Cracker Toffee

The large sheet of molten goodness.

 Do you have a favorite Christmas candy that you come back to year after year?  I have my favorite candies that are rooted in long memories of time spent with my Dad's family getting ready for the holidays.  We would gather at my Aunt Rosie's house, and spend the days before Christmas making up these favorite confections for Christmas Day.   When my Dad was stationed in Vietnam, we got together and made a large batch of candy for him at Thanksgiving, and shipped it on the day after Thanksgiving.  It arrived to him just before Christmas - a melted mass of candy that he stuck in the fridge and nibbled on for days.
Until the day he died, Dad would make a mass batch of buckeyes, peanut brittle, fudge, and pralines, and then take a handful of each finished candy, toss them all together on a cookie sheet, and melt them together.

All broken up and ready to eat!

Fudge, Pralines, and Buckeyes are the time honored Christmas Candies in our family.  (I am not a fan of peanut brittle.)   The recipes are burned into my head, and I in turn have had my kids memorize them.  20 years ago, I found these delightful things and added them to our must make every year list.  If I have to take desert to a function this time of year, this is what I bring.    They're kind of like a bark, with a saltine base to them.  I experimented at home with the ingredients until I hit it right, and this is the recipe that I've used ever since.  I've posted this before, on my defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I might have also posted it on here before, but I don't think so.

This is my favorite Christmas candies to make.  It is quick and easy, and it is easy to make a vegetarian version.


Here's the recipe:

Cracker Cookies:
Saltine Crackers (1-2 sleeves)  I use Shaar Gluten Free Saltines
2 sticks of butter  (Use Earth Balance Vegan Butter or Coconut Butter to make it vegetarian.)
1 cup of brown sugar
1bag (12-18 ounces) of chocolate chips  (We use Good Life soy, gluten, dairy free chips)
1 cup of nuts, chopped (use your favorite kind of nut, and this part is optional)

Preheat oven to 350*
Line a jelly roll pan with foil, spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Place crackers on the jelly roll pan. Snuggle them up next to each other until the entire pan is covered.
In a small saucepan, melt butter with brown sugar over medium heat. Cook until the mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Pour the butter mixture over the crackers.
Bake the crackers at 350* for five minutes.
Remove from oven, pour chocolate chips evenly over crackers, return to oven for 2 minutes.
Using the back of a spoon, spread the chocolate evenly over the crackers.
Put nuts on top of the chocolate. (optional)
Allow to cool. Put the pan in the fridge... it'll set in about 30 minutes.
Break apart and enjoy!


*Note - I store these in the fridge to keep the chocolate and butters from melting.