Toffee vs. Caramel: What Are the Differences?

Toffee is a hard candy that combines the classic cooked sugar sweetness of caramel with the richness of butter. Technically, toffee is butterscotch—a combination of butter and sugar—cooked to what’s known as the hard-crack stage in confectionery: over 300 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. (By contrast, smooth, pourable butterscotch only reaches the soft-crack stage, at a slightly lower temperature range of 220–290 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Confectioners make English toffee—a popular variation that is American in origin—with brown sugar, resulting in a soft, buttery crunch. Traditional toppings for this confection include a thin layer of chocolate or chocolate chips and chopped nuts like pecans, walnuts, or almonds.

To make toffee, combine butter, sugar, and water in a large pot like a saucier. Cook, stirring the mixture frequently until the butter has melted and the sugar begins to turn golden brown. Once the mixture reaches the hard-crack stage on a candy thermometer, remove it from the heat and pour it onto a piece of parchment paper or silicone baking mat–lined rimmed baking sheet.

Allow the toffee to cool to room temperature, then transfer it to the refrigerator to cool completely. Break or cut the confection into pieces and serve.

Caramel is a confection primarily made from white sugar, along with ingredients such as heavy cream, vanilla extract, or sea salt. The term “caramel” refers to a range of treatments, from the very loose sauce that you can drizzle over cheesecakes and ice cream sundaes to the chewy candy coating on caramel apples or the filling for chocolate truffles.

The texture of caramel depends on the temperature: The higher the temperature, the more set the caramel mixture will be.

In the caramel-making world, there are two main categories: dry caramel (solely made from sugar) and wet caramel (a combination of sugar, water, cream, and other ingredients like corn syrup). Making a dry caramel involves heating sugar until it caramelizes while preventing the formation of sugar crystals by adding ingredients like corn syrup that impede this process, brushing down the sides of the pot with water while the sugar cooks, or constantly swirling and stirring the candy.

To make a simple wet caramel, combine white sugar, water, and salt in a large pot, like a saucier, over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then let it cook mostly undisturbed, occasionally swirling, until the mixture turns golden brown. Add heavy cream, and lower the heat slightly, then continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture registers 230 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. Remove the caramel from the heat and add flavorings, like vanilla extract. Let the mixture cool completely in a heat-proof container, and store it in the refrigerator between uses.

Though they share many of the same flavor compounds and applications, there are a few key differences between toffee and caramel:

• Flavor: Caramel often contains cream, which has a much higher lactose content than butter, the secondary ingredient in toffee. When this lactose cooks, it undergoes the Maillard browning process, resulting in a deeply nutty flavor, similar to dulce de leche. Toffee shares some of these nutty, browned-butter flavor notes but is often milder.
• Ingredients: Toffee consists of sugar and butter, while caramel comprises sugar, water, and cream—or just sugar.
• Temperature: Confectioners cook toffee to the hard-crack stage, around 310 degrees Fahrenheit, resulting in its signature craggy shards. They cook caramel to various temperatures depending on how they plan to use it. Confectioners may heat a classic caramel sauce to around 225 to 230 degrees Fahrenheit while opting to cook dry caramel to an even higher temperature.

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