This candy is so addictive I only ever make it at Christmas (which to me is the Season of Excess), and it’s so flippin’ easy to make, it’s a great baking craft that you can have the whole family take part in.

Most of the ingredients are likely already in your pantry, and it’s incredibly adaptable to whatever you happen to have lurking in your baking cupboard so you likely don’t have to make a special trip to the grocery store (which is good as it’s crazy out there with last-minute Christmas shoppers, pandemic or no pandemic!)

I call this Kat’s Christmas Crack in honour of my good friend Katrina, as while this recipe is an old one, her special addition of fancy molasses really gives the toffee a fantastic flavour and I’ll be doing it this way from now on 🙂

Kat’s Christmas Crack

• 50 saltine crackers (approximately 2 sleeves) – also good with graham crackers, chocolate covered digestive biscuits, original Ritz crackers
• 1 cup salted butter, cubed
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• ½ cup fancy molasses
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup toppings of choice (mini chocolate candies, miniature other-flavoured baking chips, melted white chocolate, mini marshmallows, chopped or sliced nuts, dried fruits, festive sprinkles, etc.)

1. Pre-heat oven to 325°F. Line a large, rimmed baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray the foil liberally with non-stick cooking spray and then line the pan with crackers, salted side up. Try not to leave any gaps; place smaller broken crackers in any empty spaces.
2. Heat the butter, sugar, and molasses in a medium sized pot over low medium-low heat. Stir frequently until butter has melted, then raise temp and bring to a boil for about 4 minutes. Stir constantly. If you have a candy thermometer, you are looking for between soft crack (saltwater taffy) and hard crack (toffee) stage: about 290°F/143°C).
3. Remove pan from heat and pour quickly but evenly and carefully over saltine crackers. Spread mixture into any gaps with a silicone spatula, but it doesn’t have to be perfect at this stage. Move quickly before toffee hardens.
4. Place pan in the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes. The mixture will spread evenly over the crackers as it bakes.
5. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Put pan back in oven for 1 minute to assist in melting. Carefully and lightly spread melted chocolate over entirety of toffee-saturated crackers.
6. Sprinkle choice of toppings liberally over entire surface before chocolate cools. Drizzle melted white chocolate overtop if desired. Let rest for 1 hour or so until the pan has completely cooled. At this point you can place pan in fridge or freezer for 15 minutes to encourage toffee to harden and set completely; otherwise, wait until toffee and chocolate is firm enough to break into pieces.
7. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 – 2 weeks.