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!
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Saltine Cracker Candy
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sleeves salted saltine crackers about 45 crackers
- 1 cup unsalted butter (226g)
- 1 cup brown sugar tightly packed (200g)
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (350g)
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or other topping (50g)
- 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.
- Prepare your toffee by combining butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- 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.
- Remove from 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.
- Sprinkle evenly with chopped pecans (or preferred topping -- or no topping!) and a scant amount of flaky sea salt.
- Allow to chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or until chocolate hardens. Cut into pieces using a large knife and serve.
Video
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
This Saltine Toffee recipe was originally published 12/05/2016, post updated to include more tips and a video on 12/07/2018
Jodi Winebrenner says
Can you use unsalted crackers? I have had to cut out most salt from my diet.
Sam says
Hi, Jodi! It will still work, there just won’t be as much flavor in the candy.
Angie says
So I snare this Christmas 2017, turned out beautiful and yummy. I made it again this year and the same as others have complained about their chocolate not melting. I think some are getting a bad batch of chocolate that may have come in contact with moisture!
Sam says
Good point, I wonder if that might be the problem! Thanks for chiming in, Angie!
Diane says
I used a store brand chips and they didn’t melt well at all. I think a person should use a good name brand chocolate chip when making.
Kelli says
I use the mini chocolate chips. Work out beautifully!!
Carol says
Hi Sam,
I made this recipe for first time; a strange thing happened with my Ghirardelli white chocolate chips (I used 1/2 white and 1/2 semisweet) in that the white chocolate didn’t melt and when I tried to spread them, lots of them turned powdery! The sell by date was 2019, so that wasn’t the problem. With that, half was ruined, but the chocolate half was great. Needless to say that it all tasted great!
Any thoughts? Yes, I followed directions, timer, and my oven is fine. I’m perplexed..😔
Sam says
Hi Carol! White chocolate can be very finicky, and unfortunately it sounds like the heat actually seized the chocolate and ruined it. In my experience white chocolate is much more sensitive to seizing (turning into that crumbly/powdery mixture) than regular chocolate 😞
Alice says
I had the same issue with chocolate not melting with half of my batches this year. No problems last year. Both pans that didn’t melt were name brand. The store brand melted like it was suppose to.
Sam says
Interesting! I’ve used Ghirardelli and Nestle and so far haven’t had any problems, but I have noticed that Nestle recently changed their packaging and I’m still using bags that I bought months ago (I stockpile chocolate chips and use the oldest first), so maybe I”ll have to try with a newer bag… Thanks for mentioning this!
Kristine says
I too had issues with the chocolate not wanting to melt. I used both chips and a chocolate bar. I also used Ghiradeli so perrhaps the brand simply does not like a 400 degree oven for melting properly. I have made these before and melted the chocolate and just poured it on top. I think I will just go back to doing that. No need for a double broiler, just out the chocolate in a cup in top of the oven and the heat radiating up will melt the chocolate.
Thank you 🙂
Julie says
I make this every year, and this is the first year the chocolate chips seized and wouldn’t melt. I buy Nestle every year. Something has changed…
I am so disappointed.
Sam says
Ugh, I’m disappointed to hear this, too! I’m going to have to troubleshoot with their chips, I’ve only made it with the older ones (from before they changed their packaging), and have always had success with them in the past, too.
Wendy Marshall says
Happy Holidays!!! I’m going to make this recipe for Christmas. How long do they stay fresh for? It’s Friday and Christmas is Tuesday…will they still stay fresh by then??
Wendy
Sam says
Hi, Wendy! Yes the saltine cracker candy will last until Tuesday. Just keep it in an air tight container. Enjoy! 🙂
Emily Long says
Loved it! I only had salted butter so I used that, light brown sugar, and Nesle semisweet morsels that seemed to take forever to melt so I may try the mini morsels in the future.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Emily! 🙂
Linda H says
I made this for church and the kids really liked it. It turned out great and two teachers took some home with them.
Sam says
I am so glade everyone enjoyed it, Linda! 🙂
Trudy Crawford says
hi I could not find the recipe that I normally used for this candy; si I used yours. My chocolate melted just fine however the bottom of the crackers were super gooey and sticky. I never noticed that before. The only difference with your recipe and my old one was baking time. I also boiled the butter and brown sugar for 3 minutes and did not during boiling. I normally used margarine but used butter this time. Comments????
Sam says
Hi, Trudy. My best guess would be that the toffee needed to cook just a little longer. Hope that helps. 🙂
Mayte says
LOVED THIS RECIPE!!!
Short sweet & simple steps to make this taste perfectly.
I could never find this recipe on making it the “right taste” until now. I haven’t had this taste in years, since my grandmother stopped making it & finally I could have it again!
Thank you Sam!❤️
Will definitely be making this ALL the time.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Mayte! 🙂