Saltine Cracker Candy. Toffee Bark. Crack Candy. Christmas Crack. Saltine Toffee. This salty/sweet treat goes by many aliases. Whatever you call it, today’s recipe is the easiest candy I’ve shared yet. Just 5 simple ingredients, under 15 minutes to prepare, and no candy thermometer required.
If this recipe looks familiar to you, it’s because I originally shared it over 2 years ago and it’s been one of the most popular holiday recipes on my blog ever since. Today I’ve added a video and some helpful tips to the recipe. If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s your chance!
Another day in our week of candy! Just two more to go! As promised, today I’m giving you a break from the candy thermometer with this easy Saltine cracker candy (or whichever of its many monikers you prefer to use).
So far we’ve made our way through a classic Toffee recipe, Honeycomb, a snappy Peanut Brittle, and a smooth and creamy Peanut Butter Fudge. Which one are you trying first?
For those of you who don’t have a candy thermometer, this Saltine Cracker Candy might be your preferred choice. It’s been a favorite in my house ever since a friend introduced me to it years ago. We make it all year, but it’s especially popular around the holidays.
Let’s walk through this process in way more pictures than you probably really need, shall we?
How to Make Saltine Cracker Candy
The trickiest part of this whole candy-making business is preparing the toffee. Look at that sweet, caramel-colored, bubbling beauty.
The toffee is made with just two ingredients: butter and brown sugar. Melt the two together on the stovetop and allow it to come to a boil.
Do not, under any circumstances, disturb this toffee while it is working its magic during the boiling process. This was a hard lesson for me to learn, I always tend to worry about my sauces burning so if your natural inclination is to toss in a few stirs or scrape the sides, just don’t. The toffee knows what it’s doing.
Let it boil for 3 minutes (use a timer), and then immediately pour/ spread it over your crackers.
After you’ve doused your saltine crackers with toffee, bake them in the oven at a high temp for a few minutes until that golden toffee blanket becomes nice and bubbly.
Don’t panic if some of them look like they’re trying to float away — it’s OK to have some space between your crackers, just let them do their thing.
Now my favorite part.
Sprinkle your toffee layer with plenty of chocolate chips and return them to the oven for just two more minutes. This makes the chips nice and melt-y and easy to spread.
I know that some people make saltine cracker candy without chocolate (and you can certainly skip the chocolate, if that’s your preference), but that doesn’t fly in my house.
When I used to make Saltine Cracker Candy in the past, I never added any topping on top of the chocolate. Recently I’ve been using chopped pecans, but you can use pretty much any topping you’d like. Walnuts, peanuts, sprinkles, candy pieces, pretty much anything goes well with saltine cracker candy.
If you’re one of those people I mentioned above and are trying to make this without chocolate, just skip this step and sprinkle any toppings you’d like to use directly on the toffee as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Since the chocolate topping is made with melted chocolate chips, it would take a while to set at room temperature, so I usually slide it into the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then remove it and break (or cut) into pieces. They don’t cut very evenly but the jagged pieces are all part of its rustic character 😉
Saltine cracker candy doesn’t have to stay refrigerated, but because the chocolate can melt in your hands pretty quickly I personally prefer to keep it chilled in the fridge.
Personal preference!
Enjoy!
More Candy Recipes You May Enjoy
- Graham Cracker Toffee (just like today’s recipe, but with graham crackers)
- Potato Candy
- Chocolate Fudge
- Peppermint Bark Fudge (no candy thermometer)
Have you made any of my candy recipes so far? Be sure to tag me on Instagram or share a picture over in my free Baker’s Club on Facebook!
Saltine Cracker Candy
Ingredients
- 1 ½ sleeves salted saltine crackers about 45 crackers
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar tightly packed
- 2 cups (350 g) semisweet chocolate chips¹
- ½ cup (50 g) chopped pecans or other topping
- flaky sea salt for sprinkling optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F (205C) and line a standard-sized cookie sheet with foil. Lightly spray with cooking spray or grease lightly with butter.
- Layer crackers evenly over the foil (salted side up); it's alright if there are spaces between the crackers and not every edge is completely filled in.1 ½ sleeves salted saltine crackers
- Prepare your toffee by combining butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar
- Allow mixture to come to a boil and allow it to boil for three minutes -- do not stir while it boils.
- Immediately remove from heat and pour over crackers (it's ok if some of them start to float, just try to keep them in an even layer), spread with a heatproof spatula to completely coat crackers.
- Place in 400F (205C) oven for 5 minutes -- toffee will begin to bubble.
- ²Remove from oven (turn off the oven) and evenly sprinkle chocolate chips over toffee. Return to oven for two minutes, then remove and use a spatula or knife to spread chocolate evenly over crackers.2 cups (350 g) semisweet chocolate chips¹
- Sprinkle evenly with chopped pecans (or preferred topping -- or no topping!) and a scant amount of flaky sea salt.½ cup (50 g) chopped pecans, flaky sea salt for sprinkling
- Allow to chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or until chocolate hardens. Cut into pieces using a large knife and serve.
Notes
Cleanup Tip!
Did the toffee harden to your saucepan, rendering it virtually impossible to clean? Fill it about halfway with water and return it to the stovetop. Bring the water to a boil and the toffee should melt away from the sides -- then just pour everything down the drain (scrape the sides while it's hot, if there's still some toffee stuck) and allow the pot to cool and clean as you would normally.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
This Saltine Toffee recipe was originally published 12/05/2016, post updated to include more tips and a video on 12/07/2018
Fran Williams
You are right about the quality of chocolate chips! I used semi sweet Nestle chips on 1/2 of the crackers on the baking sheet and milk chocolate Nestle chips on the other 1/2. The semi sweet chips melted and the milk chocolate chips did not. Weird! So I guess if you’re going to use mil chocolate chips, melt them in the microwave first.
Paula Michael
the chocolate did NOT harden at all.
thought it would when ig hot cool
Sam
Hi Paula! That is quite odd and I’m not sure how it didn’t firm up? Did you use a good quality chocolate chip? Did you try putting it in the refrigerator for a few minutes.
Lucy
This is the easiest and BEST Saltine crack recipe! It’s addicting!!!
Sarah
I make this using Schar gluten free table crackers and it’s delicious. I’ve made this so many times for parties and such and I always get a lot of compliments on it.
It tastes like a Score bar. So good.
And it’s so quick to make!
Margaret
I’ve been making this recipe for years and occasionally the crackers crumble a lot and I can’t figure out why. I put in the fridge after they’re cool enough and I cut them into squares. Maybe that’s why the crackers crumble and separate from the chocolate. Does anyone know why can happen?
Sam
Hi Margaret! That is so odd. Did you use saltine crackers? I’m not really sure what would cause this to happen. 🙁