Saltine Cracker Candy is one of the easiest homemade candies out there. It’s composed of brown sugar, butter, crackers and chocolate — things you might already have on hand. It’s also pretty quick, so you can have a batch ready in around an hour (give or take a few minutes).
Better Than Almond Toffee?
In some ways, this is even better than almond toffee because the salty crackers are a contrast to the richness of the butter and sugar. Plus you can vary the chocolate. You can use bittersweet chocolate chips, or chop up whatever makes you happy — Lindt, Cadbury Dairy Milk, perhaps a Hershey Bar?
Half Batch Saltine Cracker Candy
The recipe below makes a 15×10 inch pan. If you don’t need a ton of Cracker Candy, you can make Half Batch Cracker Candy by spreading half the Saltines in an 11×7 inch pan or a 9 inch square pan. For the toffee mixture, just use 1 stick butter and 1/2 cup of sugar and boil in a small saucepan. The baking time stays the same.
Recipe
Cracker Candy
Ingredients
- 1 sleeve of Saltines or enough to cover a 10×15 inch pan about 40
- 2 sticks butter 230 grams, salted or unsalted
- 1 cup light brown sugar 200 grams
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup toasted and chopped pecans or almonds or salted mixed nuts if you really like sweet & salty!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a 10×15 inch pan with nonstick foil or parchment paper.
- Lay Saltines side-by-side over bottom of pan – sides touching.
- Combine butter and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. If the butter is cold, let it warm slightly before adding the sugar. When mixture starts to boil, set timer for 3 minutes and boil, stirring once or twice. Pour over crackers and spread evenly.
- 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, then sprinkle with nuts. Note: If chocolate isn’t melting fast (mainly, if you are using chips instead of chocolate chocolate), throw the pan back in the oven for a minute.
- Let cool at room temperature for about an hour, then transfer to the refrigerator or freezer to chill and set. I usually use the freezer.
Karen Muskatell
Love your candy ideas.
Anna
Marilyn, thanks for the tip! I’m actually eating Cracker Candy right now and am going to sprinkle some sea salt on top.
marilyn
They are also great with coarse Sea Salt sprinkled on top of the melted chocolate!
Anna
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.
serena
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!
Donna
I make this using pretzels instead of crackers. It’s the perfect sweet/salty combination and just a bit crunchier. Everyone loves it.
laura
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.
Dawn
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
Kathy wolff
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.
Catie
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.
Anna
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.
peabody
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.
Brenda
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!
meredith
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.
Claire
I feel inspired!
Elizabeth
I always forget about these little dandies, Anna…thanks for bringing them back to my consciousness! I’m definitely going to make these!