Candy

Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

No ratings yet
Try Saltine Cracker Toffee with 6 ingredients in 20 minutes! Crunchy, buttery, topped with chocolate and pecans-perfect for holiday snacking!
A tin of crunchy Saltine Crackers with toasted nuts.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure for details.

Hi Bold Bakers!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: My delectable Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee is pure holiday magic! With just 20 minutes of prep, you’ll transform everyday ingredients into a sweet and crunchy toffee treat. My advice: make a few batches of this classic because it is absolutely irresistible.

  • Six ingredients: I’m always amazed at how saltines, butter, sugar, salt, chocolate, and nuts come together quickly to make a confection that tastes so special.
  • 3 Easy Steps: Simmer the toffee sauce, pour on the crackers and bake, and finish with chocolate and pecans. That’s it!
  • Candy bar vibes! The toffee sauce is spread over crisp saltines and swirled with melted chocolate. The three distinct layers make every bite crunchy, crisp, and creamy.

Toffee’s deep, mellow, toasty sweetness never gets old. The salt and molasses-rich brown sugar gives an edge of pleasant bitterness that keeps the flavor complex and never cloying. The holidays are perfect for trying my range of other toffee-flavored recipes. Steamed Sticky Toffee Pudding is a gorgeous, festive dessert that takes only 30 minutes to put together. Serve individual Traditional English Toffee Pudding at a party topped with Vanilla Ice Cream. And Classic English Toffee is perfect for gifts–just pop a few pieces in a cello bag and tie it with a ribbon.

Table of Contents

What is Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee?

  • Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee is my version of the layered confection made from saltine crackers topped with toffee sauce, chocolate, and pecans. After baking, this cracker toffee sits at room temperature to set hard. Then, it’s easy to break it into pieces for serving.
  • This recipe goes by many other names: Christmas crack recipe, saltine cracker candy, saltine toffee bark, and holiday candy crack.
  • The exact origins of Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee aren’t clear, but it started appearing in the 1970s in the Midwest. Variations of this saltine toffee treat have become a staple at the festive season. You’ll love this quick recipe when the holidays get hectic!

Tools You Need

Key Ingredients and Why

Ingredients of Saltine Cracker Toffee

Saltine crackers

  • Fresh and crispy, with a delicate, light neutral flavor, saltine crackers are the ideal base for this delightful toffee. Their bubbly texture gives them a satisfying crunch.
  • You can also use soda crackers, which have a flakier texture, to make soda cracker toffee.
  • For a different taste, you can also use Graham crackers or Ritz crackers.
  • Use my Homemade Saltine Crackers Recipe for a 100% homemade version!

Dark brown sugar

  • Dark brown sugar is cooked with butter to make the sauce for this cracker toffee recipe.
  • Because it has more molasses than light brown sugar, it has a deeper, more caramel flavor and cooks down to a gooey texture.
  • Make your own dark brown sugar or enrich light brown sugar with my recipe, How to Make Brown Sugar.

Butter

  • Silky, melted butter gives the sauce a luxurious texture.
  • The dairy-fresh, slightly salty butter flavor combines perfectly with the brown sugar.
  • Butter contains natural emulsifiers, which bind the sauce’s ingredients into a smooth, cohesive mixture.

Salt

  • Salt enhances the sugar and chocolate flavors and keeps the toffee from being too sweet

Milk chocolate

  • Smooth and creamy milk chocolate is an ideal contrast to the crisp toffee and crunchy saltine crackers.
  • Milk chocolate, sweeter than bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, sets off the saltier, toasty toffee to perfection.

Pecans

  • Pecans, with their rich buttery flavor and crunch, and to the pie.
  • Toast the pecans to bring out their peak flavor.

How to Make Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

Prepare to make the toffee sauce

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
  2. Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper (or aluminum foil).
  3. Cover the pan with a single layer of saltine crackers.

Cook the toffee sauce

  1. In a medium saucepan, cook the dark brown sugar, butter, and salt. Simmer over medium heat for five minutes.

Step-by-step instructions on how to make Saltine Cracker Toffee: n a medium saucepan, cook the dark brown sugar, butter, and salt. Simmer over medium heat for five minutes.

  1. Pour the brown sugar mixture over the crackers.

Pour the brown sugar mixture over the crackers.

Bake and finish the Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

  1. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until toffee is bubbling.
  2. Sprinkle with chopped chocolate.
  3. After the chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes, use an offset spatula to spread it evenly. Top with chopped pecans.

  1. Let cool and set for a few hours at room temperature before serving.

Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips

  • This saltine toffee recipe can get very sticky, so don’t skip the putting parchment paper on the rimmed baking sheet!
  • To speed up the process of setting the chocolate, you can refrigerate the saltine toffee for 20 minutes.
  • You can replace the milk chocolate chips with dark chocolate chips semi-sweet chocolate chips if you wish.
  • Instead of pecans, feel free to use almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts.
  • You can try making this candy recipe with our Homemade Saltines or Matzah Crackers.

Make Ahead and Storage Instructions

Make ahead tips

  • Make the toffee sauce ahead, cool, and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.
  • When you’re ready to assemble the cracker toffee, warm the sauce over low heat, stirring constantly until it’s thin enough to pour.

How to store leftovers

  • Store leftover saltine toffee candy in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

A tin of crunch Saltine Cracker with toasted nuts.

FAQs

Can I make this saltine cracker toffee recipe gluten-free?

  • Yes, you can make this saltine cracker toffee recipe gluten-free. Simply use a gluten-free cracker for the base.
  • Gluten-free variations of saltine crackers are usually labeled “table crackers.” You can also use gluten-free matzah-style crackers.

How would I make this saltine cracker toffee vegan?

  • To make this saltine cracker toffee vegan, you can substitute equal amounts of vegan butter and vegan chocolate.

What can I use instead of nuts?

  • Substitute crushed pretzels for another type of crunchy topping.
  • Crushed peppermint candies dress this saltine cracker toffee up for Christmas.
  • Use festive sprinkles: red and green for Christmas, blue and white for Hanukkah, or festive gold and silver for any occasion.
  • Skip a crunchy topping and swirl white chocolate over the milk chocolate.
  • Or melt butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips, and swirl over the milk chocolate layer.

More Quick Holiday Treats

Saltine Cracker Toffee

No ratings yet
Try Saltine Cracker Toffee with 6 ingredients in 20 minutes! Crunchy, buttery, topped with chocolate and pecans-perfect for holiday snacking!
Author: Gemma Stafford
Servings: 20 pieces
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Setting Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 28 minutes
Try Saltine Cracker Toffee with 6 ingredients in 20 minutes! Crunchy, buttery, topped with chocolate and pecans-perfect for holiday snacking!
Author: Gemma Stafford
Servings: 20 pieces

Ingredients

  • About 40 saltine crackers
  • 1 ¼ cups (8 oz/225 g) dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup (8 oz/225 g) butter, diced
  • teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups (12 oz/340 g) milk chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1 ½ cups (7 ½ oz/213 g) pecans, toasted and chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a 10×14 inch (25 ½ x 35 ½ cm) jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
  • Cover the pan with a single layer of saltine crackers. Break some in half to fill in edges if you need to.
  • In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together the sugar, butter and salt, and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes.
  • Pour the sauce evenly over the crackers, making sure that they are all covered.
  • Bake until the toffee is bubbling all over, about 6-8 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and with an offset spatula, put any crackers that may have moved back in place and let cool for 1 minute.
  • Sprinkle the chocolate all over the hot toffee and let it rest like this for 5 minutes to melt.
  • With the offset spatula, spread the melted chocolate evenly over the toffee, then sprinkle all over with the pecans.
  • Let this cool for a few hours, or until the chocolate has set hard. Break into pieces and serve.
  • Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe Notes

  • This saltine toffee recipe can get very sticky, so don’t skip the putting parchment paper on the rimmed baking sheet!
  • To speed up the process of setting the chocolate, you can refrigerate the saltine toffee for 20 minutes.
  • You can replace the milk chocolate chips with dark chocolate chips semi-sweet chocolate chips if you wish.
  • Instead of pecans, feel free to use almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts.
  • You can try making this candy recipe with our Homemade Saltines or Matzah Crackers.

 

 

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
most useful
newest oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

About Us

Meet Gemma

About Us

Meet Gemma

Hi Bold Bakers! I’m Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, a cookbook author, and the creator of Bigger Bolder Baking. I want to help you bake with confidence anytime, anywhere with my trusted and tested recipes and baking tips. You may have seen one of my 500+ videos on YouTube & TikTok or as a guest judge on Nailed It! on Netflix or the Best Baker in America on Food Network. No matter your skills, my Bold Baking Team & I want to be your #1 go-to baking authority.

 

Weeknight Family Favorites Chapter from the Bigger Bolder Baking Every Day Cookbook