Saltine Cracker Toffee

Holiday cooking and baking is my favorite time of the year to be in the kitchen.  I have some tried and true recipes that always make an appearance, but I like try out a few new recipes also!  This month was perfect to be a part of the Secret Recipe Club and I was matched up with an amazing blog that provided ample treats to choose from!

Lisa at Authentic Suburban Gourmet is a San Franciso native (lucky girl!) and has a passion for "entertaining, wine tasting, collecting cookbooks, farmers market at the San Francisco Ferry Building on Saturdays.".  Her blog is also filled with mouthwatering pictures of her recipes.  She does a great job staging her photos and it really makes everything look so enticing!  I loved reading about her dinner parties and was really able to use her blog in planning my own holiday party this past weekend!  

Curious to know more about the Secret Recipe Club? Each month you are assigned to another member's blog and you get to choose one recipe from it to make and share. The fun twist is that you can't tell anyone whose blog you have - it's a secret, shhhh - until you finally post about it. You can read all about it out here.



It was really hard to choose just one recipe from Authentic Suburban Gourmet!  I amassed quite a long list of recipes to try in the future, but chose a simple recipe that I heard about several years ago - Saltine Cracker Toffee.  I promise that this is one of the easiest desserts that you can make, with impressive results!  It was fun to pass it around at our party last night and watch the expressions when everyone tried it. 

Saltine Cracker Toffee

1 1/4 c. butter (original recipe calls for 1 1/2 c.)
1 c. brown sugar
35 saltine crackers
12 oz. Dark chocolate chips - milk chocolate works great also!
1/2 c. Chopped and toasted pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Start off by chopping the pecans and toasting for a few minutes on the stove.  Keep an eye on it so they don't burn.  Set the toasted pecans aside to use later in this recipe.

Spray a large cookie sheet with your favorite non-stick spray.

Place crackers in a 5 by 7 row close together to form bottom layer.

In a 4 quarter Pyrex measuring cup, place butter and brown sugar and heat on high in the microwave for 5 minutes.

Remove from microwave and whisk for 2 to 3 minutes until light, creamy and well combined.

Note: The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of butter.  The first time I made it with that amount, I was not able to whisk the mixture to a creamy state.  I chose to reduce the butter to 1 1/4 cup on my second try, and it was perfect!

Spread evenly over crackers using a spatula or a knife.

Bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes.

Remove from the oven.

Don't worry if the toffee still looks like this when you take it out of the oven...

It will settle a bit and look like this...

Use a butter knife to push the crackers back together and any toffee that spread too far on the sides.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top.

And wait a few minutes before spreading to an even layer with a spatula or butter knife.

Sprinkle with the pecans that we toasted earlier.

Cool in refrigerator and then break into pieces. Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for best results.

I love this saltine toffee and can't wait to try Lisa's German Chocolate version! 

Thanks for the great recipe Lisa!