Almond Toffee Recipe

Sometimes, there's something so good and it's so simple to make. But when you eat it, you think, "Wow, this is some fancy good stuff. I could never make this. It must be very complicated."

This is how I've long felt about toffee. It's so delicious. Entire companies have built fortunes upon it. Think about Heath Bars, Skor, Almond Roca and all its variants. Surely little old me can't possibly make this stuff.

WRONGO. And I've got 7 extra holiday pounds on my ass to prove it!

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 stick of butter
• chopped nuts (I like almonds or pecans. You can use whatever you like)
• chocolate chips (milk chocolate seem to work best with this, but I like semi-sweet)

1. Evenly spread chopped nuts in the bottom of a round cake pan.
   
2. Melt butter.
3. Add brown sugar.
4. Stir until it boils, then lower heat to a gentle simmer and stir constantly for 7 minutes. (You'd think all this stirring would burn enough calories to offset your toffee consumption, but you'd be wrong.)
5. Pour entire contents of pan onto nuts.
6. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, then dot the top with some of the chips -- about a handful. Cover with a plate or pan to use the heat from the toffee to melt the chips.
   
7. When the chips are shiny, spread them out with a knife like you're frosting the toffee.
8. Allow to cool, then take a sharp knife and poke it all over the toffee to break it into chunks.