Saltine Cracker Toffee is a wonderful combination of sweet, salty, and crunching, with easy homemade toffee candy on saltine crackers and then melted chocolate. It can be topped with chopped pecans or other seasonal toppings, making it Christmas Crack candy.
Ingredients
Saltine crackers
Toffee ingredients—butter, brown sugar
Chocolate chips—semi-sweet, milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips.
Toppings—chopped pecans and almost anything— M&Ms, walnuts, candy sprinkles, marshmallows, crushed candy canes or hard candy, chopped Oreos or other cookies
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Load this saltine cracker toffee with seasonal toppings to make a Christmas Crack recipe, a Southern regional candy frequently appearing at holiday gatherings, as gifts, or as your custom snack.
Just follow these simple step-by-step photo instructions, then top as you want. It moves fast, so read all the instructions before starting.
👨🍳How to Make Saltine Cracker Toffee
1️⃣Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 12 X 18 half-sheet pan using a large sheet of parchment paper. Cover with a single layer of 48 saltine crackers.
2️⃣Place 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar in a non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat.
3️⃣Bring to a boil, then cook for 3 minutes while mixing well. It will get a little darker if you have good eyes. It will pull away from the edge of the pot with stirring.
4️⃣Pour over the toffee over the saltines.
5️⃣Smooth to cover rapidly. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.
6️⃣Remove from oven and sprinkle with 12 oz of chocolate chips. Allow it to set for 5 minutes, then smooth the melted chocolate.
7️⃣Top with 1 cup of chopped pecans. Add seasonal toppings to make Christmas Crack Candy.
8️⃣There is plenty of room for multiple variations. Cool in the refrigerator for a few hours. Break into pieces to serve.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
Helpful tips to get it right every time
- You must have the oven fully preheated before starting. You are using it to bring the toffee to its final required temperature.
- A dab of butter in the corners of the tray will help hold the parchment in place.
- Cover the tray with saltines and get all the ingredients out before starting. It goes very fast.
Ingredients options
Like a lot of things in cooking, quality matters. Use ingredients you trust and like.
- Use only real butter. Margarine can have unpredictable results when making the toffee.
- Use fresh, crisp saltine crackers. Other crackers like Ritz, Club, Graham crackers, or even Biscoff may be used, but try to get good coverage of the tray.
- To add flavor to the toffee, mix in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract as it comes off the stovetop before spreading on the crackers.
- Good quality chocolate is important. You can use your favorite chocolate chips, like milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or dark chocolate. Even white chocolate chips will work, but use the best you can find.
Topping Options
- You will need about a cup to a cup and a half of toppings for the topping. Also, you will have a large surface area to cover, so mix it up so your friends will have various choices.
- I suggest some chopped pecans and add some holiday M&Ms and sprinkles.
- Topping options include different nuts, crushed Oreos, or other cookies. And smaller candies or other chips like peanut butter, caramel, or butterscotch.
- For more flavors and crunch, try some crushed peppermint, toffee, or chocolate toffee bark. And broken-up candy canes are always seasonal.
Other Candy Recipes
Check out these other great choices for holiday parties and giving. If you need a large number of candies, try these Chocolate Pretzel Candies or Chocolate Peanut Clusters. For gifts, try White Chocolate Fudge, White Chocolate Almond Clusters, or 5-Minute Chocolate Fudge.
This recipe is part of Christmas Candy Recipes. Check out other easy candy recipes.
⬇️How to make a smaller recipe
A full-size recipe uses 48 saltine crackers to cover a half-size baking sheet, which is 12 by 16 inches. Use an 8 by 12-inch quarter baking sheet for a half recipe.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings from 48 to 24.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
How to Store Saltine Cracker Toffee
Store for up to two weeks if tightly sealed at cooler room temperature, but warm rooms may soften the candy. So, a cooler pantry will work well.
A refrigerator or freezer is not recommended since the saltines will become soggy when the lower temperatures bring the moisture out of the other ingredients.
FAQs
Graininess in toffee is from sugar that did not fully dissolve. To prevent this next time, stir the butter and brown sugar together while it melts, and be sure the entire pan of toffee is boiling fully and not just the edges before stopping.
About Toffee, Butterscotch, Brittle, and Carmel
Toffee and butterscotch are both made by heating sugar and butter. Butterscotch is heated to a lower temperature, making it soft and chewy, while toffee is cooked to a higher temperature, producing a harder, crunchy candy.
The difference between a toffee and a brittle is mainly butter. Toffee is sugar with butter, and brittle is usually without butter. Brittles are cooked to a higher temperature to reach a "hard-crack" state, while toffees are cooked to a slightly lower temperature and are a little softer.
Carmel, like brittles, is just heated sugar but cooked to a lower temperature and is softer.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
📖 Recipe
Saltine Cracker Toffee
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Ingredients
- 48 saltine crackers
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar - light or dark
- 12 oz chocolate chips
- Toppings of choice.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 12 X 18 half-sheet pan using a large sheet of parchment paper. Cover with a single layer of 48 saltine crackers.
- Place 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar in a non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Bring to a boil, then cook for 3 minutes while mixing well. It will get a little darker if you have good eyes. It will pull away from the edge of the pot with stirring.
- Pour over the toffee over the saltines. Smooth to cover rapidly. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with 12 oz of chocolate chips. Allow it to set for 5 minutes, then smooth the melted chocolate.
- Top with 1 cup of chopped pecans. Add seasonal toppings to make Christmas Crack Candy.
- There is plenty of room for multiple variations. Cool in the refrigerator for a few hours. Break into pieces to serve.
Recipe Notes
Tips
- A full recipe fits on a 12 by 18 half-size sheet pan.
- Variations of ingredients and toppings are discussed in the post.
- Use the topping of your choice. I suggest a cup of chopped pecans with seasonal M&Ms with sprinkle candies.
- Store sealed tightly at cool room temperature.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published December 11, 2018. Refreshed with updated options and discussion.
kjill says
We love this with a very light sprinkle of chunky salt on top though I am also always a sucker for nuts.
DrDan says
Hi kjill,
I can see a little sea salt on this. It would be nice. Along the same line, broken up pretzels. Somehow this screams pecans for me but other nuts would be good also.
Thanks for the note.
Dan