This Christmas Candy is the perfect combination of crunchy, salty, and sweet! It pairs saltine crackers with a 2-ingredient caramel and melted chocolate — it’s the best holiday candy, and totally addicting!
Cracker Toffee is the World’s Easiest Christmas Candy!
We have a yearly tradition of making this Christmas Candy. It’s so easy to make, it is inexpensive, and it’s addicting — it has the nickname “Christmas Crack” for a reason!
I originally found the recipe in the book Queen of the Castle: 52 Weeks of Encouragement for the Uninspired, Domestically Challenged or Just Plain Tired Homemaker.
It was called “Crookies” in there, but we’ve re-named it “World’s Easiest Christmas Candy.”
Cracker Toffee Recipe Ingredients
- saltine crackers (enough to cover the baking sheet)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 stick butter
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- various optional toppings (see below for ideas!)
How to Make Saltine Cracker Toffee
1. Lay one sleeve of Saltines out on a cookie sheet (you can spray or grease the pan first. I haven’t had trouble with it sticking, but some mentioned in the comments they’d recommend this.)
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt one stick of butter with 1 cup of brown sugar. Bring to a low boil for roughly 3 minutes, until a gooey mixture forms.
3. Pour this mixture over the saltines and spread with a spatula to generously coat them.
4. Stick the pan in a 350º oven for five minutes, or until the brown sugar mixture is bubbling on the crackers.
5. Remove pan from oven, sprinkle chocolate chips over the crackers, and let them sit for a few minutes until they melt.
6. Spread the melted chocolate chips evenly over the crackers and sprinkle any optional toppings while the chocolate is still soft (see below for more ideas).
7. Put pan in the freezer for around an hour (until the chocolate hardens).
8. Once the chocolate hardens, use a metal spatial to break the crackers into pieces.
Cracker Candy Recipe Variations
There are SO many ways you can spice up this basic recipe for various holidays or events.
- Add colored sprinkles for the current season or holiday.
- Add crushed nuts or pretzels for a salty crunch.
- Add chopped candy bars or cookies (Oreos are amazing!) for a really sweet treat.
- Try toasted coconut or dried fruit for a completely new flavor combination.
- Use white chocolate and food coloring to create a specific color “candy”.
- Swap out the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips, caramel chips, Heath chips, butterscotch chips, or even mint chips for a totally different taste.
- Drizzle finished bars with another chocolate flavor (for example: dark chocolate candy with white chocolate drizzle).
- Use graham crackers instead of saltine crackers and top with chocolate chips and marshmallows.
- Make an Easter version with white chocolate and colorful sprinkles.
How to Serve Saltine Toffee
Aside from piling it into a festive bowl and grabbing a few pieces before everyone else gets their fill, you could also use Christmas Candy as part of a dessert charcuterie board with various other cookies, candies, fudge, truffles, etc.
You could also make several varieties of this Saltine Toffee and serve it buffet style with little cups or baggies so everyone can take their favorites.
How to Gift Cracker Toffee
This Christmas candy makes an excellent frugal gift idea for almost anyone on your list.
Simply package it up in fun holiday-themed bags and tie with a ribbon or twist tie.
You can make it weeks in advance and put the gift baggies in the freezer until it’s time to give the gift.
How to Store Cracker Candy
Once the crackers are completely cooled and the candy is broken apart, put it in an air-tight container and refrigerate for 1 week or freeze for longer.
Saltine Cracker Toffee Recipe Troubleshooting
The issue is most likely that the sugar didn’t fully dissolve into the butter. Bring the mixture to a low boil and boil for roughly 3 minutes to assure the sugar is fully dissolved.
Possibly because of stale crackers (Saltines can go stale even in the package).
Also, the toffee will be chewy until the chocolate is fully hard, so put it back in the freezer for 15-20 minutes longer and see if it’s crunchier.
The World’s Easiest Christmas Candy
Ingredients
- 1 sleeve Saltine Crackers (or more if desired)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup butter (1 stick)
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- optional toppings
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Grease an 11" x 16" jelly roll pan.
- Line entire pan with 1 layer of saltine crackers.
- In a medium sauce pan, bring butter and brown sugar to a low boil
- Simmer for 3 minutes, or until mixture is very gooey and sugar is completely disolved.
- Pour caramel mixture over crackers and spread with spatual until fully covered.
- Bake crackers in preheated oven for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle chocolate chips over crackers immediately after removing pan from oven. Let sit for a couple of minutes until chocolate is melty.
- Spread melted chocolate over crackers with spatual.
- Sprinkle optional toppings (sprinkles, nuts, chopped candies, etc.) into melted chocolate.
- Put entire pan into the freezer for 1 hour, or until the chocolate hardens.
- Once chocolate has completely hardedn, remove pan from freezer and use a metal spatual to break up the crackers .
- Store Christmas Candy in an airtight container or freeze for later.
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Reader Interactions
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My mom adds slivered almonds on top. This is one of my Christmas goodies I miss since having to be gluten free.
That sounds delicious. I’m sorry you can’t partake anymore! -Jordan, MSM Team
We do it for all sorts of occasions— Christmas gifts for neighbors, teachers etc. so easy! We generally do it with white sugar and we always add butterscotch and often peanut butter chips too. Then walnut pieces on top.
Freezes so well!
This stuff is Christmas crack! It is extremely addicting. My oldest son and I could not stop eating it. To be honest, I’m not sure I’ll make it again because I really had no self-control. It’s amazing!
Oh so yummy! This has been a family favorite for years! We do it with matzoh crackers instead of saltines though.
Yep, Kendra. I’ve always seen is with matzoh, the Jewish version of saltines.
I made that with graham crackers instead of Saltines this year. I can’t recall the title of the recipe. Yum! The closest thing I get to “toffee”!
I have made this for the last 3 years–this year it turned out gooey unless I keep it refrigerated–is that normal? It was hard the last two years. Thoughts?
I also was told to foil line and then parchment line the pan–forgot the parchment and what a pain to peel the foil off.
Mine tastes great, but I don’t like the texture at all.
One of my closest friends has made this for me at Christmas for years! She calls it Bark. Not sure of the reason…maybe it looks like tree bark?
Thank you so much for posting this recipe, Crystal! I made it today for the first time and it turned out great!!! It was super easy for me and my 5-year-old to make together as a treat for his great-grandparents. Merry Christmas!!!
My friends and I call this candy “crack” it’s so addicting! I’ve been making it for years and it’s one of my most requested recipes!
oh and make sure you butter the foil.
It is nearly impossible to pull out little bits of foil once it is hardened. Not so fun to bite into it either!
Ok, I don’t have any room in my freezer so could I put them in the refrigerator? Don’t know if that would work? Any ideas? Thanks and Merry Christmas.
@Lisa V, We have always used the refrigerator and never the freezer for this recipe.
Also, we’ve always called it Saltine Toffee.
@Jennifer B.,
I put it on foil (sprayed) on my baking sheet. Once it was done baking, I slipped the foil off the baking sheet and onto a cutting board and popped that in my freezer. It worked perfecto! My 2 cookie sheets I have were also way too big for my freezer (could not close the door!). =)
I just made this stuff today. WOWEEE! After I cut it all up for the storage container, I finished the pan with a fork standing at the kitchen counter. How can anything this cheap and easy taste so good? I am so not a cook, but I am really proud of myself! This tastes like I know what I’m doing! Thanks so much. Merry Christmas.
I made this last night, BUT I boiled the butter and brown sugar too long and it was hard to spread over the crackers…I know this seems fool proof, but I ave 3 little ones and was busy…SO…be careful not to do my mistake and let the sugar mixture be a little on the runnier side. 🙂
@mariah, I’m glad I’m not the only one who messed up the world’s easiest candy! I was trying to measure out ingredients for chex mix while the butter/brown sugar was melting and when I came back to pour out the mixture and spread it was one big glop that wouldn’t spread. Had to throw the whole thing in the trash. I really need to stop thinking I can do more than one thing at a time!
@Amy, HAHA! I can completely relate! Have a Merry Christmas!
love this! i put my own little twist to it here: http://stayfunnie-mom.com/2010/12/graham-cracker-christmas-candy/
Crackers are one of my anti-nausea tools… Wonder if this would make a tastier alternative!
I’ll have to try it
Salted or unsalted butter?
@My Boaz’s Ruth, I used unsalted butter last night since i had sticks of that and it worked just fine. But I think somehow I overcooked it wether I let the brown sugar and butter melt to long or I baked it too long which I only did 4 min and still burnt the sugar. So had to throw half of it out because it was burnt and bitter. The other half was yummy my daughter and I loved it the boys didn’t care for it.
I made it for the 1st time last night.. Used graham crackers & margarine instead of butter, then sprinkled pecans on top. It tasted very good but even though I lined the pan with parchment paper it stuck very badly.. Next time I want to try it with graham crackers and marshmallows..Maybe some peanut butter chips.. I make a marshmallow peanut butter toast my kids love so I bet they will eat that too…
We do sthe same thing but with graham crackers and crushed candy canes or nuts on top.
I’d like to try the pb version — can somebody please help me with it? Do you use pb instead of b sugar?
Also, I made something very similar some time ago — maybe the same recipe — and the saltines seemed pretty soggy. Didn’t see any other mention of this though.
Thanks and Have a Blessed Christmas!
I just made this tonight for the first time, and it was so yummy. I’m going to make another batch tomorrow, this time with a mix of peanut butter and dark chocolate chips. Thanks for the great idea! 🙂
Oh YuM! thanks for all the wonderful treat ideas.
I just made this the other night! I originally saw it on Paula Dean’s show and thought it was crazy! I then saw it on balancing beauty and bedlam and had to try it! Yumm-o!!! I used parchment to line the pan (SUPER easy clean up!) and heath bar chips on top! Definately a new tradition!!!
Within hours of readig this post, someone gave some to us! Too funny! I wonder if she got the idea on here!
I am soooo glad you posted this recipe! I had it for the first time a few months ago and have thought of it repeatedly and keep forgetting to google the recipe. Printing right now! Definitely one for the “fast” recipe catagory in my recipe box.
I made a similar version once with graham crackers, brown sugar mixture and pecans on top. It’s called “Boy Bait” and my husband literally couldn’t stay away. Lol. I need to try this since I have all the ingredients!
Seriously amazing on matzoh…try it!
We call it Christmas Crack around here because you get so addicted. My MIL made it with Cinnamon Sugar Ritz crackers and it was the best thing I’ve ever had. I may buy up all the Cinnamon Sugar Ritz I can find and make some up for work this weekend-the guys that have to work over will love it.
I grew up in Hawaii (where the traditions are slightly different) but I never saw toffee on Saltines until I moved to the Midwest and I thought it was very bizarre at first, like a knock off to real toffee or something, now I know that EVERYONE makes it and I am the oddball! But I still think it is like “redneck” toffee. =)
I love all the comments on this one- I am laughing!
I grew up eating this. We call it Cracker Candy. My mom used to make it at Christmastime. She is not with us anymore, but I plan to make it with my daughter when she gets big enough (she’s a year old)!
I was just introduced to these last week. SOOOOOOO addicting! I made a batch for myself the next day and devoured it myself in about 3 or 4 days. YUM!
We make these too but call the kringle treats…. You can also use grahm crackers. We put walnuts and sprinkles on ours and we use regular sugar instead of brown. Next batch we make Im going to try the brown sugar and see if we like it better 🙂
I have a friend who brings something like this to every party. We call them “Death Cookies” because they are SOOO good and so addictive!
My uncle always made this and it is truly one of my favorite parts of christmas. He passed away last christmas, but now I have the recipe and can carry on the tradition. thanks!
Wow, I managed to mess up the World’s Easiest Christmas Candy. I decided to try it, and thought I could remember the ingredients without printing it out (I mean it is the world’s easiest, right?) I used 1 cup of butter, not 1 stick. Whoops, thought it looked a little runny. Good thing I got some free Nabisco saltine’s at my local store last week 🙂
Reminds me of a poor man’s version of the Skor candy bar… Had them for the first time at our church’s Christmas fellowship on Sunday. All I can say is… WON-DER-FUL!
Use white chocolate and it’s even tastier! 🙂
@Katie, I know someone that usese white chocolate and then sprinkles crushed candy canes on them!
foil…good tip. mine stuck to the pan so bad. but still great. hope my pan cleans up!
I just followed made this, following your recipe. I wish I had sprayed the pan with Pam first, because it stuck to the pan really badly. I’ll know next time! Still yummy, though.
I made this last year, but the recipe was called “Poor Man’s Toffee” and you use cheeze it crackers (the big ones) instead of saltines. I never would have guessed the ingredients – so rich and scrumptious!
Love this stuff! My grandma always made it.
This is my favorite Christmas cookie recipe. Only difference is I like to cut the hardened cookies into squares following the size of the saltines. And, it’s awesome with bittersweet chocolate!
@Alicia,
P.S. I line the sheet with foil and lift the hardened piece off onto a cutting board to then cut into squares.
Very addicting is right — we call it Cracker Candy. 🙂
Would this work with Reeses pieces on top? I was thinking, chopping them up and using them in place of the chocolate chips.
@Jennifer, I don’t think you would get much melting action in order to spread and create the third layer (first being cracker, second being toffee though those two sort of combine).
We make this with Big CheezIts and sprinkle toasted chopped pecans on top. Just made a pan of it a couple days ago and it is almost gone 🙂
I am going to try it with pepermint kisses!
My mother makes these every year at Christmas! She calls them English Toffee Bars. It wouldn’t be Christmas without them 🙂
we made this over the weekend and passed out to our neighbors – we made it more “christmasy” by sprinkling with crushed candy canes. it was delicious – even my husband liked it and he doesn’t like the regular kind.
I was given this by a friend… is was kinda icky! Was it suppose to be soft? It sounds like I might have got a bad batch of it. Others seem to love it.
@Natalie, So glad you posted. I hate this candy so I’m glad I’m not alone in a sea of “so goods” LOL.
not supposed to be soft…it should be kind of crunchy
@jessgrtn, I had it at a school get together a couple of weeks ago, and I didn’t care for it either. My daughter and her friends, however, RAVE about it!!
@Natalie, Stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours and let it harden up – when it’s soft, it’s not real great. Try it when it’s cold and you might change your mind – or you might not! 🙂
@Natalie,
Did you use margarine?
I have used margarine before and it didnt harden up right.
I could see the margarine separate into the water/oil. It was disgusting.
We call them homemade heath bars or toffee bars.
Have always used brown sugar and saltines.
Just sent hubby to the store and grabbed the list to add chocolate chips so I could make this! LOL
Funny. This is the second time today I’ve seen this recipe posted. We call them Chocolate Crackers at our house.
They are even better with graham crackers. Easier to chew, for some reason. And alas, much easier to consume. 🙂
I first had this when I worked for a Jewish couple 20 years ago as their nanny. They use matzo. I always pick up several boxes after passover for this recipe. We even like it without the chocolate.
can the butter be margarine? if so, i could make these dairy-free. i tried margarine for another toffee recipe and it was a flop…and a waste of expensive dairy free chocolate. dare i experiment again???
@jamie,
I was wondering the same thing about butter vs. margarine.
@coupon woman,
I”ve made them with margarine and it’s not nearly as good. It seems to make them kind of gooey instead of crispy.
@jamie, I used margarine and they turned out great!
My mom used to make this for us when we were little. It’s SO good!!!!!! We used regular sugar instead of brown sugar but I bet brown sugar would be really good in it!!!!
My almost-70-year-old mother has made these FOREVER and she got the recipe from HER mother, so the idea has been around for a while. We have always called them Cracker Cookies. My grandmother made a slightly different kind by using Graham crackers as the base – also very yummy!
Does it matter if the saltines are stale? I’ve got a sleeve and a half of stale saltines I need to either use for this or throw away! 🙂
@Jenae {I Can Teach My Child}, Crumble up the stale saltines and use them like breadcrumbs.
We make this as well but we call it CRACKER CANDY!! Instead of saltines we use club crackers 🙂 We’re making some tomorrow to take to a family Christmas. I love the stuff, it’s so addicting…
We have made this many times, and it is always a hit with the family. I got the recipe off a saltines box years ago. This wasn’t on my list of treats for this holiday season, but I’ve just added it after seeing your post. Merry Christmas!
If you cut with a knife the crackers and chocolate before you put it in the fridge to harden then it’s super easy to break once they are finished. They crack into squares instead of pieces and there’s a nice “seam” to bend it.
This is what Christmas tastes like to me! lol My grandmother & mother used to make it every year. 🙂 I could eat the whole batch practically! (Not that I should!) We call it “Georgia PineBark” because we got the recipe from my Aunt who lives in Georgia & it looks like bark! lol
These are also really good with graham crackers instead of saltines. I’d never heard of using saltines before. 🙂
We make this every year, sometimes with saltines, but we like it better with club crackers or the Big Cheeze its! (thats the best!) We make it in the Pampered Chef large bar pan so we make 1 1/2 the recipe. My 14 yr old daughter now makes this, it is so easy
@Annette,
This is the way I want to make it… 2 of my favorite things. Cheez its and crackers. YUM
@Lisa,
lol, I meant Cheezits and chocolate. I am so distracted by the thought!
We make ours using “club” style crackers. Add sprinkles or nuts on top too!
We LOVE this! My mom makes it every year and it is SO good! I might have to make my own this year. Thanks for the recipe- my mom’s is slightly lacking in details and measurements!
These do taste amazing! We just had them on Sunday!
Try it with graham crackers too!
Thanks- just made this w/ my 5 year old! It looks similar to my MIL’s english toffee recipe, which I’ve been dying to make but haven’t wanted to spend the money on all the walnuts her recipe calls for. Using my (free) saltines instead will save me a bunch of money, and I’m sure it will be delicious! Can’t wait for it to come out of the freezer.
Yummy! I can’t wait to make this! And I have that book – I’m planning on going through it next year!
We love this too! We call it Almond Roca…because that’s what it tastes like to us. It’s great with chopped nuts on top.
These are wonderful made with graham crackers as well! And topping with pecans before adding chocolate is awesome too!
Blessings,
Courtney
@Courtney,
Aha, graham crackers….another good idea….
Boil butter and brown sugar for 3 minutes. We have always lined the cookie sheet with foil, greasing slightly with the butter wrapper. This recipe has been in our family for many years as well…. I actually tried to make it last night, but didn’t have enough saltines.
I just made these Sunday with my 3 yr old. We call it Christmas crack since you have to crack it up and because it’s addicting lol
We make this with sheets of matzo during Passover.
We do this with the Club crackers too which make them even more buttery. I’ve also added some chopped pecans on top. YUM!
@Amanda Davis,
Hmm….I have multigrain Club crackers….think those would work? They don’t taste as “healthy” as they sound. I hate to waste all those chocolate chips if it’s not gonna turn out though….
@val,
I love that you are more concerned with wasting the chocolate chips than the “healthy” crackers! lol You are my kind of girl! 🙂
Nicola
@Nicola,
LOL yeah that sounds funny doesn’t it! I do have a good reason though. I buy the expensive chocolate chips – Guittard or Ghiradelli. I started because my son can’t have dairy and those have none added and that was it, I got hooked. Wayyyy better than Nestle or Hersheys! So yeah, waste the crackers, who cares but not those dang chocolate chips! I have been known to eat them on a spoon full of peanut butter after a long crappy day too. 🙂
It looks a lot like the caramel matzoh crunch recipe I used during Passover. Very addictive!
I wish I had some saltines in the house. There is ice all over the roads so I can’t get out. Will do this another day though. We also like this with Heath Toffee chips on top.
We love it with Heath bar topping. YUM!
@Amy, Yes, margarine works. Kosher Jews use margarine.
@PollyS, And matzoh instead of saltines! Great at Passover!
After my failed attempt at a homemade gingerbread house just now…this is just the kind of recipe I need to redeem myself. This is now next on my list. 🙂 Thanks!
@val, haha we just made one today too and it is the ugliest thing you ever saw. I poured red kool aid on top to made it look “festive” or something and it just looks like a haunted house oozing blood. It is scary looking man. I’m so making these easy cracker candy things… do they have a name?
@jeni,
At least you have a HOUSE. I had a front, half of two side walls, barely a back and no roof! It just totally fell apart! I think we need to post our pics somewhere and compare. If nothing else maybe I won’t feel so bad after seeing friends’ houses on facebook who used the kits for the first time. LOL And seriously, this was ALL I freaking did today.
@val, HOT GLUE! seriously. hot glue it next time. then cover with icing. no one will ever know… just don’t eat the glue 🙂
I recently saw a “gingerbread” house recipe made with poptarts. We’re going to try that — seems closer to my skill set 🙃
What a cute idea!! -Jordan, MSM Team
I’ve had this at my friend’s house with chopped up pretzels and M&M candies on top. It was amazing! I never go the recipe, so I’m excited to try this. I am a little worried about the addictive factor, though. 🙂
We make something similar to this, only using club crackers (which are a bit more spendy) and melting peanut butter and chocolate chips for the top layer. Soooooo yummy!
my family calls this Cracker Toffee… someone I grew up with calls them Brittle Cookies. Doesn’t matter what its called… its YUMMY! This is my favorite christmas candy too
I make this all the time and it is a favorite. We even sell it at church fairs.
This stuff is so good! I got the recipe off the back of a box of Kroger brand saltines. It’s also good with chopped pecans or peanuts on top.