Sugar Free Toffee Candy
Homemade keto toffee is so easy but so satisfying. It looks and tastes like the expensive bark in fancy chocolate shops. My buttery walnut sugar free toffee candy has only 5 ingredients plus salt and takes minutes. Even if you’ve never made candy before you can make this.
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99% of the time I make a recipe because there is something I want to eat. I love food. Since I don’t have any healthy candy in the house I had to make something yummy (before I cave into the Snickers bars in the grocery check out).
When I first shared this back in 2016, I had my Facebook followers vote on which post I should share immediately and this one won by a landslide. I’m not surprised because it is so good I hid this homemade low carb English toffee recipe in the back of the fridge. And made another dessert for a party so I didn’t have to share these.
Ingredients
Sweetener – I use a blend of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia in my recipes. Using either xylitol or erythritol on their own should work as well but I don’t test all the possible combinations. Candies can be tricky so I do recommend using the sweetener listed in this.
Cream – Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream are needed for this recipe.
Butter – I use salted butter. The bit of salt in the butter helps balance the sweetness of the candy.
Nuts – Walnuts are the nut I use most often in this recipe but any nut will work.
Chocolate – Choose a sugar-free milk, semisweet, or dark chocolate that melts easily. 85% dark chocolate can also be used.
How to Make Keto Toffee
Toffee is fairly easy to make. If you’ve ever made any kind of cooked candy before you can make this!
First Step: You cook the sweetener, cream, and butter until it is thickened and golden brown. I add the nuts in the cooking stage so they get toasted right in the caramel. Pour the toffee on a greased foil lined pan.
Expert Tip: Cooking the sugar free toffee to the perfect point can be tricky! I highly recommend watching the video in this post before making this. It is only 1 minute long and very helpful!
Second Step: Cool the keto English toffee until it firms up, then pour on the melted chocolate.
Third Step (optional): If you want chocolate on both sides chill the toffee and then flip it over. Peel off the foil and cover the second side with more melted chocolate.
Fourth Step: Cut into squares and eat your toffee candy!
Storing Homemade Toffee
You can store sugar free toffee at room temperature for a day or two. At room temperature, it will be softer and more caramelly. For it to get crisp like a real English toffee chill it. You can see the difference between my video and photos. In the video, the toffee was room temperature. In these photos, it has been chilled first.
Tips for Making Sugar Free Toffee
I have had readers simplify this by putting the melted sugar free chocolate in a muffin tin with aluminum liners. Chill the chocolate, put the warm toffee on top, chill again, and then top with more chocolate. You get cute little circles that way and don’t need to flip the toffee over or cut it. That method can also help with portion control.
Substitutions & Tweaks
This basic combination of cream, butter, and sweetener can be used to make all varieties of keto toffee.
Nuts: Any type of nuts work! We love this with pecans. With pecans, it tastes like cracker toffee aka Christmas crack. Almonds, macadamia nuts, and cashews are all great choices. Make it with peanuts and it tastes like snickers!
Coffee: Mix in a teaspoon of instant coffee when you add the final tablespoon of cream for a mocha flavor.
Seeds: If you can’t have nuts pepitas (pumpkin seeds) give a nice crunch in place of the walnuts.
White Chocolate: Now that sugar-free white chocolate chips are more readily available go ahead and try some in place of the dark chocolate!
Cranberries: Add in some sugar-free dried cranberries with the last tablespoon of the heavy cream. They give a nice, tart contrast to the sweetness of the toffee.
Video
Keto Toffee
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp butter
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or nuts of your choice
- 5 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- pinch salt
- 7 oz sugar free or very dark chocolate***
Instructions
- Line a small baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Melt butter over low medium until it starts to turn golden. Add nuts and cook for about five minutes until they are slightly toasted. Add 4 tbsp of the cream and the sweetener. Cook until thickened and golden. This takes about 10 minutes. If it doesn’t seem to be thickening you can turn up the heat to medium or medium high but stir constantly. It can burn quickly. Remove immediately from the heat and add the salt and reserved cream. Stir until smooth. Pour onto the foil lined tray and refrigerate until firm to the touch (about half an hour).
- Melt the chocolate. I do this in a glass bowl in the microwave stirring every thirty seconds. Add sweetener if needed. Pour half of the chocolate on top of the toffee. Put in the freezer for a few minutes until the chocolate is solid. Flip over the toffee bark and peel off the foil. Put the foil back on the tray and put the toffee on the chocolate side down. Pour the rest of the chocolate on top. Refrigerate or freeze until firm.
- The filling stays soft like caramel at room temperature but hardens like a toffee overnight or after refrigerating.
Notes
Nutrition
Looking for other easy keto candy recipes? Try my:
Salted Chocolate Almond Brittle Bark
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Bark
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bark
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Originally Published August 19, 2016. Revised and Republished with video October 3, 2020.
I couldn’t open the video which you recommend viewing.
Hi Sandra, I’m working on fixing this. In the meantime here it is on youtube: https://youtu.be/dkBzH5iWqCQ?si=XVf177hj3X0YdilQ
could you use allulose?
I’m not sure if allulose will work for this, sorry. Candies can be tricky and I can’t possibly test all the sweetener options in every recipe.
Will Lakanto monkfruit sweetener with erythritol (golden) work? If so how much?
Yes, if you scroll through the comments I have had readers use that successfully.
It could be because I live at a higher altitude. The first time, it tasted yummy, but never really set up. I had to keep it in the fridge to have any kind of firm consistency. The second time, it burned before it even hit a soft crack stage. It was awful. Can you give me any pointers for cooking at 6300 feet?
I’m sorry but I can’t personally. I live almost at sea level. You might find this guide helpful though: https://www.thespruceeats.com/adjusting-candy-temperatures-for-high-altitude-cooking-520317
Years ago, I used to make toffee. When I lived in Illinois, where I learned to make it, I had few if any problems. However, upon moving tomIdaho with a higher elevation, I had to add more time.
So good nobody would guess it’s keto! warning: addictive.
recipe won’t print
Which browser are you using? They work fine in Chrome.
I used Lakanto golden monk fruit sweetener and they turned out really good. The bark is crunchy and hard like it should be. The only thing I can say is the chocolate separated from the bark when I cut it, but not a big issue . Overall I think they turned out great.
One of my favorites! So delicious!
Super easy I love this and add a lot of nuts
This recipe was outstanding.
Super creamy with toasted nut flavor and delicious chocolate.
I used 3/4 cup swerve brown sugar plus 1/4 cup bocha sweet in the toffee, pecans and almonds. Couldn’t tell it was sugar free. I added 3 teaspoons of Bocha Sweet to the chocolate chips and a tiny bit of whipping cream.
Amazing.
I can’t tolerate either xylitol or erythritol (severe stomach cramps for days). Can I use Monk fruit instead? If so, how much would I use?
Most monk fruit blends are primarily erythritol. Pure monk fruit powder (very concentrated, like stevia) would not work.
Just made this recipe and it turned out great! I make toffee every year using regular sugar. My husband loves toffee but is diabetic. I used the ingredients in this recipe except for the sugar substitute; I used Truvia Sweet Complete. It measures cup for cup like regular sugar and is great for baking. I also used a candy thermometer so I could tell when I reached 300° which is the temperature you need this kind of candy to get to. Basically I cooked it just like I cooked regular toffee. I’m really pleased how it turned out!
just made this with half lakanto half stevia and added a tad of vanilla. thickened nicely. it’s setting up now. definitely a cooling sensation when I licked the spoon haha I’m going to use a mix of different chocolate chips. I’m tempted to throw a few Lilly’s butterscotch or pumpkin spice in. lol
Followed it exactly. I halved the sweetener as suggested because I used Pyure. Wouldn’t thicken and turns dark too fast so it wasn’t going to thicken. Waste of stevia and nuts.
Bethany, I’m sorry a sweetener substitution didn’t work for you. Candy recipes are tricky. That is why I have this in the note section: “Substitutions may not work in this recipe! I do not test all these options. If you want to try another sweetener it is helpful to read through the comments.”
Hi Taryn: Your website blows me away. I love it. Anyway, I haven’t tried your keto English Toffee yet, but I will. I have a burning question. Can you figure out a way of making sugar-free Sponge candy or Sponge Toffee? The authentic recipe is normally 1 cup of white sugar, 1 cup of corn syrup. Then cooked to 300 or 310 degrees on stove, then immediately remove from stove and add a tsp. of baking soda. Stir very little and then pour it on a wooden slab. Let cool and enjoy. There is no one who has tried to make this sugar free. I wonder if you could try it on your English Toffee recipe. I am diabetic and cannot have this white sugar and especially corn syrup. If you could succeed in making this sugar free sponge candy (not sponge cake). you will take the country by storm. Thank you. You may publish this post. LM
Thanks for the idea Lawrence! I’ll give that a try.