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This is the Best Christmas Crack Recipe! It’s a saltine cracker layered with toffee and creamy chocolate, then topped with crunchy pecans for the ultimate sweet and salty treat. This recipe is so easy, delicious, and addicting!
Our family goes crazy for it every Christmas. If you love toffee as much as we do, try this easy Homemade Toffee, this Graham cracker-based Christmas crack toffe, or this Disneyland copycat churro toffee!
Best Christmas Crack (Saltine Cracker Toffee)
I’m not kidding when I say this is the BEST Christmas crack toffee recipe out there! It’s so easy to make, and it’s a great recipe to make with your kids. You use a crunchy saltine cracker as the base of the toffee, which gives it a nice salty crunch that is seriously addicting. You only need a few simple ingredients to make this perfect for Christmas treat!
I love making Christmas candy to share with friends and neighbors. I like that I can hand out a few plates of Grinch cookies and some divinity candy, and I know everyone will love it. Everyone in my family knows I just want fudge for Christmas! This Christmas crack makes the perfect addition to any treat plate or cookie box that you plan on sharing with loved ones this Christmas season.
Ingredients
You only need a few ingredients to make this addictive Christmas crack toffee! Next time you are at the grocery store, pick up your favorite salty crackers. You will have the perfect base for this toffee. You can find the exact measurements below in the recipe card.
- Saltine Crackers: The salty cracker adds a delicious crunchy base. It also helps to keep the toffee together and adds great flavor!
- Butter: This melts with the brown sugar to make the candy toffee topping.
- Brown Sugar: You melt the sweet brown sugar with butter to make the toffee topping for this toffe. Brown sugar has molasses in it which gives it a deeper and richer flavor.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate: This is for topping your toffee mixture. You can use your favorite brand of chocolate chips. The better quality you use, the better your toffee will taste!
- Pecans: I like to chop them and sprinkle them over the top for an extra crunch! You could even toast them or candy them first to give them more flavor, or you could leave them off! Whatever you are going to like most is how you should make it.
Christmas Crack Recipe
Christmas crack is so simple to make, and is so easy to eat! I can’t get away without making at least two batches every year, because everyone always wants more. The best part is, you don’t have to be skilled at candy making to get this recipe right every time! It’s a simple recipe that the whole family will be able to make together.
- Prep: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 10 x15 inch baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Add Crackers: Place your saltine crackers in even rows and set aside.
- Make Toffee: In a saucepan over medium high heat melt the butter and brown sugar and whisk and let it boil for a few minutes.
- Bake and Add Chocolate Chips: Pour over the saltines and spread out and bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips and let it sit.
- Smooth Chocolate and Add Pecans: Spread the chocolate over the Saltines and sprinkle with chopped pecans and let it harden. Cut into pieces and serve.
Variations of Christmas Crack Flavors
This recipe is so delicious as is, or you can switch up the flavors! You can make so many different kinds of toffee, here are a few that I’ve tried and loved!
- Add Other Toppings: I’ve added pretzels on top along with the pecans, and I’ve just added pretzels instead of the nuts. It was delicious! The additional salt on top was so yummy. You could also try M&M’s, toffee bits, your favorite candy bar crushed up, sprinkles, or candy canes!
- Use Different Crackers: I’ve used Graham crackers and Ritz crackers when I was in a rush and it was the only thing I had in my house. I think my kids liked the Graham crackers than the Saltine cracker version!
- Chocolate: You could use white chocolate, dark chocolate, or any flavor you like! I have even tried mint chocolate and cherry flavored chocolate, and it was all delicious.
- Try Different Nuts: Walnuts, peanuts, and almonds have all been a huge hit on top of this toffee. I mentioned earlier that you can also candy or toast the nuts to bring out different flavors!
Tips for Making Christmas Crack
There isn’t much to this recipe, but after making it for a few years I’ve picked up some helpful tips that will help your Christmas crack turn out perfectly every time!
- Use Aluminum Foil: Before you start, wrap your baking sheet in aluminum foil. This will make the cleanup so much easier!
- Making the Toffee: You will probably want your candy thermometer handy for this one. The toffee needs to reach 270-290 degrees Fahrenheit before you pour over the crackers. It should darken in color and thicken up!
- Let Toffee Rest: Your toffee will be really really hot once you pull it out of the oven. Let it rest for about one minute before you sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Be careful not to wait too long, or the chocolate chips won’t melt!
- Melting Chocolate Chips: If your chocolate chips don’t melt once you put them on the caramel, you can pop the pan back in the oven for a few minutes to help them soften up. Don’t let them get too hot, or they will seize and burn instead of melt!
- Spread the Chocolate: Softly and slowly spread the chocolate mixture around. If you push down too hard or move too fast, the crackers can slide around and it will make a mess!
Storing Leftovers
Christmas crack is a great treat to make ahead of time because it is really easy to store and tastes great for days when stored correctly. You will be so glad you gave this Christmas candy a try, it is one of our all-time favorites!
- On the Counter: Place in an airtight container or ziplock bag for 4 to 5 days at room temperature. Just make sure your house isn’t too warm, or the chocolate will start to melt again.
- In the Refrigerator: You can also store your Christmas crack in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for about 2 weeks.
- In the Freezer: You can freeze Christmas crack! And trust me, it’s so nice to be able to pull this out of the freezer when you need a quick treat. Store it in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Make sure to layer a piece of parchment in between layers so they don’t end up frozen together in a big clump.
Other Christmas Treats
Giving a neighbor a plate of cookies or treats is one of my favorite ways to ramp up the holiday cheer. It feels so good to get to know the people in your neighborhood a little better, and to share something homemade. Here are a few Christmas recipes that your friends and neighbors will love!
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Best Christmas Crack Recipe
Ingredients
- 35-40 saltine crackers
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 10×15 inch baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Place your saltine crackers in even rows and set aside.
- In a saucepan over medium high heat melt the butter and brown sugar and whisk and let it boil for a few minutes.
- Pour. over the. saltines and spread out and bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips and let it sit.
- Spread the chocolate over the Saltines and sprinkle with chopped pecans and let it harden. Cut into pieces and serve
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is the standard recipe. A few other additional steps we’ve added are:
Turn off oven.
Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.
Let stand for 1-2 minutes or until the chocolate starts to look shiny and is soft enough spread evenly over the toffee. If the chocolate is still not warm enough to spread after 4 minutes, place it back in the still hot oven for a minute to help soften it.
Top with any additional toppings like chopped nuts or sprinkles, if desired.
Chill in the refrigerator for about 2 hours to harden.
Peel away the foil and break into pieces.
This tastes good, but it did not set up correctly and was gritty. I think the recipe would benefit from stating an exact number of minutes to boil the sugar and butter mixture to ensure that the sugar dissolves completely, creating the correct consistency.
Hi Kris, I’m sorry it turned out gritty! That is so frustrating! You don’t necessarily need a candy thermometer for this recipe, but if you want to be extra sure to cook your toffee long enough, go ahead and grab one. The toffee needs to reach 270-290ºF. It should darken in color and thicken up! I found about 4-5 minutes of boiling to be adequate for me.
Turned out great. I sprinkled a little coarse sea salt on top with the pecans. My question is what is the best way store the leftovers?
Hi Meeca! A lot of my posts have a leftover section to help you know the best way to store something. Its typically near the bottom of the post. Here is what the tip box says about this recipe;
On the Counter: Place in an airtight container or ziplock bag for 4 to 5 days at room temperature. Just make sure your house isn’t too warm, or the chocolate will start to melt again.
In the Refrigerator: You can also store your Christmas crack in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for about 2 weeks.
In the Freezer: You can freeze Christmas crack! And trust me, it’s so nice to be able to pull this out of the freezer when you need a quick treat. Store it in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Make sure to layer a piece of parchment in between layers so they don’t end up frozen together in a big clump.
Wow… after screwing up 2 batches I see in the “tips” what temp the toffee has to get to. Why wouldn’t you add that to the actual recipe? Wasted so much food and now we don’t have any butter to try to make anything else.
I am so sorry this didn’t turn out for you, especially that you tried it twice. How frustrating!
Light or dark brown sugar?
You can use either Marion, the dark will give it a richer depth of flavor than light, but I would just use what you have on hand, or what you prefer.
One of our favorite family recipes. When I was little and my parents divorced, this was the only cookie my dad knew how to make. Sometimes he’d add candy chopped up
Love and have been making for years! Family favorite!!
One change is parchment paper instead of foil. Comes off so easily
I’ll change my recipe. I forgot about parchment paper. Thank you!
How long does it take to harden?
Hi Lisa, It should take a few hours to harden. You could speed up the process by putting in the fridge if you need, but it will still take an hour in the fridge. I hope this helps!