The traditional saltine cracker toffee with a Mexican twist; this Chile Almond Christmas Crack has a dark chocolate layer with chile powder and almonds.
There are so many things I look forward to every holiday—decorating the tree, the town aglow with lights, Christmas cards, eggnog, crack.
No, no, not that kind.
Christmas crack is cheaper, healthier (slightly), and Santa-approved and in the spirit of Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer and cookie salad, it follows a long line of redneck holiday favorites.
If you run in a more boojee crowd you may not be familiar with the brittle, buttery candy comprised of saltine crackers, sugar, and chocolate, but you should be.
Everyone knows the combination of crunch, plus salt, plus chocolate, plus caramel is the shit. Now add an underlying layer of heat from cinnamon and cayenne pepper topped with toasted slivers of almonds and you’ve got something insanely good.
Unfortunately, this holiday candy is ridiculously easy to make but if you can keep your paws off the stuff it makes excellent hostess gifts, teacher gifts, postman gifts, you name it. Or you can just ration it off in little baggies and hoard it in a secret hiding place…. you know like the real stuff.
Here’s how you make crack….. (that joke never gets old). Make a single layer of saltines on a foil-lined, very well sprayed baking sheet. If you don’t do those first two steps you will curse me and I don’t like profanity.
Now we are going to cover the crackers with a super simple toffee… loads of butter + dark brown sugar (oh, and vanilla, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper to gussy up our crack).
Pop this in the oven for a few minutes until the crackers and caramel have merged into crispy toffee heaven. Now sprinkle on the chocolate.
Let that sit a couple of minutes until the chips start to melt then spread it evenly to cover the crackers. Sprinkle a few toasted almond slices into your mouth then use the rest to decorate the crack. The flaky salt goes on last and then the hardest part—wait until it hardens. After a couple hours at room temperature or an hour in the fridge, break into pieces and eat the whole damn pan! Just kidding, don’t do that, that’s what they call OD’ing in certain circles.
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Chile Almond Christmas Crack Recipe
This addictive candy is easy to prepare but takes a few hours to harden, so plan ahead.
Ingredients
- 35-40 saltine soda crackers
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 14 ounces dark chocolate chips or finely chopped dark chocolate
- 1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Spray foil well with pan spray.
- Make a single layer of saltines on the bottom of the baking sheet.
- Combine butter and sugar in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Gently boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add cinnamon, vanilla, and cayenne and stir until completely dissolved.
- Pour toffee over crackers and spread to coat as evenly as possible. Bake 7 minutes or until bubbly.
- Sprinkle chocolate over toffee and wait a few minutes until it begins to melt. Smooth chocolate creating a even layer that completely covers the crackers.
- Sprinkle almonds and salt over the top and let cool completely (this might take up to 2 hours depending on how cold your room is). You can place in the refrigerator or freezer to speed up the cooling.
- Break into pieces and serve or store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 4 months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 484Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 288mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 4gSugar: 32gProtein: 5g
One More Thing
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