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Okay, raise your hand if you ate these as a kid at Christmas time. Whoever thought of using salted soup crackers as the base of a square is brilliant. Salty, sweet, and chocolate? Yes, please!
Why I Think You’ll Love This Recipe!
- Sweet, salty, buttery and easy to make – what’s not to love about this easy dessert recipe?
- You can easily customize the topping on these. I have made ones with sprinkles for Christmas on them, such as the vintage Christmas Crack recipe. (named that way because of the crackers, and you “crack” it to make it)
Classic Christmas Treat
My mom loved to make these saltine toffee squares every Christmas, and now I know why; they are so easy and fast to make, it’s crazy!
We like to top ours with toasted pecans instead of sprinkles. While the sprinkles do look festive, the rich, toasted, nutty flavour of the pecans just can’t be beat.
How To Make Saltine Toffee
This is a quick recap; please see the recipe card for details.
- Place all your crackers side by side in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Melt the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan until they boil, then boil for 3 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and pour it all over the crackers, spreading it evenly.
- Bake in an oven for about 5 minutes at 400°F.
- Remove, sprinkle with your chocolate chips, cool, then cover with the toasted pecans.
- Chill for 20 minutes until set, and then crack into pieces
How to Store Saltine Toffee Squares
To freeze these treats, crack the bars into large pieces once they are entirely cool, and then lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet in the freezer.
Once frozen, almost completely solid (this could be pretty fast, depending on how fast the chocolate freezes), layer the pieces between parchment paper in a closed container and freeze for up to 3 months.
This lets you sneak a piece of these whenever you want—you don’t need to defrost it! So you might as well make a giant batch in the lead-up to Christmas!
Types of Chocolate Chips To Use
The traditional chocolate for these treats is semi-sweet chocolate chips. Semi-sweet chocolate chips are a cross between milk and dark chocolate, making them perfect for adding a chocolate taste without adding too much sugar to the recipe.
White chocolate chips would also work and be very Christmas-themed, but the flavor would change.
Dark chocolate would be excellent, and add a little bitterness to foil the sweetness in this dessert!
Milk chocolate is for serious sweet tooth people. If you use milk chocolate, make sure the topping is perhaps broken pretzels or salted toasted nuts to break up the sweetness.
Have you ever eaten these? If not, try them. I certainly would encourage you to gift them this year; they are so fast and easy. Any recipe that lessens the stress at Christmas is a winner in my books!
Happy Baking, everyone!
Love,
Karlynn
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Saltine Toffee Squares
Ingredients
- 40 saltine crackers
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a rimmed cookie sheet (also known as a jelly roll pan) with parchment paper.
- Align crackers side by side in a single layer along baking sheet then set aside.
- In a medium saucepan combine the butter and brown sugar and bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Once it reaches a boil stop stirring and allow to boil 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla then immediately and carefully pour mixture over crackers in an even layer. You will need to spread it out evenly using the back of spoon.
- Place in the oven and bake 5 to 6 minutes until bubbly.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top evenly with the chocolate chips.
- Let rest 5 minutes then using the back of a spoon spread the melted chocolate into a smooth layer. Sprinkle the pecans over the top evenly.
- Move to the freezer (or outside if you live where I live!) and allow to chill 20 minutes or until chocolate has set.
- Remove from freezer and break or cut into pieces. Store in an airtight container.
Kathleen Klohn says
I make mine with graham crackers, salted butter, brown sugar, chocolate chips. I don’t use vanilla and I also sprinkle with Skor bits.
The Kitchen Magpie says
Hmmm. Not sure if they would soak up the mixutre AND you would need to add salt. It’s the sweet and salty that make then divine! Add in about 1/4 tsp of salt if you do.
Krista Canfield says
I would think this would be even yummier with graham crackers. I will have to try.
The Kitchen Magpie says
Ooh that sounds yummy!
Cheryl Harrison says
I love them
Betty Wendell Ellis says
Yea I do also have a recipe starting with graham crackers
Gena Adams says
I might need to make them for work.
The Kitchen Magpie says
Sooo delicious!
The Kitchen Magpie says
Would I let you down with sweets? NEVER. Trust magpie 😉
Jinka Knight Bloom says
Mmmm! Me tooooo!
Candace Calkins says
OMG. I’ve seen this recipe many times before and always passed it off thinking “Crackers?? Eww! That can’t be any good!” Then you posted it, and I thought “Well, Ive liked everything else she’s posted”, and I decided to try it. Now my belly hurts because I can’t stop sneaking pieces! So good.
Gena Adams says
Sounds yummy!
The Kitchen Magpie says
Mmm I’m totally jealous!!
The Kitchen Magpie says
That’s a perfect name for it!!
Kristen Kolster says
We call it Xmas crack!! So good!
The Kitchen Magpie says
Oh they are SO addicting!
Sabine Dumdei Vanderkley says
i made these last month for the first time. we all got addicted! so i will definitely be making these for the holidays! love the xmas sprinkles on them!
Anne Taylor says
Too delicious for words really!
The Kitchen Magpie says
Salt and sweet, right? So. Good.
The Kitchen Magpie says
Oh my goodness! Well yes, bake away! Soooo delicious!
The Kitchen Magpie says
My mom froze them ALL the time!
Karen Harnett-Voigt says
I’ve never even heard of these much less make them … till now!! Can’t wait to try it.
Sheryl L McDonald says
i LOVE these!!
Ida Pence Waterous says
Can these be made ahead? How long can you keep them?
Lois Maillet Lynn says
They are so good
Keyko Davidson says
My sister made these with club crackers… Delish!
Leanne Williams says
Making these today!
Deb McKay says
Yup, pretty much the same, just your directions are better/more detailed. I put cinnamon instead of vanilla in this batch, plus I pull the crackers off the tray while still warm and put them in the fridge on a parchment lined tray to cool. I find it is an easier way to get a nice looking cookie, and less messy. (I had never heard of these until my Hubby’s Aunt gave me one about 15 yrs ago and I was amazed it was just a saltine.)
Amy Moeller-Stiles says
no! but I just used my bag of toffee bits on the brownies with heath and pecan topping…… now I just need an idea for all those caramels I purchsed!
Candice Gamez says
Just had some last night from my bake exchange. Very good!