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The easiest caramelized Saltine Cracker Toffee recipe, straight from my best-selling cookbook! With 4 ingredients, this recipe is crunchy, salty + sweet, and irresistible.
Saltine Cracker Toffee Recipe
Also known as Christmas Crack, this is the absolute best saltine cracker toffee recipe! Insanely simple, this sweet and salty toffee treat is sure to impress even the toughest scrooge. Combining saltine crackers, caramelized brown sugar, and milk chocolate, this toffee is the queen of salty + sweet desserts. In fact, this Christmas Crack recipe is so good, it earned a spot in my best-selling Christmas Cookies & Candies cookbook and has been tested + loved by hundreds of thousands of families.
There are 3 things I always do to make this recipe for saltine cracker toffee easy-peasy!
- I always line my pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat. This makes it so much easier to remove the toffee (and bonus: it makes cleanup a breeze).
- I line the crackers in tight even rows. This is KEY to easily spreading the toffee and chocolate on top.
- I chill the Christmas Crack Toffee in the fridge to help it set up faster so I can get this in my mouth ASAP.
Ingredients in Christmas Crack Saltines
You are only 4 ingredients away from a delicious salty, sweet, and crunchy treat! Follow to a ‘T’ or customize according to your preferences.
- Saltine Crackers – This recipe is usually made with Saltine crackers, but can also be made with thin pretzels crisps or Ritz crackers.
- Butter – I always use salted butter! But if you prefer unsalted butter, have at it.
- Brown Sugar
- Chocolate Chips – I love milk chocolate, but this recipe would also be great with semi-sweet or dark chocolate. You can even do white chocolate, if that’s your thing.
How to Make Saltine Cracker Toffee
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and then line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the saltine crackers in a tight single layer on the lined cookie sheet and set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar together.
- Once the butter is completely melted, turn the heat up to medium high and stop stirring. When the mixture begins to boil, set a timer for 3 minutes.
- Once the mixture has boiled for 3 minutes, remove from heat and pour it over the pan of saltine crackers.
- Spread the mixture with a spatula to cover the crackers evenly.
- Next, place the pan with the crackers and brown sugar/butter layer in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. The mixture will bubble in the oven. Don’t worry if it looks like the crackers are floating in the mixture, this is totally normal.
- When the 5 minutes are up, remove the cookie sheet from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.
- Place the pan back in the oven for 1 more minute, or until the chocolate is completely melted.
- Remove from the oven and spread the chocolate with a spatula to cover the toffee evenly.
- Allow the toffee to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then place in the refrigerator so the toffee and chocolate can set completely.
- Once the toffee is completely cool, cut, break, or crack it into pieces and enjoy!
How long does saltine cracker toffee last?
Christmas crack will last for up to a week in an airtight container or zip top baggie at room temperature.
This toffee also freezes great, so you can store it in your freezer for up to 3 months (if you can resist it for that long)!
Cracker Toffee FAQs
This is called Christmas Crack because it is made with crackers, you crack it into pieces at the end, it cracks in your mouth, and it’s highly addicting!
Most of the time, the culprit for soggy Christmas Crack is not cooking the toffee layer long enough. Add a little bit of time to your bake and check the consistency.
We’re not quite sure where saltine cracker toffee came from. BUT we think it originated in the Midwest.
If your saltine toffee is grainy, it’s likely that the toffee mixture was not cooked to the right temperature, causing the sugar to crystallize and form grains. Here are some tips to help you avoid grainy toffee and achieve the right texture:
– Once the sugar and butter have combined and starts boiling, do not stir. This can cause the sugar to crystallize.
– Do not scrape the sides of the pan when pouring the toffee out onto the crackers. Disturbing the crystalized sugar that hangs out on the sides of the pan can cause the rest of the sugar to crystalize.
– Avoid cooling the toffee too fast, this can cause crystallization.
If you like Cracker Toffee, try these!
Saltine Cracker Toffee
Ingredients
- 40 saltine crackers
- 1 1/2 cups (333g) salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups (369) brown sugar
- 2 cups (400g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F (205° C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the saltine crackers onto the parchment lined cookie sheet in a single layer. Set aside.40 saltine crackers
- In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar together.1 1/2 cups (333g) salted butter, 1 1/2 cups (369) brown sugar
- Once the butter is completely melted, turn the heat up to medium high and stop stirring. Once the mixture begins to boil, start a timer for 3 minutes.
- When the mixture has been boiling for 3 minutes, remove from heat and pour over the saltine crackers.
- Spread to cover the crackers.
- Place the pan with the crackers and brown sugar and butter mixture into the 400° F (205° C) oven for 5 minutes. The mixture will be bubbling and it will look like the crackers and floating in the mixture.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with the chocolate chips.2 cups (400g) chocolate chips
- Return to the oven for about 1 minute, until the chocolate is completely melted.
- Remove from the oven and spread the chocolate to cover the top of the toffee.
- Allow the toffee to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes and then place in the fridge to help set up the toffee and chocolate faster.
- Once the toffee is completely cool, break or cut into pieces and enjoy!
We love this recipe… well we love the end results really! So simple. Fun to make and fun for kids to help with. Also it’s fun to switch up the crackers you use or try different kinds of chocolate chips. So many possibilities. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool.
It’s delicious although mine chocolate seperated from the rest of the bar. I went to cut it and the chocolate kept falling of the top of the treat. Do you know what I did wrong? I thought I followed the recipe to a tee. Thanks
Hi Jodi! Sometimes this happens if the hardned caramel isn’t warm when adding the chocolate chips to the top. Make sure that the caramel is still warm and it should help fix the problem.
My husband bought imperial margarine sticks instead of butter. Will that work the same?
Hi – I haven’t tried it, but Imperial Margarine has a higher water content than regular butter so it will may effect the way the toffee sets up.
Amazing! Everyone raved
This was super easy and I will honestly make it for all occasions.
Wondering can I freeze this?
Yes, this recipe freezes really well! Store in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
So yummy! But I had to make it a few times because I kept burning the Carmel 🙁 I was following directions-what do you think I did wrong? Only boiled for 3 minutes.
Hi Julie! It may be that your stovetop burns a little hotter than mine. Try reducing the heat and see if that helps.
It’s really good using cinnamon graham crackers too!
Milk or semisweet chocolate?
I used milk, but you can use semisweet if that is your preference!
Before you let it cool, I add Christmas sprinkles (the red,white, and green ones)it gives it a festive look without changing the flavor.