Saltine Cracker Toffee, often referred to as Christmas Crack, is a sweet and salty confection and one of the easiest holiday treats you can make!

This recipe for Saltine Cracker Toffee was introduced to my family decades ago by my great-grandma. It is sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy, and absolutely divine! And while this holiday treat tastes like toffee, it is MUCH easier to make!

Reasons to Love Saltine Cracker Toffee

Super Easy Recipe. Saltine Toffee takes just minutes of prep and bakes in less than 15 minutes and no candy thermometer is needed! It is a homemade candy recipe that even a beginner can handle making! In fact, I have been making this treat since I was a young child.
Simple Ingredients. Saltine Cracker Toffee is obviously made with saltine crackers. But the other ingredients are things you like you likely always have on hand; butter, brown sugar, and chocolate chips.
Irresistible Flavor. Sweet, salty, rich, buttery, and crunchy, l can easily see why people refer to Saltine Cracker Toffee as Christmas Crack because it is exceptionally hard to stop yourself from shoveling it by the fistfuls into your mouth. However, my grandma would not approve of that name, so I still refer to it as Saltine Cracker Toffee to this day! 😉
Year-Round Treat. While we typically enjoyed this treat during the holiday season along with Snowball Cookies, Candy Cane Cookies, and mugs of Peppermint Mochas or Christmas Tea, there is no reason you can't enjoy this simple confection year-round.

Notes On Ingredients & Equipment

Ingredients for Saltine Toffee labeled on counter.

Saltine Crackers: The saltine crackers add a salty element to this dessert that will help to balance out the sweetness of the layers of butter, sugar, and chocolate. For this recipe, I typically use one full sleeve of saltine crackers.
Butter: Be sure to use unsalted butter for this recipe, as the saltine crackers will add enough of a salty element to the candy.
Brown Sugar: For a rich, caramel-like flavor, brown sugar is best. You can use either dark or light brown sugar with minimal differences.
Vanilla: I find that adding just a touch of vanilla extract to the brown sugar butter mixture really enhances the nutty flavor of the toffee layer.
Chocolate Chips: To create a rich, thick chocolate layer, use dark, milk, or semi-sweet chocolate chips. They will melt beautifully over the toffee layer, creating a luxurious finish to this sweet treat.
Nuts (optional): My great-grandma always topped this candy with chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans. The nuts add a nice crunch but are completely optional.
Rimmed Baking Dish: Be sure to use a rimmed baking sheet, so that the butter and brown sugar mixture does not drip down into your oven, creating a huge mess.
Parchment Paper + Foil: The foil will make for easy clean-up, as toffee can be a bit difficult to clean from your pans and the parchment will make the saltine candy easy to remove from the baking sheet.

Variations on Saltine Toffee

While my great-grandma's recipe was made with the addition of chopped nuts, there are endless ways to change up this recipe to create delicious flavor variations of this candy.

Peppermint: Swap out the chopped nuts for crushed-up candy canes, for a minty spin on this classic treat.
Rocky Road: Sprinkle chopped pecans and diced mini marshmallows over the melted chocolate.
M&M: Sprinkle mini M&Ms over the melted chocolate. During the holidays, I love to use festive colors to make it extra special. Red and green for Christmas or pastel colors for Easter.
Almond Joy: Add chopped almonds and shredded coconut to the layer of melted chocolate.
Pretzels: For an additional salty bite, sprinkle pieces of broken-up pretzels over the chocolate after it has been spread over the saltine crackers.
Use Graham Crackers: Instead of using saltine crackers, you can use graham crackers to line your sheet pan. This will result in a much sweeter version of this treat.
Peanut Butter Cup: Drizzle warm peanut butter over the layer of melted chocolate (before it sets up) and then sprinkle with mini peanut butter cups.

How to Make Saltine Cracker Toffee

Tips To Remember When Making Saltine Cracker Toffee

The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Use both foil and parchment paper to line your baking dish. Don't be tempted to simply line your cookie sheet with foil, as the foil is likely to stick to your crackers and be difficult to pick off.
Don't overcook the toffee mixture. Melt the butter and brown sugar together over medium heat. Once the mixture is bubbling, only cook for 1 minute.
Melt the chocolate in a warm oven. After adding the chocolate chips to the saltine cracker mixture, return the pan to the oven that has been turned OFF and let it sit in there for 1-3 minutes. This will give the chocolate time to fully soften and be easy to spread, without burning the chocolate.
Add toppings while the chocolate is still warm and not yet set. This will let the nuts (or toppings of your choice) adhere to the chocolate.
Chill before serving. Before breaking or cutting your toffee up into bite-sized pieces, let it cool fully and then refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. This will give the chocolate and toffee time to harden fully.

Bowl of saltine cracker toffee with walnuts and chocolate chips on counter.

Storage Instructions

Saltine Cracker Toffee should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to 2 weeks.

More Easy Christmas Treats

If you enjoyed this simple recipe for Saltine Cracker Toffee, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.

Saltine Cracker Toffee

This ridiculously easy recipe for Saltine Cracker Toffee is made with just 6 ingredients to create an irresistible sweet and salty treat.

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 15

Chilling: 1

Total Time: 1 25

Servings:

Calories: 207kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

Ingredients

▢ 42 saltine crackers
▢ 1 cup unsalted butter
▢ 1 cup brown sugar
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
▢ 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
▢ ½ cup chopped walnuts optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350℉.
Line a jelly roll pan or rimmed baking sheet with foil. Top the foil with a layer of parchment paper. Spread the saltine crackers out evenly over the baking sheet to form an even layer, salt-side up.
Combine the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture comes to a boil, allow it to cook for just 30 seconds, while whisking constantly. The mixture should be a deep golden color. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla extract.
Drizzle the caramel mixture evenly over the crackers, spreading to cover if needed. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the oven OFF.
Sprinkle the chocolate evenly over the crackers. Return the pan to the warm oven for about 1 minute, or until the chocolate is soft and glistening. It will not take more than a minute or two.
Remove the pan from the oven, and use an offset spatula to spread the melted chocolate evenly over the crackers. If desired, sprinkle with nuts (or candy, etc) over the chocolate while still warm.
Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and then transfer the tray to the refrigerator to chill completely. This will take about 1 hour.
Once the chocolate has hardened, cut or break it into bite-size bars. Store the toffee candy in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Equipment Needed

Notes

Chocolate: Feel free to use milk or dark chocolate in place of the semi-sweet chocolate. If not using chocolate chips, be sure to finely chop the chocolate before adding it to the candy.

Nuts: Use chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans OR omit the nuts.

Note on Salt: If using unsalted saltines, you will want to use salted butter or stir in ¼ to ½ teaspoon of kosher salt to your caramel mixture when you add the vanilla extract. You need a bit of salt to balance out the sweetness in this recipe.

Recipe Modifications:

Peppermint: Swap out the chopped nuts for crushed-up candy canes, for a minty spin on this classic treat.

Rocky Road: Sprinkle chopped pecans and diced mini marshmallows over the melted chocolate.

M&M: Sprinkle mini M&Ms over the melted chocolate. During the holidays, I love to use festive colors to make it extra special. Red and green for Christmas or pastel colors for Easter.

Almond Joy: Add chopped almonds and shredded coconut to the layer of melted chocolate.

Pretzels: For an additional salty bite, sprinkle pieces of broken-up pretzels over the chocolate after it has been spread over the saltine crackers.

Use Graham Crackers: Instead of using saltine crackers, you can use graham crackers to line your sheet pan. This will result in a much sweeter version of this treat.

Peanut Butter Cup: Drizzle warm peanut butter over the layer of melted chocolate (before it sets up) and then sprinkle with mini peanut butter cups.

Nutrition is based on 1/24th of the recipe without adding nuts.

Nutrition

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