Saltine cracker toffee
Salty crackers under bubbling brown sugar toffee and a layer of melted chocolate, broken into shards that vanish from any holiday tray.
- 90 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 16
- About $0.39 a serving
- 290 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. Whatever’s left keeps for tomorrow.
Ingredients
For 16 servings.
- 40 saltine crackers
- 2 sticks butter
- 2 cups chocolate chips
From your pantry
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ tsp salt, flaky, for the top (optional)
Each serving has about 290 calories, 2 g protein, 33 g carbs and 18 g fat, and costs about $0.39 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 400°F. with and lay the crackers on it in one snug layer, salty side up.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Line a pan. Lining a pan means covering the bottom, and often the sides, with parchment paper or foil before the food goes in. Leave the paper hanging over two sides, and you can lift bars or brownies out in one piece to cut them neatly.
How you’ll know: The paper lies flat against the bottom, with flaps sticking up on two sides like handles.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Parchment paper. Parchment paper is a nonstick, oven-safe paper for lining pans. Food lifts right off and cleanup is easy, but don’t swap in wax paper or put parchment under the broiler.
How you’ll know: It lies flat in the pan, and the food slides off when you lift it.
Put the butter and brown sugar in a medium over medium heat and stir until the butter .
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heat
Bring it and let it bubble for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until it and turns a shade darker.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Dolly’s tip: It foams up as it boils. Keep stirring and watch that it doesn’t creep over the sides.Food safety: Boiling sugar is much hotter than boiling water and sticks to skin. Use a long spoon, keep children and pets away from the stove, and let it cool before you touch or taste it.
Pour the toffee over the crackers right away and spread it into an even layer with a spatula.
Bake 5 minutes, until the toffee bubbles all over.
Timer: 5 min
Scatter the chocolate chips over the hot toffee, wait 5 minutes for them to , then spread the chocolate smooth.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Timer: 5 min
Sprinkle with flaky salt if you like, then until the chocolate is firm, about 1 hour.
Chill. Chilling means putting something in the fridge until it’s cold all the way through. No-bake desserts firm up as they chill, and chilled cookie dough spreads less in the oven.
How you’ll know: It feels cold in the middle, not just on top, and it holds its shape when you cut or scoop it.
Timer: 60 min
Break the toffee into rough pieces with your hands and keep them in a covered container.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop picks a dessert for treat night, puts what you need on the week’s grocery list, and walks you through each step.
