Healthy Pecan Almond Toffee

Making toffee that is actually healthy for you is doable, thanks to this Healthy Pecan Almond Toffee recipe from Jackie @ Jackie's Kitchen. By using a number of ingredient substitutions, this toffee recipe is both healthy and delicious.

Jackie says, "Toffee is a sophisticated candy—crunchy (or sometimes chewy), sweet, and often loaded with fun add-ins like nuts, dried fruit, or chocolate. With toffee’s high sugar content, and in some cases high fat content, though, it leaves a little something to be desired nutritionally. This version swaps corn syrup for brown rice syrup, a sweetener derived from brown rice and found in health food stores and larger supermarket chains. The butter is reduced and almond flour is used as a base to boost protein and fiber content and add a bit of chew. Pecans and a small handful of chocolate chips round these delightful candies out. Enjoy them for the holidays or any time of year!"

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup brown rice syrup
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray, or, if using a silicone baking pan, simply lightly grease it if necessary.
    
2. Whisk together the almond flour, brown sugar, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until crumbly, and then stir in the pecans. Press the mixture in the baking pan and bake for about 15 minutes.
    
3. Meanwhile, combine the brown rice syrup, butter, and coconut milk in a medium saucepan over very low heat. Stir until the butter has melted, and the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture over the almond flour mixture in the pan—the syrup mixture will appear to mix up/disturb the almond flour mixture in the pan and this is fine. Just gently jiggle the pan to distribute the syrup mixture and return the pan to the oven.
    
4. Let the mixture bake until bubbly and caramel colored, 25 minutes or so, but do keep an eye on it, checking regularly. It will seem soft and gooey, but will harden upon cooling. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack. Sprinkle the mixture with the chocolate chips and let them melt for about five minutes. Then, spread them with the back of a spoon over the toffee mixture and place the pan in the refrigerator.
    
5. After about 2 hours, the toffee should be set and hard. Remove the pan from the refrigerator, turn it over to allow the toffee to slide out, and then break it into bite-sized pieces.
    
6. Store the toffee in an air-tight container, preferably in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Notes

Prep and cooking time: approximately 1 hour total active time, 2 hours down time; serves many

Recipe courtesy of Jackie, food blogger for “Jackie's Kitchen” (http://visualcookbook.blogspot.com/)

For more recipes from Jackie, be sure to check out her Featured Foodies profile page.