I make this Christmas crack recipe every year during the holiday season. Not only is it easy to make, but it gets eaten very quickly. It’s called Christmas crack for a reason…it’s extremely hard to stop eating! Also known as cracker candy, this sweet and salty Christmas crack starts with a layer of saltine crackers covered in a rich and buttery toffee. Melted chocolate is then layered and spread evenly on top of the hot toffee. While the chocolate is still hot, sprinkle on your favorite toppings and then place it in the refrigerator so it can get cold. And that’s all it takes to make one of the most loved holiday treats!
🛒 Ingredients You’ll Need
The classic version is made with salted saltine crackers. That’s the base layer for this Christmas cracker recipe.The salt on the crackers helps cut some of the sweetness from the toffee and chocolate. The next layer is toffee and it is made using only 2 ingredients: butter and light brown sugar. Use butter for this recipe, not margarine. Using salted butter helps balance out some of the sweetness. If you want your crack candy to be extra sweet, use dark brown sugar. I use dark brown sugar in my Halloween crack candy recipe because I like it super sweet. Molasses is added to dark brown sugar for added sweetness and color. Melted chocolate is the next layer and is spread evenly over the hot and bubbly toffee. You’ll finish it off with your favorite toppings which can include festive holiday candies, like M&Ms, sprinkles, nuts, or pretzels.
🔪 How To Make Christmas Crack
Start by preheating the oven to 400°F. Then, line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Put the saltine crackers side-by-side on the cookie sheet so they are touching. Ensure the crackers are laid out evenly and touching on all sides, but not overlapping. Set aside. Next, make the toffee. The key to getting that soft and easy to chew toffee when making this Christmas crack recipe is to cook the toffee for a certain amount of time. This will eliminate the candy from tasting grainy. Place the salted butter and brown sugar into a large saucepan. Set the stovetop burner to medium-high heat. When the brown sugar and butter start to melt, the mixture will start bubbling. Have a large wooden spoon ready to start stirring. The goal is for the toffee to stay at a rolling boil until it starts to thicken. From there, let the mixture boil for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly to ensure the toffee is not sticking or burning. During that 3 minutes, the toffee mixture should remain at a slow rolling boil. The rolling boil helps some of the moisture evaporate, which helps make the toffee softer. After the toffee is at the consistency above, pour it onto the tray of salted crackers. At this point, the toffee should have a caramel texture. Using a spatula, spread the warm toffee as evenly as possible onto the salted crackers. Now that you have the toffee spread evenly, put the cookie sheet of salted crackers topped with the toffee into the preheated oven. The goal is to let the mixture get hot and bubbly. This usually takes about 5 minutes, so keep your eye on this process so it doesn’t burn! While the toffee is getting hot, put the chocolate morsels into a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 1-2 minutes until melted, ensuring to stop every 20 seconds to stir. Once the toffee is hot and bubbly, pull the baking sheet out of the oven and evenly spread the melted chocolate on top of the toffee until all the crackers are covered. From there, add on the toppings. You can use one topping or a variety of many. For this Christmas crack recipe, I like a variety of chopped pecans, M&Ms, sprinkles, and crushed pretzels. Now the Christmas crack candy needs to get cold so it can become hard. Place a potholder or kitchen towel in the refrigerator and then put the baking sheet into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (preferably 12-24 hours) so these candy crackers can harden. Once hard, it’s ready to cut. Or, you can break the Christmas crack with your hands. To do so, start pulling up the crackers from the aluminum foil and break into small pieces. Place each piece on a serving plate and enjoy!
🍫 Variations and Substitutions
There are so many different ways to make Christmas crack! It’s fun to get creative with different crackers, types of chocolates, and toppings. While saltine crackers are the most popular, club crackers, ritz crackers, or gram crackers can also be used. Milk chocolate morsels tastes great with the toffee, but feel free to substitute dark chocolate or white chocolate. You can even mix in some peanut butter! The topping choices are endless! I struggle to choose just 1, so I typically separate the toppings into 4 different sections on the baking sheet. Some of the best topping varieties for making Christmas crack are:
crushed peppermintbroken pretzel piecesM&Mspeanut butter morselsbutterscotch chipspecansalmondswalnutshazelnutssprinklescrushed oreossea saltcoconut flakestoffee bits
To turn this Christmas crack into a mixture of both milk and white chocolate, all you need to do is drizzle on melted white chocolate. To do this, melt ¼ cup white chocolate morsels in a microwave safe dish and microwave for 20 seconds. Stir, then heat again for 10-15 seconds until completely melted. Take a whisk and dip it into the bowl of white chocolate and then drizzle on the melted white chocolate into lines. If the white chocolate starts to thicken while drizzling it onto the cracker candy, sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of paramount crystals and it will help keep the consistency of the chocolate fluid.
🙋 Frequently Asked Questions
💭 Expert Tips
Any size cookie sheet will work when making this Christmas crack recipe. Most cookie sheets are 18"x 26" and will work great! The crackers don’t have to span across the entire sheet. If lining the cookie sheet with aluminum foil, use a heavy duty aluminum foil. It makes it easier to remove once you cut the cracker candy. Parchment paper can also be used. There is no need to spray the aluminum foil with cooking spray before placing the crackers. It’s easy to peel off the foil once the candy has cooled. Use a good quality chocolate such as Ghirardelli. Enjoy Life brand is also excellent to use if you are looking for a vegan chocolate.Cool this Christmas candy in the refrigerator, not the freezer. While 2 hours is enough to harden this crack candy recipe if you are in a hurry, you’ll get better results if you allow it to cool for 12-24 hours.For best results, store this crack candy in an airtight container. It will last for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze cracker candy!This Christmas crack recipe makes the perfect gift! Surprise teachers, coaches, and friends with a bag of different assortments of this crack candy!
🎄 More Christmas Desserts
I have so many amazing Christmas recipes that the entire family will love! Fudge is super popular to make during the holiday season and if you like peanut butter and chocolate, then you’ll love this chocolate peanut butter fudge recipe. It can be made in the microwave! Another fudge recipe to try is this old fashioned chocolate fudge recipe. It originated in the 1960’s and is still one of the most popular and requested recipes around. It’s rich, full of chocolaty flavor, and perfect for the holiday season! Lots of cookies are also made during the holiday season. If you’re looking for a wide variety of different types of cookies, then you’ll love the ones I feature in my 25 Christmas Cookie Exchange Recipes article! You’ll find traditional cookie recipes from pinwheels and spritz cookies to the more unique recipes for rosette, meringue, and linzer cookies. And these 25 Gluten Free Christmas Desserts feature brownies, cakes, tarts, cookies, and so much more!
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