Scrumptious (and Easy) Toffee

I'm proud of this one because I used all intuition, no directions. Thursday evening I had a hankering for something sweet but was too lazy to go to the store, so into the pantry I went. Being out of eggs rendered all my baking recipes useless, so I had to do something with sugar, butter, nuts, and chocolate.

I've watched the show Chopped enough times to have a basic idea of what I wanted to do, so I just decided to wing it! Here's how it went:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 cups granulated white sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tablespoon Maldon salt
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, or chocolate of choice
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves, toasted then roughly chopped
• A few drops of canola oil

Process:

1. Start the chocolate in a double boiler, stirring periodically at first then more frequently as it melts. Once the chocolate is all melted, add the canola oil and continue to stir periodically until ready to use.
2. Over medium heat, add all the sugar to a medium saucier. Stir frequently until the sugar has melted and is in a liquid state, about 5-10 minutes depending on your stove top, pans, and altitude.
1. THE SUGAR WILL BE VERY HOT, USE CAUTION
3. Once the sugar is in a liquid state, add the vanilla, butter, and pecans, stirring well after the addition of each ingredient.
4. Once the mixture is a very smooth liquid with no lumps and BEFORE IT BURNS transfer it to a parchment paper-lined pan with at least a half inch lip (to contain the toffee).
5. Sprinkle with Maldon salt immediately, then drizzle with melted chocolate, spreading with a rubber spatula to create a textured, rustic top.
6. Cool for several hours at room temperature or for one hour in the refrigerator, then chop into pieces of the desired size.

Overall I feel that this is a great recipe and was a great jumping off point, but here is what I will do better next time:

• Do some research to see how I can incorporate cream, and
• Research how exactly to induce the best possible texture (velvety and smooth) in the toffee.