Bonfire Toffee (Treacle Toffee) & Bonfire Toffee Lollipops

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Bonfire toffee (also known as Treacle Toffee or Plot Toffee) is traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night when the UK celebrates the downfall of Guy Fawkes and his Gunpowder Plot. Rich, buttery and deliciously dark, this treacle toffee recipe also makes a great Halloween treat.

This post was first published in October 2017 and updated August 2020

A tray of Treacle Toffee (Bonfire Toffee) broken into chunks

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I’ve finally got my act together and perfected a recipe for traditional Bonfire Toffee (aka Treacle Toffee). I’ve been working on this recipe very intermittently for 2 years now.

My attempts last year were great tasting, but I hadn’t quite mastered the distinctive hard structure to make it true Treacle Toffee. The stuff worthy of serving up on Bonfire Night.

But I’ve got the recipe perfected now and I’m coming at you laden with handy tips, trays of Treacle Toffee begging to be shattered and some dinky little Treacle Toffee Lollipops.

Bonfire Toffee (Treacle Toffee) lollipops

What is Bonfire Toffee?

The Bonfire Toffee of my childhood memories is a form of hard candy made from brown sugar, golden syrup and black treacle (molasses).

It is as hard as rock and great fun to whack with a toffee hammer or rolling pin to shatter into irregular, shiny & beautiful chunks of deep, treacly delight.

Bonfire Toffee being broken up with a pestle

When I asked my Mum for the recipe for the toffee from my childhood a few years back, she looked at me blankly. Apparently, the toffee was always brought along to our family Bonfire Night parties by my lovely Gran. Sadly, my Mum had never seen the treacle toffee recipe herself, so could not pass it on.

Undeterred, I began hunting around for potential recipes for the stuff my Gran used to make. I soon discovered that there are plenty of recipes available for Hard Toffee and that they are all, reassuringly, very similar as far as ingredients & quantities go.

But, as I found out last year, having the right ingredients does not guarantee success when making hard toffee.

There are a few tricks to learn before you’ll be rewarded with a tray of perfectly shatterable Treacle Toffee that will last the test of time. In fact, when stored properly it will last for several weeks.

How to Make Treacle Toffee

Before you start, read my recipe and notes in full to ensure you understand all stages of making bonfire toffee so that you are fully prepared:

Grease & line a metal pan with baking parchment and put on a flat, heatproof surface. Also lay any silicon lollipop molds that you are using on a flat, heatproof surface
Put all ingredients into a large, heavy-based saucepan and put over a medium heat
Cook until all sugars have dissolved and the liquid is smooth and dark
Turn up the heat (medium-high) and boil, stirring frequently, until the liquid reaches the hard crack stage (150C/ 300F) on a food/ sugar thermometer. This will take around 15 minutes – be patient and never leave the pan unattended since it could boil over and/ or the toffee could overcook and burn
As soon as the toffee reaches 150C/ 300F, carefully pour it into your tin and/or molds and leave to cool completely. The tin will be very hot so avoid touching/ moving it around
Once completely cold, give the toffee a few firm taps with a toffee hammer or the end of a rolling pin to break it up. If using silicon molds, the lollipops should unmold easily
Store in an airtight tin (using baking parchment to keep layers of toffee separate) or wrap up in boxes or cellophane bags to give as gifts

Expert Tips

Here are my tips to help you achieve perfect, rock hard Bonfire Toffee:

You can use brown sugar or dark muscovado sugar. Muscovado has a stronger molasses taste
Some recipes suggest adding cream of tartar or white wine vinegar. This is to help prevent the formation of sugar crystals. Don’t worry, you won’t be able to taste these ingredients and you can use either in my recipe. But watch the quantities – my recipe calls for 1 tbsp of vinegar or ¼ tsp cream of tartar – quite a difference
It is essential to use a reliable food thermometer that can withstand temperatures up to 150C/ 300F. I use a Thermapen.
I recommend lining your baking tins with baking parchment. Although some recipes suggest greasing the baking tin and pouring the toffee in, I have had mixed results. Lining the tin with parchment removes the risk that the toffee will weld itself to the tin and refuse to come out
Use a large heavy based saucepan – the ingredients should come just ¼ up the side of the pan when added. As the toffee cooks it will bubble and boil, rising up the side of the pan significantly. If your pan is too small the toffee will take a long time to reach the required temperature. And, if it boils over, onto your hob, it will be nasty to clean up
The toffee is going to reach a very high temperature:
- Do not make this recipe with small children
- Do not be tempted to taste the toffee as it cooks
- Resist the temptation to multi-task
- Stick some favourite tunes on to while away the time and keep your eye on the pan. You really do not want it to bubble over or to overcook it and end up with bitter, burnt toffee
If you are making the lollipops ensure you use silicon molds that can tolerate the high temperature of the cooked toffee. Do not use metal molds – remember, toffee can weld itself to metal. And no amount of teasing or bashing will shift these lollipops out. How do I know? ….. 24 hours of soaking my pops out of metal molds #epicfail
Store the toffee as soon as it has cooled entirely in an airtight container. If you have already broken the toffee into chunks use baking parchment to separate the layers. Store at room temperature and avoid a humid environment. If left in the open bonfire toffee will become sticky (but it will still be edible and delicious)

Follow these rules and you should get a perfect slab of rock hard Bonfire Toffee to suck on. But promise me you’ll suck it. This toffee really is a tough guy – hard as rock.

Frequently Asked Questions

My toffee is soft, what can I do?

My attempts last year softened within a few hours. This was because I did not cook the toffee to the hard crack stage – 150C/ 300F. I hope my tips will help you achieve success, but if something goes wrong and you end up with soft toffee, don’t despair. Try storing it in the freezer until ready to eat. The freezer firms it up nicely and, once it’s in your mouth, you won’t care if it’s not rock hard. It will still taste wonderfully rich, buttery, sweet and… treacly.

I can’t find black treacle, what can I use instead?

Black treacle is a very British product and it would be rare for a UK supermarket, large or small, not to stock it. Elsewhere in the world, it can be harder (and more expensive) to find.

I’m told that molasses makes an acceptable substitute for this treacle toffee recipe. Though keep in mind that black treacle has a distinctive bitter taste that regular molasses will lack. This will, of course, affect the final taste and colour of your hard toffee.

Blackstrap molasses has a robust flavour with an edge of bitterness about it. It is perhaps a better closeness to the flavour profile of black treacle, so it’s worth giving this a go if you have some to hand.

Is this just for Bonfire Night?

Traditionally, Treacle Toffee is served on Bonfire Night here in the UK, but it would be perfect for Halloween too – especially the cute lollipops. Just wrap them in cellophane to hand out to your spooky door knockers.

Bonfire Toffee (Treacle Toffee) broken into chunks on greaseproof paper

More Treats for Bonfire Night and Halloween

Read my guide on catering for Bonfire Night or try the following recipes:

Bonfire Toffee (Treacle Toffee)

Jane Coupland

Bonfire toffee is also known as Treacle Toffee or Plot Toffee and is traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night when the UK celebrates the downfall of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder plot. Rich, buttery and deliciously dark, this hard toffee also makes a great Halloween treat.

4.93 from 26 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Snack

Cuisine: British

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 25

Servings:

Calories: 215kcal

Ingredients

▢ 450g/ 1 lb Dark Brown Sugar
▢ 125ml/ ½ cup Water
▢ 125g/ 4 ½ oz Golden Syrup See notes on substitutions
▢ 100g/ 3 ½ oz Black Treacle See notes on substitutions
▢ 25g/ 1 oz Butter
▢ Either 1 tablespoon White wine vinegar or ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Instructions

Before you start read the recipe notes for all of my cooking tips
Grease & line a metal pan (see notes for size) with baking parchment and put on a flat, heatproof surface. Also lay any silicon lollipop molds on a flat, heatproof surface
Put all ingredients into a large, heavy-based saucepan and put over a medium heat. Cook until all sugars have dissolved and the liquid is smooth and dark
Turn up the heat (medium high) and boil, stirring frequently, until the liquid reaches the hard crack stage (150C/ 300F) on a food/ sugar thermometer. This will take around 15 minutes – be patient and do not leave the pan unattended since it could boil over and/ or the toffee could overcook and burn
As soon as the toffee reaches 150C/ 300F, tip it into your tin and/or molds and leave to cool completely
Once cool, give the toffee a few firm taps with a toffee hammer or the end of a rolling pin to break it up. If using silicon molds, the lollipops should unmold easily.
Store in an airtight tin (using baking parchment to keep layers of toffee seperate) or wrap up in boxes or cellophane bags to give as gifts

Notes

The size of tin required depends on your preference. If you like a thick toffee, go for a square or round tin approx 8 inches across. If you prefer a thinner toffee, use a rectangular tray approx 8 x 12 inches.
If you are making lollipops, then you will most likely have far too much toffee to fill your molds. Prepare a couple of tins of different sizes to pour the excess toffee into. As a guide: I made 8 lollipops, each measuring approx 1.5 inches using ¼ of the recipe listed here
If you cannot get hold of golden syrup, try using light corn syrup
Black treacle is an extremely thick, dark, sugar syrup containing cane molasses which gives it a special flavour. The treacle, however, is less bitter than pure molasses, so substituting dark molasses could result in a more bitter toffee. If you cannot get hold of black treacle, try using equal quantities of molasses and golden syrup

More Tips

You can use brown sugar or dark muscovado sugar. Muscovado has a stronger molasses taste
Some recipes suggest adding cream of tartar or white wine vinegar. This is to help prevent the formation of sugar crystals. You can use either. But watch the quantities – my recipe calls for 1 tbsp of vinegar or ¼ tsp cream of tartar – quite a difference
It is essential to use a reliable food thermometer that can withstand temperatures up to 150C/ 300F. I use a Thermapen.
I recommend lining your baking tins with baking parchment. Although some recipes suggest greasing the baking tin and pouring the toffee in, I have had mixed results. Lining the tin with parchment removes the risk that the toffee will weld itself to the tin and refuse to come out
Use a large heavy based saucepan – the ingredients should come just ¼ up the side of the pan when added. As the toffee cooks it will bubble and boil, rising up the side of the pan significantly. If your pan is too small the toffee will take a long time to reach the required temperature. And, if it boils over, onto your hob, it will be nasty to clean up
The toffee is going to reach a very high temperature. Do not make this recipe with small children. Do not be tempted to taste the toffee as it cooks. Resist the temptation to multi-task. Keep your eye on the pan to avoid it bubbling over and to ensure you do not overcook the ingredients & end up with bitter, burnt toffee
If you are making the lollipops ensure you use silicon molds that can tolerate the high temperature of the cooked toffee. Do not use metal molds – remember, toffee can weld itself to metal. And no amount of teasing or bashing will shift these lollipops out. How do I know? ….. 24 hours of soaking my pops out of metal molds #kitchenfails
Store the toffee as soon as it has cooled entirely in an airtight container. If you have already broken the toffee into chunks use baking parchment to separate the layers. Store at room temperature and avoid a humid environment. If left in the open bonfire toffee will become sticky (but it will still be edible and delicious).