crack(er) candy

When I was in junior high, my step-mom, Ann, tried a new treat at a faculty potluck. The art teacher, I think, brought a strange family recipe that ended up being a huge hit. Ann liked it so much that she got the recipe and made them for our next family event.

They’ve pretty much been a staple at every gathering since, including as the dessert I choose on my birthday in lieu of cake. And y’all, I love cake.

Here’s the crazy thing about these addictive little morsels: they shouldn’t work. You shouldn’t be able to melt butter and brown sugar together into a caramel, pour it over saltine crackers, bake it and sprinkle it with chocolate chips, and end up with a dessert that’s startlingly addictive.

Lucky for me, though, it does work. Oh, does it work. Here’s how.

crack(er) candy

1 stick of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
2 cups of chocolate chips
kosher salt for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the saltines in a single layer on a foil-covered baking sheet. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Pour caramel over crackers and bake for 3-5 minutes, until bubbling.

Remove the crackers from the oven and turn it off. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the crackers and return the sheet to the oven for 2 minutes. When you remove the cookie sheet from the oven, you can either use a spatula to spread the melted chips around, like I did in these photos, or you can leave them whole, which is what I usually do.

If desired, sprinkle crackers with kosher salt (in the photos, I added red sprinkles, too, before taking them to a July 4 potluck). Allow the candy to cool and then break it into chunks.

Do you have a favorite recipe made with unlikely ingredients?