A holiday tradition known as Chocolate Saltine Toffee to some people, and more recently known as Christmas Crack. I don’t care what you call it as long as you share some with me!
Welcome to Day 2 of Christmas Week. This annual event was started was something I started way back in 2012. This year we have over 35 bloggers sharing festive sweet recipes for the event.
Another day, another holiday treat. This one is a bit unusual for me. I tend to shy away from trends. I really don’t care for the trend of calling all food “crack”. It irks me. Yet here I am calling this Christmas Crack. The only reason I’m calling it that is because it’s what people know it as.
So I apologize if anyone hates the name. Or if anyone else is as irked by the “crack” trend as I am. I named it both names that I know it as in the hopes people would know what it was. It’s basically an easy candy recipe you can make in a snap with very few ingredients. Score!
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I will warn you to watch the caramel mixture as you are warming it up on the stove. Honestly, it can go from a beautiful golden brown to a hideous burned mess in no time flat. So keep your eyes on it and be ready to pull it off the stovetop quickly. Don’t cook it at high heat. You’ll scorch it!
Now that I’ve scared the crud out of you, and likely offended some people with the name of this treat let’s move on.
If you’d like to get to know the bloggers involved you can scroll the links below. There’s over 35 of us participating in Christmas Week this year. It’s a great group of bloggers and I’m so happy they all joined me for this adventure.
Recipes as yummy as Mini Peanut Butter Cup Christmas Crack:
- Oreo Bark
- Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cookie Stacks
- Gingerbread Hot Chocolate
- Snowflake Oreo Cookie Balls
- Red Velvet Swirl Fudge
- S’mores Christmas Crack
- Pistachio Roca
- Chocolate and Peppermint Fudge
Recipes from Day 2 of Christmas Week! Please visit all our talented participants:
- Caramel and Chocolate Fudge from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Cranberry Bliss White Chocolate Bark from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
- Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls from Food Done Light
- Maple Doodles from Farm Fresh Feasts
- Blue & White Christmas Bark from Flour On My Face
- Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Cranberry Cake with Orange Glaze from Lauren Kelly Nutrition
Places to stalk Cravings of a Lunatic!
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A holiday tradition known as Chocolate Saltine Toffee to some people, and more recently known as Christmas Crack. I don't care what you call it as long as you share some with me!
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 30 saltine crackers
- 8 oz mini peanut butter cups
- 1 cup walnut pieces crushed
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Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
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Spray a 11 x 7 baking pan with non-stick spray generously. Set aside.
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Combine the butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and cook on medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until the butter melts and the mixture is very well combined. Stir the mixture occasionally.
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Increase heat a tiny little bit, and bring the mixture to a low boil, you want to cook it for about 2 to 3 minutes, just so it starts to thicken a bit and turn golden brown. Don't stir it during the process, but you can lightly swirl the pan. Keep a really close eye on it because it can go from a beautiful golden brown to a burnt mess in no time flat. As soon as it turns amber turn off the heat and swirl so it doesn't overcook.
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Place the crackers in layers in the pan while the mixture is cooking. I used 30 crackers to line my 11 x 7 pan. It made two layers.
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Pour the sugar mixture over top of the crackers as evenly as you can. Place the pan in the oven and cook for about 7 minutes. Remove from oven.
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Toss peanut butter cups over top and cover the pan with foil to help them melt a bit more. Leave covered for about 5 to 7 minutes.
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Uncover and top with walnut pieces.
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Allow the bars to cool completely. Then break or cut into pieces.
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Serve with a big old chocolate loving smile!
Recipe adapted slightly from Kraft Crunch Bars
This stuff is seriously addictive!!
Thanks to all the participants of Christmas Week, as well as everyone who entered the giveaway and shared the recipes. We appreciate YOU!
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Toodles! xx
Karen Weaver says
December 8, 2015 at 10:17 AMRum Balls or anything PB and chocolate are favorites of my gang!
Isabelle @ Crumb says
December 8, 2015 at 1:06 PMDear Kim,
Please send a big box of this to my office ASAP. It’s an emergency. And by emergency, I mean I’m having a massive craving for chocolatey deliciousness after reading this post and I just realised I cleaned out my work chocolate stash a couple of days ago. Surely you wouldn’t want your bestest Toronto buddy to suffer? Sniff sniff.
Sincerely,
Isabelle
Liz says
December 8, 2015 at 1:19 PMNow this is the kind of crack I like talking about! Especially with pb cups—it wouldn’t last long around here!
Pamela Gurganus says
December 8, 2015 at 2:03 PMMy favorite sweet treat to make for the holidays if fruitcake!
MaryAnne JK says
December 8, 2015 at 5:34 PMjelly thumbprints and fruited coffee cake like raspberry …mmmm, in the morning with coffee, can’t beat it!
Lisa says
December 8, 2015 at 6:25 PMEasily my favorite treat to make for the holidays is Ricotta cookies with Maple or Cinnamon frosting.
heather says
December 8, 2015 at 8:25 PMI love to make fudge for the holidays.
Danielle says
December 8, 2015 at 9:31 PMMy favorite thing to make are chocolate-raspberry truffles!
Laureen says
December 8, 2015 at 10:55 PMwhat a great roundup of recipes!
Laureen says
December 8, 2015 at 10:57 PMI love to make White Chocolate Candy Cane popcorn
Linda K says
December 9, 2015 at 12:02 AMHi Kim,
These look delicious! Pinning for sure. My favourite sweet treats are cookies but I never turn my nose up at anything chocolate! Happy holidays!
Teresa says
December 9, 2015 at 3:30 AMChristmas means Ricotta cookies and angel wings………..which will be made this weekend/ Awesome giveawy, thanks for the chance to win.
Annie says
December 9, 2015 at 7:05 PMLove Christmas Crack
Marcia S. says
December 9, 2015 at 8:25 PMPeanut butter fudge, my Grandma’s recipe, it’s a must have!
Linda says
December 10, 2015 at 7:12 AMI like making chocolate cake during the holidays.
Dawn Monroe says
December 11, 2015 at 9:51 PMI always make my moms fudge recipe, it’s always a favorite. My grandpa use to make popcorn balls and pulled taffy which I would love to make with my grandkids but I don’t have a good recipe and its probably frowned upon these days to cover a kids hands in butter and give them scalding hot taffy to pull. 🙂
Dionne Baldwin says
December 12, 2015 at 4:19 PMI’ll take two batches. Mailing you a blank check. 🙂 Curious about this saltine toffee craze and you caught my eye with the magic words “peanut butter cup”!
Betsy @ Desserts Required says
December 13, 2015 at 10:21 PMI could get addicted to this kind of crack! It’s interesting that you use saltines. During Passover I make something similar to this using matzo which is very bland. I have to try this to find out how the salt ramps the flavor up a few notches!
Faye Dopking says
December 14, 2015 at 11:33 AMI love to make Almond Puff for my husband, friends and family. Everyone gets their own batch so it is a real workout on the arms! I love to follow as many food blogs as I can and Christmas is one of the best times, thanks to all for being so generous with their time and talents.
Faye
Kim Beaulieu says
December 15, 2015 at 12:05 AMThanks so much Faye. You are so sweet. We love when people follow us too, so it’s a win-win situation.
Almond Puff is amazing. I have a feeling you know your way around a kitchen. I love that.
Angela | Mind Over Batter says
December 17, 2015 at 1:39 PMNow this is my kind of crack!! It’s definitely not the wack kind!! I’m making this the second I get home today!!
Cathleen @ A Taste Of Madness says
December 18, 2015 at 6:45 PMI love making cookies all throughout the holidays. This “Christmas Crack” looks so good!!
Lauren Kelly Nutrition says
December 19, 2015 at 7:03 PMFirst off, I love the name of this!! I seriously can’t wait to make this! I bet everyone LOVES it!
Kirsten says
December 19, 2015 at 8:00 PMKim,
I’m ok with either name–it’s delicious and I’ll just eat it all! The first Fall we lived here in Ohio our street had a block party. I brought a salad since I had a bunch of farm share ingredients to use up. Story of my life. A few hours before the party a new neighbor expressed concern that there wouldn’t be enough desserts. I rummaged around in my pantry and had the ingredients for saltine toffee–so I made it and yes, as usual, it was a hit. Very nice to make a batch and get it all eaten the same day!
Thanks for introducing me to a new variation!
jane werthmann says
December 21, 2015 at 5:31 AMmy favorite thing to make is the seven layer bars and homemade truffles
Tracy Quebral says
December 21, 2015 at 12:49 PMThumbprints!
Anne says
December 22, 2015 at 12:57 AMI’ve been hearing friends talk about “Christmas Crack” recently and know I just have to make some with the peanut butter cups. I have Club crackers on hand and wanted to know if I could use them, and if so, how many would I line the pan with? Thanks!
Kim Beaulieu says
December 24, 2015 at 1:44 AMHi Anne, I’ve never tried it with Club Crackers but I assume it would work. Not sure how many, because the size of them is different than saltines. A box is more than enough, you might use half a box, if even that many. I’d layer one layer if the crackers are super thick. If the crackers are thin you could lay two layers of crackers on the bottom. I’ve used saltines in crack recipes, and also chocolate graham crackers. Graham crackers work beautifully. Hope that helps a bit. I wish I could give you a count but I’ve never used that particular cracker so I’m not sure their size. Typically you just lay 1 to 2 layers of crackers on the bottom of the pan. So 1 box is more than enough. You won’t even use them all. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Laura @MotherWouldKnow says
December 25, 2015 at 3:37 PMI just happen to have some saltines in my pantry that need to be used up. Would it be such a shame if I made a boatload of this toffee and hid it from the rest of my family? Oops, guess I let my secret out. Making it right after I do the pistachio brittle on your site:)
Deanne Patterson says
December 26, 2015 at 6:48 PMMy favorite holiday goodie to make is peanut butter blossoms. With 12 children not a lot make it til Christmas day but we make dozen and dozen of other cookies as well.
Sandra L Garth says
November 28, 2017 at 7:32 PMNot bothered by the name and this would disappear in a heartbeat!
Kim Beaulieu says
November 28, 2017 at 10:14 PMThanks Sandra. I love this stuff.