Honey Toffee Pennies

One of the first cook books I got as a kid was The Pooh Cook Book
My favorite recipe to make from that were these.

Honey Toffee Pennies

1/4 cup butter, sliced
3/4 cup honey
1 1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon

Melt putter, honey, sugar and vinegar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan.  Keep over low heat until it has melted together. Stir and increase heat for
   10 min for chewy toffee
   15 minutes for hard toffee
   20 minutes for brittle toffee

Add the lemon juice (or other flavor) when it has reached desired consistency but while it is still boiling.

Drop onto wax paper into shapes.  As it cools you can use your hand to shape it, especially if at the chewy stage.


Notes and comments

I'd suggest using a candy thermometer to get the desired level of firmness.  As a kid I did the drop test to see if it was at the consistency I wanted.  I'd fill a clear glass w/ ice water and then drop a bit of the mixture from a spoon into the cold water, watching how the drop formed (soft or hard) told me when to take it off.  This works well for being at altitude, when you can't always depend on a thermometer to tell you what is what.

Instead of lemon juice you could add 6 drops of mint, or cinnamon, or nutmeg, or ginger.
You'd be wrong, because lemon is best.  But go ahead, you be you.

This recipe can be used to make candy covered apples, use the hard toffee stage

If you'd like something more like brittle than a hard candy, add a teaspoon of baking soda at the end of the brittle stage (hard crack).