Toasted Pumpkin Seed Toffee - Curly Girl Kitchen (2025)

A high altitude tested recipe for buttery, crunchy homemade toffee, loaded with toasted pumpkin seeds and sprinkled with flaky salt. This toasted pumpkin seed toffee makes a wonderful homemade gift for the holidays.

You might also love these high altitude candy recipes for old fashioned chocolate fudge, vanilla bean marshmallows, and classic English toffee (almond roca).

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Perfect for the Holidays. Christmas time is for making homemade candy and all the sweet treats, and a batch of this homemade pumpkin seed toffee is a delicious addition to a Christmas cookie box.

Versatile Recipe. Besides pumpkin seeds, you can add any type of seeds or nuts to your toffee, or even a layer of chocolate, as I do in my classic English toffee.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude. Be sure to read the whole post today, for lots of high altitude tips for candy making.

Tools and Equipment

• Large Stock Pot. Use a large, heavy bottomed stock pot so that the sugar cooks evenly.
• Digital Candy Thermometer. This is the digital candy thermometer I use. A thermometer is essential for monitoring the temperature of the boiling sugar.
• Large Baking Sheet + Parchment Paper. After cooking the toffee, you’ll be pouring it onto a parchment lined baking sheet to cool and harden. The toffee doesn’t stick to the parchment paper, making cleanup a breeze.

The Stages of Candy Making

Stages of candy making are based on the temperature of the boiling sugar (as well as the texture and appearance of the sugar when it’s dropped into cold water). These are the standard temperature ranges for sea level.

• Thread (223 – 235 F). At this stage, the syrup drips from a spoon, forming thin threads in water. This is ideal for a glacé or candied fruit that’s glazed in syrup.
• Soft Ball (234 – 245 F). The syrup easily forms a ball in cold water, but flattens once removed from the water. For fudge and fondant.
• Firm Ball (245 – 250 F). The syrup can be formed into a stable ball, but can be pressed flat. For soft caramels.
• Hard Ball (250 – 266 F). The syrup holds its shape but has a sticky texture. For marshmallows and divinity.
• Soft Crack (270 – 290 F). The syrup will form firm but pliable threads. For nougat and salt-water taffy.
• Hard Crack (300-310 F). The syrup will crack if you try to mold it. For brittles, toffee and lollipops.
• Caramel (320 – 350 F). The syrup will turn golden and is very brittle. For pralines or hard caramelized sugar.

Candy Making at High Altitude

Water boils at a lower temperature at high altitude, but the same goes for boiling sugar, too. This means that when making today’s pumpkin seed toffee as well as many other types of candy at high altitude, your boiling sugar will reach the candy making stages at a lower temperature than if you were at sea level. It’s important to understand this, because if your toffee doesn’t cook long enough (temperature too low), it will be too soft and chewy. If it cooks for too long (temperature too high), your toffee will end up burned and brittle.

So how do you know what temperature your sugar needs to reach when you’re cooking and baking at high altitude? It’s really quite simple. A general rule of thumb is that for every 1,000 feet of elevation, you should subtract 2 degrees. This would mean that someone living at 5,000 feet elevation should subtract 10 degrees. So for the hard crack stage, instead of letting your sugar boil to the range of 300-310F, you should only let it boil to the range of 290-300F.

There’s a more accurate way to determine this for your specific altitude, though. Boil a pot of water with your candy thermometer in the water. When it reaches a full rolling boil, check the temperature. My altitude is just under 5,500 feet, and when I did this test, my water boiled at 201 F, a full 11 degrees lower than the standard boiling point for sea level (212 F). So when I’m making toffee, if the standard hard crack stage is 300-310F, then I’m going to aim for a range of 289-299F (11 degrees lower). Make sense?

Best Practices for Homemade Toffee

Stir the Toffee Constantly

You need to stir it constantly for even heat distribution (to prevent burning on the bottom) and to prevent any sugar crystals from forming. Don’t walk away from the stove while you’re making toffee, even for a minute. You should stir it slowly and gently, not vigorously, to avoid splashing sugar against the sides of the pot.

Wash the Spoon and Sides of the Pot

Make sure your spoon and the sides of the pot are clean of sugar crystals. After adding the sugar and stirring it in, I ALWAYS rinse off my spoon to rid it of sugar crystals, or simply switch to a clean wooden spoon to continue stirring the toffee. Carefully inspect the sides of the pot, and if you see any sugar crystals, use a wet pastry brush to clean them off.

Use Moderate Heat

Toffee takes a little time to make, and it’s not something you should rush. Depending on the intensity of your stove, you should use medium heat, or just a touch under. My front burners are quite intense, so I keep the heat somewhere between medium and medium low.

Use BOTH a Digital Candy Thermometer and the Cold Water Test

I encourage you to use a digital candy thermometer. However, you shouldn’t rely solely on the thermometer, but use other important cues as well. As the mixture cooks, it will start go through several changes of color, from white, to pale yellow, to amber/golden, and then a deeper peanut butter color. As the color deepens and the scent is stronger, you know it’s getting close. For the best crunch, aim for cooking your toffee to the upper end of the range of the hard crack stage. If you stop at the lower end of the range, it can still have a little chew under the crunch.

You should also have a glass of ice water sitting right by the stove. If you think the toffee is nearly ready, let a few drops drip off your spoon into the ice water. Wait a few seconds, fish it out, and crunch it between your teeth. If it’s chewy, it’s not ready yet. If it’s crisp and crunchy, it’s done! But if the mixture starts to take on a burned smell and looks charred on the bottom of the pot, then it’s gone too far, and there’s no way to save it.

Don’t Omit the Corn Syrup

One of the biggest frustrations in making caramel and toffee is a grainy, sugary, crystallized mixture, rather than smooth creamy caramel and crunchy buttery toffee. Corn syrup is an invert sugar, and by adding it to the mixture, it helps to stabilize the granulated sugar and prevent crystallization.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

• Butter. I only use unsalted butter for cooking and baking so I can control the saltiness. If your butter is salted, be sure to omit the extra salt in the recipe.
• Light Corn Syrup. As an invert sugar, the corn syrup helps to stabilize the sugars in the syrup and prevent crystallization.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness. I add coarse Kosher salt to the toffee, and sprinkle the top with flaky finishing salt (such as Maldon).
• Sugar. Use plain white granulated sugar, not brown sugar.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Baking Soda. The baking soda is optional, but the theory is that the tiny bubbles it creates in the sugar gives the toffee a better crunch. I’ve made mine with and without the baking soda, and personally haven’t noticed a difference.
• Pumpkin Seeds. Use raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds, to avoid muddying your toffee with the flavor from vegetable oils used for roasting the seeds. I buy these in bulk at my local Sprouts. By toasting the seeds yourself, you’ll give them a nuttier flavor and crunch.

Instructions

Getting Ready

• Measure all your ingredients so everything is ready to go.
• Toast the pumpkin seeds to give them more flavor (optional). You can do this by spreading them onto a baking sheet and toasting them in a 300-degree oven for about 5-7 minutes. Then pour the seeds into a bowl and set aside until needed.
• Line the baking sheet with parchment paper, so it’s ready for the toffee.
• Be sure to use a heavy-bottomed stock pot or Dutch oven for even heat distribution. Clip a digital candy thermometer to the side of the pot to monitor the temperature.
• Set a glass or bowl of ice water next to the stove.
• Eliminate distractions, as you do not want to step away from the stove while you’re cooking the toffee.

Cook the Toffee

• Over medium or medium/low heat, melt the butter in the stock pot. Then add the water, corn syrup, salt and sugar, pouring the sugar gently into the middle of the butter.
• Let the sugar start to dissolve and melt into the butter, then use your wooden spoon to gently stir the mixture. Avoid stirring the sugar against the side of the pot, as sugar crystals could cause the toffee to crystallize. When the sugar looks mostly dissolved, rinse off your spoon to rid it of sugar crystals. If you see any sugar crystals on the side of the pot, wash them down with a wet pastry brush.
• As the sugar starts to bubble and boil, continue to stir it constantly but slowly, by lazily moving the wooden spoon through the sugar mixture to keep it from scorching on the bottom of the pot. You want to slowly cook the sugar over moderate heat (between medium and medium low), or you risk burning it.

• If you’re using an accurate digital candy thermometer, watch as the temperature gets closer to the hard crack stage (300-310F at sea level or 290-300F at 5,000 feet elevation). For the best crunch, aim for cooking your toffee to the upper end of the range of the hard crack stage. If you stop at the lower end of the range, it can still have a little chew under the crunch.
• If you’re not using a thermometer, watch the subtle color changes of the sugar, as it starts to deepen in color and scent. Drizzle a small amount of syrup into the ice water, wait a few seconds, then scoop it out and test it between your teeth. If it’s chewy and sticky, the sugar is not ready. If it crunches, it’s reached the hard crack stage. It should take about 15-20 minutes to reach this stage.
• Immediately, remove the pot from the heat, and stir in the vanilla, baking soda and 1 cup of the toasted pumpkin seeds. It’s normal for the mixture to hiss a little at this point.
• Working quickly, pour the mixture onto the parchment lined baking sheet, and use a spatula to spread it out into a slab. The toffee will start to harden quickly, so you have to move fast.
• Before the toffee fully hardens, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds on top along with a pinch of flaky finishing salt.

Cool and Cut the Toffee

• Set the pan on a cooling rack and let the toffee cool completely
• Peel the parchment paper off the cooled toffee and set the slab on a large cutting board. Use a large chef’s knife to cut squares, or just break it into uneven shards.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

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