Peanut butter toffee has a rich, nutty flavour with that winning flavour combination of sweet and salty. They're soft, chewy, and oh so moreish! These caramel-like toffees only take 10 minutes to make and you only need five simple ingredients. Wrap them up individually in brown paper as a treat for someone special, or just scoff them all by yourself!
For more easy homemade sweets, try this classic coconut ice recipe, or these luxurious date balls.
What's to love about this recipe
- One of the quickest toffee recipes out there
- Has that delicious combination of sweet and salty
- It's soft, so therefore 'filling safe'
- Incredibly moreish
- Makes a great gift when wrapped up in baking paper and gifted in a pretty box
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Key ingredient notes and substitutions
Condensed milk - The standard can of condensed milk is around 397g in weight. This can sometimes differ with a few grams depending on the brand, but don't worry about that too much, as long as it's ballpark similar.
Peanut butter - For this recipe we use smooth peanut butter which gives you creamy, velvety toffee.
Butter - You can use either salted or unsalted. There is enough saltiness from the peanut butter to mask the small difference between salted and unsalted butter.
Castor sugar - This toffee does not cook for very long, so it's important to use a fine sugar that will dissolve quickly. Castor sugar is somewhere between the texture of normal granulated sugar and icing sugar. You can also use golden castor sugar, which is like light brown sugar's more refined cousin.
Top tip: You can make your own castor sugar very easily by just whizzing some normal granulated sugar in a food processer. The consistency needs to be somewhere between granulated sugar and icing sugar.
How to make this peanut butter toffee
It does not take very long to make, but timing and constant stirring is of the essence. Ensure you have everything to hand before you start.
Prep:
- Line a small dish with baking paper and leave a slight overhang so it's easier to lift the toffee out later. The dish we use is 14cm x 22cm. It often helps to spray the dish lightly with a cooking spray to help the paper stick to the sides.
- Weigh out the sugar and keep the bowl next to the stove within easy reach.
- Place a heat proof chopping board and an electric hand mixer, plugged in and ready to go near the stove too. Don't use the whipping attachments of your electric hand mixer, just the normal beaters will do.
- Keep your phone to hand so you can time your actions.
How to make the toffee:
- Place a saucepan over a low heat and add the condensed milk, peanut butter, vanilla and butter. Melt the ingredients together.
- As soon as the ingredients are melted, add the castor sugar. Stir together and start the clock for 3 minutes as soon as you can see 'slow' bubbles forming on the side of the pan and the mixture looks like it's slightly pulling away from the walls of the saucepan.
- Stir continuously for 3 minutes. Keep scraping the bottom and the sides of the pan to stop the mixture from sticking. You need to stir quite vigorously.
- After the 3 minutes are up, remove the pan from the heat and onto the heat proof chopping board. Immediately start whisking it on a medium-low speed with an electric hand mixer. Whisk for 3 minutes.
- Scoop the toffee mixture into the lined dish and smooth out the top. Leave to cool to room temperature. Place in the fridge over night.
- Lift the toffee from the dish and place it on a cutting board. Pull away the baking paper. Slice into pieces and wrap each toffee in a piece of baking parchment or wax paper. You can also cut them into larger toffee 'bars'.
Storage
Store the toffee in a properly sealed airtight container. Because they are soft, they're best had within a few days.
If you are not wrapping the toffees individually, place a layer of baking paper between each layer of toffee to prevent them from sticking to each other.
Tips for success
- Timing really is very important for this recipe, so look for the visual clues and DO time yourself for 3 minutes on both the main steps.
- Don't use too large a dish as the toffees might turn out too flat. The dish we use is 14cm x 22cm and 2.5cm in height, so look for something circa that size.
- Leaving the toffee in the fridge overnight gives a great consistency and will make for neat slices when you cut into it. If you want to have the toffee on the same day, start early and leave it in the fridge for at least 6-8 hours.
Recipe

Soft and chewy peanut butter toffee
Ingredients
- 1 can condensed milk - circa 397g
- 140 grams smooth peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 60 grams butter
- 200 grams castor sugar
Instructions
Do the prep
- Line a small baking dish of about 14cm x 22cm with baking paper. Leave a slight overhang which will help to remove the toffee from the dish later
- Weigh out the sugar and keep it next to the stove
- Keep a heat proof chopping board and an electric hand mixer close by
How to make the toffee
- In a saucepan, add the condensed milk, peanut butter, vanilla and butter. Over a low heat, melt all the ingredients together
- As soon as the ingredients are melted, add the castor sugar. Stir together and start the clock for 3 minutes as soon as you can see 'slow' bubbles forming on the side of the pan and the mixture looks like it's slightly pulling away from the walls of the saucepan
- Stir continuously for 3 minutes. Keep scraping the bottom and the sides to stop the mixture from sticking
- After the 3 minutes are up, remove the pan from the heat and onto the heat proof chopping board. Immediately start whisking it on a medium-low speed with an electric hand mixer. Whisk for 3 minutes
- Scoop the toffee mixture into the lined dish and smooth out the top. Leave to cool. Place in the fridge over night
- Lift the toffee from the dish and place it on a cutting board. Pull away the baking paper. Slice into pieces and wrap each toffee in a piece of baking parchment or wax paper
Notes
Nutrition
For food safety advice, including guidance on food allergies
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