The result is a salty, crunchy, chocolate-covered treat that’s nearly impossible to stop eating.
What Is Christmas Cracker Candy?
Constant stirring as you make the caramel mixture gives you a finished candy that’s closer to the texture of pralines than English toffee. You have a deep caramel flavor, but the bites are fairly soft and easy to chew. The crispiness comes from the crackers themselves.
Ways to Top Your Cracker Candy
You can get fancy and sprinkle nuts, coconut flakes, or holiday-colored sprinkles on top if you want, but I’m a purist when it comes to my Christmas cracker candy. I like it just as is. The only thing I might consider is a sprinkling of crunchy Maldon sea salt on top of the chocolate to make them even more crunchy and salty. But I’m fearful that if I do that, I might not stop eating them!
How Prevent the Layers From Separating
The chocolate layer separating from the caramel layer is a common problem with Christmas cracker candy. Here are a few tips to help prevent that from happening:
Use chopped chocolate instead of chips, and the chocolate layer will be more likely to stick. Chocolate chips have a non-melting coating to help them keep their shape. But when they melt, the coating can prevent the chocolate from sticking to the toffee. Avoid chocolates with a really high percentage of cacao. These chocolates have more of a tendency to become brittle and separate from the cracker layer. Make sure your chocolate is fully melted so it’s ready to go when the saltine toffee layer is ready. Let the toffee layer cool for 1 minute and no longer! The toffee needs to still be quite warm for the chocolate to stick. (If you forget and the caramel cools, just pop it back in the oven for a few minutes. If your chocolate isn’t melting or spreading easily on the hot toffee (or caramel and crackers) in the sheet pan, use a hair dryer to re-melt the chocolate until it’s workable. Or pop the pan in a 300°F oven for a minute or so. Cool overnight in the fridge (not the freezer). Freezing means the layers cool rapidly, which can sometimes cause them to separate. If you need to freeze, let the crackers warm up for about 10 minutes before cracking.
Sometimes despite all your best efforts, the chocolate melts at a temperature that makes it shrink when it hardens, pulling it away from the toffee layer. Next time, try a different brand of chocolate.
Ways to Adapt This Recipe
Swap the saltines for Ritz crackers, graham crackers, or any other crackerSwap the dark chocolate for any other favorite chocolate. Or add a drizzle of white chocolate over top!While the chocolate is still melty, sprinkle on a half cup of chopped nuts, coconut flakes, crushed pretzels, dried fruit, or anything else that strikes your fancy!
Get more ideas in this post: 5 Ways to Top Your Christmas Cracker Candy.
More Easy Holiday Treats
Easy Fantasy Fudge Homemade Chocolate Truffles Peanut Brittle Peanut Butter Buckeye Balls Chocolate Covered Pretzels
You can use darker chocolate with higher percentages of cacao, but these chocolates sometimes become brittle and separate from the cracker layer. We recommend cooling this candy overnight in the fridge since cooling in the freezer can cause the chocolate layer and the cracker layer to separate when you break the candy. If you need to freeze, let the crackers warm up for about 10 minutes before cracking. (Note: You’re not actually making true caramel here, so you don’t need to be as precise or worry about the temperature of the caramel. Just make sure it comes to a boil throughout and not just the edges and wait for it to darken slightly, then continue.) Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week or in the freezer between layers of parchment paper for up to 2 months.
