During Christmas time, you may see layers of saltine crackers, brown sugar, butter, and chocolate chips that make a salty-sweet dessert that some call Crack for it’s delicious addictiveness. But, this dessert recipe doesn’t have to be just for December, you can actually tweak the recipe to make it a staple for any holiday or occasion, even just because. With Easter coming up, it’s the perfect time to make Crack more spring-like with the use of white chocolate, milk chocolate foil eggs, pistachios, as well as dried berries. Feel free to get creative and add in any other Easter treats you enjoy like jelly beans, peeps, or even other candies.
Where Did the Dessert Crack Come From?
The dessert that you know as Christmas Crack or simply Crack roots itself in centuries of confectionery evolution. Its foundation of a thin, buttery toffee topped with chocolate traces back to classic European candy-making traditions. As sugar became more widely available in the 18th and 19th centuries, thanks to expanding trade and refined processing, home cooks began experimenting with easy, shelf-stable sweets. With the premiere of Saltines in 1876, Southerns would use the cracker as a base for various treats, leading then to the dessert we love today.
Easter Crack (Saltine Cracker Toffee)
Description
Turn Christmas Crack into an Easter-worthy treat!
Ingredients
- 48 or more regular sized Saltine crackers, depending on the size of your baking sheet
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 4, 4oz Ghirardelli Premium White Chocolate Baking Bars
- Cadbury Milk Chocolate Mini Eggs, halved
- Dried cranberries
- Trader Joe’s Organic Freeze-Dried Berry Medley
- Sprinkles
- Lightly salted pistachios, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cover a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (make sure the parchment is covering up the sides).
- Cover sheet pan with 48 (or more) saltine crackers.
- Melt the butter and brown sugar in a medium sauce pan to make a toffee. Stirring with a wooden spoon, bring to a boil for 5 minutes or until it is completely mixed and bubbly.
- Pour the toffee carefully over the arranged Saltines and spread as evenly as possible with a rubber spatula
- Place sheet pan in the preheated oven for 4-5 minutes until the toffee mixture is bubbly.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 20 minutes
- Using a double boiler method, melt the white chocolate.
- Pour the melted white chocolate over the sugar mixture.
- Using a spatula, smooth the white chocolate over the surface of the hardened toffee layer
- Scatter mini eggs, chopped pistachios, dried cranberries, freeze-dried fruits and sprinkles over the melted white chocolate.
- Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator to cool for 2-3 hours or overnight.
- Remove from the refrigerator and break the Easter Crack into pieces or cut with a knife if you prefer more uniform pieces.
Looking for another simple Easter treat? Try these adorable bite-sized Chocolate Pretzel Bunny Treats.
Recipe and Styling by Star Laliberte
Photography by Dave Bryce
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