Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

These easy saltine cracker toffee bars are perfect for anyone who loves sweet and salty desserts, and they’re so easy to make! You can top them with chopped or slivered nuts, but I usually just give them a little bit of flaky sea salt on top. These bars go by a few names, one of the other popular names is “Christmas Crack”, but I always grew up calling these “Sweet & Salty Bars”.

When I was little, these were one of my grandmother’s go-to treats to make, and they were always my favorite! My grandmother always made them with margarine rather than butter, which come out incredibly ooey gooey. Eventually I tried making them with butter, and I was surprised at how hard and crunchy the toffee portion came out. I was hoping for a texture somewhere in the middle of those two, so I tried making them with half margarine and half butter, and the results were perfect! Now this is my go-to way to prepare them.

These bars are a great sweet to keep on hand in the freezer. They’re delicious eaten straight from the freezer, or after warming up on the counter for a few minutes. I usually pack them in freezer zip bags on layers of wax paper, and they don’t take up too much freezer space. If you plan on finishing them off in a week or less, they also store great in the fridge.

Key Tips – Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

Use 1/2 butter and 1/2 margarine.

  • If this recipe is made with two sticks of butter, the toffee portion will come out brittle and crunchy. If it’s made with two sticks of margarine, the toffee will come out very soft and gooey. When made with 1 stick of each, the toffee comes out like a soft but firm caramel, and I think it’s the perfect texture for these bars!
  • It may seem silly to use two ingredients that are so similar, but it really does have a big impact on the final texture of these simple bars.
Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee
Here you can see the soft caramel on the bottom of the bars.

Use good quality chocolate chips.

  • This recipe works great with chocolate chips, so you don’t need to splurge on baker’s chocolate bars (unless you want to). That being said, I’d recommend using high quality chocolate chips (like Toll House or Ghirardelli).
  • I always use dark chocolate for these bars, but they’re also great with semi-sweet.

Be very careful when handling the tray out of the oven.

  • After baking, the shallow baking sheet will be full of hot, liquid caramel. You have to be very careful when removing it from the oven to make sure it doesn’t tip and spill. I highly recommend using two hands to handle the sheet rather than attempting to grab it with just one.

Freeze the bars longer to make breaking them up easier.

  • The more frozen the bars are, the easier it is to break them up into individual portions. I usually freeze them for a few hours (or even overnight) for the best results. That said, if you’re in a rush or just cant wait any longer, one hour in the freezer should be enough!
Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee
Saltine crackers lined up on backing sheet.
Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee
After adding the caramel and baking.
Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee
Chocolate chips scattered, before melting.
Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee
Completed bars after the chocolate has melted and been spread.

Dietary Restrictions – Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

This dish is naturally Vegetarian

Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

A Note On Serving Sizes

I’ve listed the serving size as one bar that is about the size of a saltine cracker, which has 100 calories. The size of your bars may vary because they don’t always break into evenly sized pieces.

Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

Jacqueline Schell
Sweet and salty saltine cracker bars that are so easy to make! Gooey caramel wrapped around saltine crackers, topped with dark chocolate and flaky sea salt.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 30 minutes
Freezer time 1 hour
Course Dessert
Servings 45 bars
Calories 100 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 400° F
  • Line a large Jelly Roll pan (or rimmed cookie sheet) with aluminum foil, spray with nonstick spray, and arrange the saltines salt-side down in a single layer. Break some crackers into smaller pieces to fill in the edges as needed.
    Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee
  • Melt together the butter and margarine in a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted add the brown sugar. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is bubbling all over and turns a caramel color. Allow the mixture to boil for about a minute, then remove from heat (be careful to ensure it doesn’t boil over).
  • Mix well, then pour the mixture over the crackers, covering them as evenly as possible. Put the jelly-roll pan into the oven and bake until the mixture begins to bubble, about 3 minutes. Very carefully remove the pan from the oven, taking care to keep it level, as the pan can easily spill.
    Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee
  • Set the pan down on a heatproof flat surface. Use a butter knife or spatula to re-level any overlapping crackers back into a single layer. Once the mixture has stopped bubbling, scatter the chocolate chips evenly over the top. The chips will take a few minutes to melt completely (it may look too sparse before the chips melt, but don't worry, they will cover all the bars). Spread them as they melt to form an even layer of chocolate on top. Optionally, top with flakey sea salt or slivered nuts once the chocolate is partially set.
    Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee
  • Once the pan is cool to the touch, transfer it to the freezer or fridge and chill until completely cooled (I use the freezer). Once fully chilled, remove from the freezer and peel off the aluminum foil. Break the bars up into pieces, about the size of 1 saltine (it’s okay if the size varies piece to piece). Store in an airtight container between layers of wax paper in the fridge or freezer.
    Easy Saltine Cracker Toffee

Notes

If you use two sticks of butter these will turn out hard and crunchy like a brittle, if you used two sticks of margarine they will be soft and very sticky. I think the half butter & half margarine approach yields the best texture! The caramel layer will be soft but not too messy.
Freeze longer for easier breaking. You can store these in the freezer for a few months, and they are great to eat straight out of the freezer!

Nutrition

Serving: 1 barCalories: 100kcal
Keyword Candy, Dark Chocolate, Saltine Bars, Saltine Cracker Toffee, Sweet & Salty Bars, Sweet and Salty Bars
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

If you like this, you may also like…

If you like this recipe, you may also enjoy my Dark Chocolate Coated Nutty Buddies, Fudge Filled Pumpkin Bars, and Easy Candied Pecans! More dessert recipes coming to the site soon! My old dessert recipes can still be found on Instagram.

Dark Chocolate Coated Nutty Buddies
An easy and surprisingly elevated dessert! Little Debbie Nutty Buddy peanut butter wafer cookies coated in dark chocolate and topped with flaky sea salt.
Check out this recipe
Dark Chocolate Nutty Buddy
Fudge Filled Pumpkin Bars
Rich pumpkin and dark chocolate fudge bars, perfect for fall gatherings! This recipe uses cake mix to keep prep quick and easy, needing only about 15 minutes hands-on!
Check out this recipe
Fudge Filled Pumpkin Bars
Easy Candied Pecans
Easy and delicious cinnamon sugar roasted pecans. These candied pecans are perfect for holiday parties and holiday gifting!
Check out this recipe
Easy Candied Pecans

Send me pictures of your creations — it’ll make my day! Message @CraftyCookbook on Instagram or tag me in a post! Please note, tagged posts are only visible to me if your account is public. Did you make any interesting changes or substitutions for this recipe? Tell me about them in the comment section below!
This site contains affiliate links. All rights reserved – Crafty Cookbook 2023

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating