1. In a large skillet, melt SALTED butter on medium heat. Do not burn butter. It needs to stay yellow. (NOTE: I had many batches fail and separate until I figured out, upon investigation, that you MUST use SALTED butter. I think it has to do with a chemical reaction.). 2. **Tip** Bring out a jar of peanut butter and turn it upside down near the skillet to use ONLY as a color guide to know when the mixture is done. 3. Add sugar and stir until incorporated (sugar does not need to be "melted" into the butter, just no longer dry) Edited to add on 12/25/16, the temperature MUST STAY CONSTANT or the butter and sugar MAY separate during the final stages. Too high and your butter will burn, too low and you'll be stirring forever! 4. **At no time can you walk away at this point, you must keep stirring so that the butter will not burn. It's very crucial. 5. Add water, pouring it all over the pan. The butter/sugar will get bubbly and frothy -- keep constantly stirring -- stirring low and slow -- I use a rubber spatula. As you stir, angle your spatula down as low (level to the pan) as you can to have few air bubbles. 6. I timed it, as you are stirring the yellow, sugary, melted, bubbly butter, at the 4 minute mark add the slivered almonds. Keep stirring. 7. Stir continuously and slowly in a small circular motion bringing the outside mixture edges to the center as the sides will tend to cook faster than the middle. It will slowly begin to caramelize and toast up -- about 6 minutes more. 8. Cook this mixture until it is the color of the inverted peanut butter jar. 9. **Important** It will brown fast in the end, so don't let it get too dark or let the almonds get really burned). 10. Pour into a 9 X 13 pan. (you could use disposable aluminum pans also). with your rubber spatula, spread the mixture quickly to the edges before it starts to harden on you. 11. Let cool completely, remove from pan and pat off any extra butter from both sides with paper towels. 12. Place on wax or parchment paper. 13. Topping: 14. Microwave chocolate for 1 minute on high. (be mindful that every microwave is different and you must watch your chocolate closely so that it won't overcook). If a few seconds more are needed to melt completely, do so in small increments. You can also use a double boiler to melt chocolate -- I do prefer to do it this way. 15. Coat toffee with chocolate (like frosting) and top with slivered almonds. I only cover one side but you can do both if desired. 16. Lightly press down almonds to make sure they stick to the chocolate. 17. Cool on the counter for at least 30 minutes, then put the pan into the refrigerator for 2 hours (You can stack multiple batches on top of each other as long as the chocolate is pretty solid). 18. Break into pieces after it has hardened and store in a covered container. 19. Variations: Use different kinds of chips. (mint, white, dark, milk chocolate). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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