Easy Christmas Crack Recipe

This Christmas crack recipe is made with only 4 ingredients and is almost impossible to stop eating. Sweet and salty with a light crunch, this is a classic holiday recipe that everyone loves!

It's never been so easy to make candy at home, especially during the holidays! Every year, I make these delicious chocolate truffles, this old fashioned fudge recipe, and this chocolate peanut butter fudge. And now, I've added making this Christmas crack recipe every year to my routine! Similar to my Halloween crack candy, not only is this cracker candy easy to make, but it gets eaten very quickly. It's called "Christmas crack" for a reason...it's extremely hard to stop eating!

This sweet and salty Christmas crack recipe 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, you're going to 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!

Jump to:

• ℹ️ Why This Recipe Works
• 🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
• 🍫 Variations and Substitutions
• 🥣 How To Make Christmas Crack
• 🙋 Recipe FAQs
• 💭 Expert Tips
• 🎄 More Christmas Dessert Recipes
• Easy Christmas Crack Recipe

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🛒 Ingredients You'll Need

• Saltine Crackers: the base layer for this candy recipe, make sure to use salted crackers. It will help balance out some of the sweetness from the toffee and chocolate.
• Butter: used to make the toffee. Use salted butter to cut some of the sweetness. Do not use margarine.
• Brown Sugar: combined with the butter to make the toffee. Light brown sugar works best, but you can use dark brown sugar if you want this candy recipe to be extra sweet. Molasses is added to dark brown sugar for added sweetness and color.
• Chocolate Morsels: once melted, this layer of chocolate is added on top of the toffee. Both mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels melts fast and easy, but regular size morsels also work well.
• Toppings: an optional addition, use nuts, sprinkles, candy, or broken pretzels to top this Christmas crack!

Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!

🍫 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. Here's some fun ways to customize this recipe to make it your own!

• Crackers: while saltine crackers are the most popular to use, club crackers, ritz crackers, or gram crackers also work really well and taste amazing!
• Types of Chocolate: 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!
• White Chocolate Mix: 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.

• Toppings: the options are truly 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 peppermint
  • broken pretzel pieces
  • M&Ms
  • peanut butter morsels
  • butterscotch chips
  • pecans
  • almonds
  • walnuts
  • hazelnuts
  • sprinkles
  • crushed oreos
  • sea salt
  • coconut flakes
  • toffee bits

🥣 How To Make Christmas Crack

Step 1: 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. Make sure the crackers are laid out evenly and touching on all sides, but not overlapping. Set aside.

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Step 2: It's now time to make the toffee. The key to getting soft and easy to chew toffee when making this Christmas crack recipe is to cook the toffee for a very specific amount of time. This will eliminate the candy from tasting grainy. Put the salted butter and brown sugar into a large saucepan. Then, set the stovetop burner to medium-high heat.

Step 3: 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 sugar and butter 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.

Step 4: Once the toffee is at the consistency above, pour it over the tray of salted crackers.

Step 5: At this point, the toffee should have a nice caramel texture. Using a spatula, spread the warm toffee as evenly as possible onto the salted crackers.

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Step 6: Now that the toffee is 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!

Step 7: 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.

Step 8: 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.

Step 9: Next, add on the toppings. You can use one topping or a variety of many. Personally, I like a variety of chopped pecans, M&Ms, sprinkles, and crushed pretzels.

Step 10: Once the toppings have been added, the 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.

Step 11: 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.

And that's all it takes to make the yummiest Christmas crack recipe you'll ever eat! Place each piece on a serving plate and enjoy! It's also the perfect sweet treat for serving at parties and it makes the best homemade Christmas gift for friends and teachers!

💭 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. You can also use Parchment paper.
• Feel free to use cooking spray on the aluminum foil before placing the crackers. If you opt not too, that is fine. If there is any sticking, 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 it 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 the cracker candy in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will last for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze cracker candy!
• It makes the perfect gift! Surprise teachers, coaches, and friends with a bag of different assortments of this crack candy!

🎄 More Christmas Dessert Recipes

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