Hazelnut Toffee Bites

Mae Copenhagen’s Toffee is famous in many circles. Rich and crunch with a rich deep nut flavor. There are many holiday confections, but very few stands up to Mae’s toffee.


The making of toffee in my family is a long held tradition and great care and pride is taken in passing on the tradition. If anyone would like to learn, I’m happy to share the recipe/ techniques and tips; in fact I’m sure any of my aunts, uncles, cousins or siblings would be happy to share their secrets in making delicious hazelnut toffee. Or, if you are lucky you can place an order for a delicious batch.  With that said, I’ve been inspired to branch out.

This year I decided to try a different version of hazelnut toffee. This recipe is for individually coated hazelnuts in toffee, coated in chocolate and rolled in grated nuts.

Hazelnut Toffee Bites

1lb whole raw hazelnuts
1lb butter
3 tbsp. water
2 cups sugar
4oz. bitter sweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350. Toast the hazelnuts until fragrant. As a general rule, once you smell the nuts they are just about ready to burn. Now is not the time to go start the laundry, you’ll burn them.

Take one ¼ cup of the toasted whole hazelnuts and grate them in a food processor. Set aside for coating the toffee later.

In a heavy pan over medium heat add the butter, water and sugar. Stir the mixture continuously until it takes on the color of finished toffee. When the toffee takes on a dark rich color and whiffs of smoke start to lift from the toffee add the whole hazelnuts.

Pour the mixture through a course strainer onto a silpat or sheet pan. Use a wooden spoon to push the toffee through the mesh. After a major portion of the toffee has passed through the strainer , empty the toffee coated nuts onto another silpat. Working quickly, pull the nuts into individual pieces. I recommend pulling on a pair of latex gloves and going to work.

In a large glass bowl melt the chocolate for coating the toffee coated hazelnuts. I recommend breaking the chocolate into pieces and microwaving the chocolate for 25 seconds. Stir the chocolate and microwave again for 25 seconds if it is not fully melted. Don’t over microwave the chocolate or it will seize up and become grainy.

Working in small batches coat the toffee coated hazelnuts in chocolate and then roll them in the grated toasted hazelnuts. Let the toffee nuts cool before packaging.