Delicious Cracker Toffee Recipe
This yummy cracker toffee dessert is a huge crowd pleaser! The sweet caramel paired with the salt and chocolate is a combination that can’t be beat. In less than 15 minutes you can have a delicious dessert perfect for picnics, pot lucks, your kids class party, holiday events, etc.
Recipes similar to this have gone by many names: Christmas crack, cracker candy, caramel crackers, etc. My family has been making this version as long as I can remember and we’ve always called it Pine Bark. It’s so cheap, easy and quick to make! You likely already have all the ingredients you need right in your pantry to make this delicious cracker toffee dessert.
How-To Make Cracker Toffee
First, you want to preheat your oven to 400°
This recipe comes together very quickly. You’ll likely be ready to put this in the oven before it has finished preheating. So go ahead and do that first.
Either spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or completely cover it with a non-stick material such as parchment paper. You have to do something to prevent sticking or else these WILL stick.
Arrange the crackers, salty side up, along your prepared baking sheet. Depending on the size of your baking sheet, the crackers will either fit perfectly, or you will have to break some crackers in half to fill in the gap. You want your entire baking sheet filled with crackers.
In a saucepan, melt your butter. Add your sugar and bring it to a boil. Boil this mixture for 2-3 minutes and STIR CONTINUOUSLY. You are making caramel. If you step away, it will boil over. This mixture can very easily catch on fire, do not walk away! It combines and thickens very quickly.
Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.
Pour this mixture over your crackers. You have to move quickly because your mixture is getting thicker and thicker the longer it is off the heat. Use a silicone spatula to spread the caramel over all of the crackers. If it is sticking to your spatula, you can spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Using silicone, I never have an issue with this.
Bake for 4-6 minutes. The caramel mixture will become bubbly. Again, don’t walk away. The caramel starts bubbling in just a few minutes and you don’t want to burn it. The longer you bake it, the more the final flavor will change.
Remove from the oven and let it rest. You want to caramel to harden and the crackers to stabilize. However, you don’t want to let it cool too much because you’re counting on the heat to melt your chocolate chips.
Once the crackers are stable, pour your chocolate chips on top. Let them sit a moment and soften. I always use mini chocolate chips because these melt much faster than full sized chips or bar chocolate. Once the chocolate has softened, use your same spatula to spread the chocolate over the crackers. Be gentle and try not to jostle the crackers.
The only thing left is to let the chocolate and caramel harden. This will happen at room temperature, but you can speed up the process by placing your baking sheet in the freezer.
Once your dessert has hardened, break into pieces and enjoy!
Pine Bark Cracker Toffee
Equipment
- 1 Sauce pan
Ingredients
- 1 sleeve saltine crackers
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup salted butter 2 sticks
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 bag mini chocolate chips mini's are easier to melt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- Arrange crackers salty side up your baking sheet.
- In a saucepan boil butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes, STIR CONTINUOUSLY.
- Remove from heat and add vanilla.
- Pour mixture over crackers and spread evenly.
- Bake for 4-6 minutes, until the caramel mixture is nice and bubbly.
- Once the crackers are stable, top with the chocolate chips and spread evenly to coat.
- Put in freezer to help cool and harden.
- Break apart into desired sized pieces.
Video
Notes:
- I’ve already said it several times but I want to say it again: this recipe moves quickly, DO NOT WALK AWAY! Any type of “candy” making is risky because sugar can catch on fire. Please be aware, you have to pay attention! Stir the caramel mixture continuously the entire 2-3 minutes. I promise it goes by quick. Don’t forget it in the oven either. The flavor can turn “over done” or “burnt” very quickly and beyond that again, can catch on fire! It’s 15 minutes all in all, stay in the kitchen until they’re done!
- I like using mini chocolate chips because they melt so quickly. There’s a sweet spot of time after the caramel has set up but before the dessert has cooled too much. That’s when you want to add your chocolate chips. The full sized chocolate chips do more damage to the crackers when trying to spread them around than the mini’s.
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