Southern cooking relies on ingredients that are a.) Cheap, b.) tasty, and c.) generally pretty terrible for your body. Saltine Toffee historically meets all of those criteria. It’s often a Christmas cookie treat, but it’s one of my go to treats to send along on trips and as a gift.
Start by lining a sheet pan with saltine crackers. I line with foil for the mess and a sheet of parchment paper to stop the candy from sticking to the foil. Who wants to eat little bits of foil? (Foil sounds like f-oh-l when I say it, if that helps.)
In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring butter and brown sugar to a boil. Stir to keep the sugar from burning for 3 minutes.
Pour the boiled sugar mixture over the crackers (it will plop, more than stream) and spread evenly.
Bake in the oven at 425 for 5 minutes until the sugar mixture is hot and bubbling, then remove and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. I’m a stickler for fair trade chocolate because imho, child slavery tastes bad. Cover with foil and let sit for 5 minutes until the chocolate has melted, then spread the chocolate out across the toffee crackers. I top it with pecans, because Central Texas, but it’s good as is or even with crushed peppermint.
Refrigerate until cool, peel the candy from the lined pan and break into bite sized pieces.
Saltine Toffee:
Soda crackers, about 50
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup salted butter
2 cups fair trade semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 pecans
Preheat oven to 425. Cover a lined baking sheet with soda crackers, leaving as little gap as possible. Place butter and brown sugar in a heavy sauce pan and bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Pour boiling sugar mixture over crackers and place the sheet pan in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes or until bubbling. Remove from heat and immediately cover with chocolate chips. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Spread melted chocolate chips with a rubber spatula and then top with pecans if desired. Place the sheet pan in the refrigerator for 15 or 20 minutes until cool. Break into serving pieces. Best fresh while the crackers are still crisp, but can be stored in an air tight container.
Not The Knowing One 