I didn’t feel like baking yesterday, but wanted something homemade. Remembering the Saltines we’d bought last weekend, I decided to make Cracker Candy – an easy recipe composed of brown sugar, butter, crackers and chocolate. Luckily, I had everything on hand, including a nice bar of chocolate called Toffee Interlude by Ghirdelli.
The end result was an excellent cookie/candy. In fact, I think I like cracker candy better than butter toffee. The crackers offer a nice bit of relief from the richness of the butter and sugar. Plus, there’s more chocolate.
My only mistake was using a chocolate bar containing toffee bits. The chewiness of the toffee bits clashed with the crispness of the candy. Next time I’ll use a different Ghirardelli bar.
Here are a few pictures.
First, the ingredients.
The pecans were a last minute add in. Leave them out if you want.
Next up is the melted butter, brown sugar mixture. You only boil it for 3 minutes, so don’t worry too much about it burning. This is hot, so be careful. I sure wouldn’t want to be a cracker right now…..
The crackers have been covered in boiling hot sugar lava. The chocolate has been sprinkled over the top and is slowly melting.
Cracker Candy!
Small Batch Cracker Candy
Cooking Spray
20 Saltine Crackers
2 tablespoons chopped toasted pecans or almonds (optional)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar (I used a mixture of light and dark)
1 large bar of dark or milk chocolate, chopped
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Spray a saucepan with cooking spray. Line a 13×9 inch pan with parchment paper.
Lay Saltines side-by-side over bottom of pan – sides touching. Sprinkle with nuts if desired.
Place butter in saucepan and melt over medium heat. When butter is melted, stir in sugar and bring to a boil. Let boil, without stirring for exactly 3 minutes. Pour over crackers.
Bake in oven for 5 minutes. Quickly sprinkle chocolate over hot candy and let stand for about 3 minutes or until chocolate starts to melt. Spread chocolate over crackers.
Chill for about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I always forget about these little dandies, Anna…thanks for bringing them back to my consciousness! I’m definitely going to make these!
I feel inspired!
A co-worker makes a version of these whenever asked to bring a sweet treat to work…I love them!That said — I ADORE the version on epicurious.com: chocolate caramel graham crackers. I tend to have grahams in the house vs. saltines. I use pecans.
I made these tonight and they came out pretty good. I didn’t have any chocolate bars on hand but I did have some milk chocolate morsels so I used those. My husband really liked them. I left out the nuts because he doesn’t care for them.Question…I’m wondering if using margarine versus butter would make a difference? I read several recipes at All Recipes.com and some had butter and some had margarine. Also, some had sugar and some had brown sugar. Didn’t know if anyone else had tried different things. I have tried making toffee several times for Christmas and just can’t get the mixture right. I don’t know if I’m over cooking it or what. It gets somewhat crystaly (is that a word? lol) and the oil in the butter seems to seperate. Any ideas? Thansk!
I make several versions of this. Everyone loves it and they are shocked to here what it is made of. I like to use the Keebler Butter Crackers, I feel it gives it a more rich flavor. I also use the chips instead of the bars…melts easier. The last batch I made was with white chocolate and I sprinkled dried cherries on them. Super yummy.
Elizabeth, I always forget about them too. They’re a great last minute thing.Claire, glad I insired somebody to so *something*.Meredith, I am going to try the Epicurious versionBrenda, I think margarine would work, but you wouldn’t get the delicious taste of butter. Also, I have one toffee recipe which I like, but it’s finicky. If you email me, I’ll send it to you.
So, my son’s significant other is most thoughtful and an excellent baker. She often brings me samples of her treats. During Christmas, she gave me a little container of what I thought was chocolate covered toffee. I took a small nibble and the taste was familiar but not quite chocolate covered toffee. After much dissecting, I realized it was made with Saltines! At first I grumbled thinking, what the hell is Ronda doing making something like this out of soda crackers – gross! However, I took bite and another. Before I knew it they were gone! They were actually quite tasty and I will never turn my nose up at them again.
I have made these cookies for 12 years now – and always a hit with a
request for the recipe. I have found the new “non stick” aluminum foil to be a great help in getting the cookies cut or broken! and of course no
clean up! I always use butter and chocolate chips and nuts.
I just tried these this weekend at a dessert covered dish, and oh my…. thanks for all of the great ideas. She had made them using the white sugar version and with white choc chips since it was summer (less melting). I can’t wait to experiment
This is a good recipe, however, there’s an even better one called “Cracker Candy” on http://www.allrecipes.com. you use a whole sleeve of saltines and you spoon the cooked sugar mixture over the saltines, put in 425 degree oven for 5 minutes, take out and sprinkle 2 cups mini semi-sweet choc chips on (it will melt) and then sprinkle generously with chopped nuts, pressing gently on the nuts. Cool and break into pieces, keep refrigerated.
I’ve made these before on matzoh crackers as a thank you for some friends who were having me over for a Hanukkah party after getting the recipe from my uncle. I kind of think of them as the tastier Hanukkah equivalent of peppermint bark at Christmas. They are a little less crunchy than I imagine these would be because the matzoh is so thin, but the toffee keeps them quite crisp on the outside. I agree that these are tastier than just pure toffee bars. I’ll have to try them with saltines.
I make this using pretzels instead of crackers. It’s the perfect sweet/salty combination and just a bit crunchier. Everyone loves it.
a friend sent me some of thsese..loved them..disected them to see qwhat was n them figured out they was soda crackers…so i typed n soda cracker candy…got the eciep and tried…came out good except..mine still had some gooey parts on bottom…maybe didnt boil suga and butter long enuf? 3 minutes? i baked @ 375…maybe thats it…what did i do wrong? my chocolate was to thick on top too…note…u have to use good chocolate!
Hi Serena,
You’re right. It probably didn’t get hot enough during that first boil. Next time, try it for 5 minutes. Three minutes works for me, but I’ve had to do it for different times on different ranges.