Toffee

Skip the fuss of individual servings; this sheet cake sticky toffee pudding is cozier, easier, and, dare we say, far more festive.

Prepare for these toffee-and-chocolate-laced brown butter cookies to ruin you for all others.

We helped our snickerdoodles get party-ready by upping the spices and adding texture with toffee, cornflakes, and a sparkly finish.

Our favorite thing about banoffee pie isn’t the bananas, toffee, or whipped cream. It’s that you can make it without turning on the oven.

These gooey, blondie-like English toffee squares are grandmother-approved.

For those who like their baked goods chunky and nutty, these cupcakes, inspired by the popular bar cookies, are nearly bursting with cashews, butterscotch chips, and toffee bits. If you can’t find toffee bits, chop a small chocolate-covered toffee bar, such as Skor or Heath, to use instead.

Brown butter is simply butter that has been cooked until it takes on a delicious, subtle nutty flavor and aroma—which explains its French name, beurre noisette, or “hazelnut butter.” Be sure to keep an eye on it as it cooks, to avoid burning.

These scrumptious bar cookies are dense with plenty of cashew chunks, toffee bits, and butterscotch chips.

My cousin Vera sent me this recipe from Ann (Mrs. Dan) K. Lucy, a regular at the Elderville Cemetery Association’s annual homecoming picnic held on the grounds of the modest East Texas church where my great-great-grandparents met. It did not look promising. How could a layer of common graham crackers with butter, sugar, nuts, and toffee tossed on top amount to much? Then I made them—and repented. (My sincerest apologies to Mrs. Lucy.) I have taken this confection to several potlucks and have yet to escape without someone (or two or even three fellow guests) begging me for the recipe. I have made them a day in advance and been unable to resist snacking on them—just a few at a time, mind you—so that by the time they arrived at their intended destination their numbers were severely diminished. These crisp little squares are divine, seriously addictive, and making them is almost as easy as dropping dollar bills into the church-offering basket.

Onions, garlic, winter squash, and silken tofu are all enveloped in the familiar flavor of potatoes, making this a wonderful vehicle for getting a lot of nourishing ingredients into younger (or fussier) soup eaters.

Cake and ice cream in one easy-to-prepare dessert — no baking required. You can make it up to two days before the celebration.

Terrific with cappuccino or ice-cold milk.

English toffee enhances both the cake and topping of this delicious treat.