be able to clean the pan with hot soapy water. Repeat if some bits remain.

If you'd prefer neat pieces of toffee, when it is cool but not completely set, use an oiled knife to score the toffee into squares. Don't cut all the way through. Once set you'll be able to snap into pieces. Continue reading for more treacle toffee tips. 

For the best results we recommend using a sugar thermometer such as this one from Tala so you can accurately read the temperature of the toffee. 

Tala Jam Thermometer - View at Amazon 

Read temperatures of 40C all the way up to 200C with this handy thermometer. It’s simple to use and clean and has a strong handle so it’s easy to take in and out of the pan. 

For more seasonal inspiration and Halloween food ideas, check out our adorable Rice Krispie pumpkins. We also have some ideas for what to do with leftover pumpkin to ensure nothing goes to waste!