Do you have a group of friends that you tailgate with or get together with on a regular basis and there’s that ONE friend that always has something absolutely scrumptious and just ONCE you’d like to be able to top it? Well, here you are, tailgaters crack toffee is the ultimate tailgating munchie!
How to Make Tailgaters Crack Toffee
First, spread a sleeve of saltine crackers onto a pan lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.
Then make your toffee! This part is really easy, you just dump the ingredients in the saucepan and turn it on.
Whisk gently until all the ingredients are combined, this helps keep the sugar from burning.
Bring it to a rolling boil. If you’re new to cooking candy, a rolling boil is when the contents of the pot continue to boil whether your stirring it or not.
Pour the toffee over the crackers.
It’ll look like this, but don’t worry, we’re not done yet! Now we’re going to stick it in the oven for a few minutes.
Now it’s all bubbly and delicious; it’s time to finish it off!
Sprinkle the top generously with chocolate chips.
Once it’s completely covered in chocolate chips, use the back of a metal spoon to smooth the chocolate. It’ll melt instantly!
Sprinkle nuts over the top. It doesn’t really matter what kind you use. I love walnuts, my other half loves pecans.
So, we’re doing this batch half walnuts and half pecans to appease everyone involved. (haha)
A sleeve of crackers used to be 24, but some brands actually jip you now and only give you 20 or 21. It’s yet another case of the shrinking product. That’s why our pan appears a few crackers short of a sheet. I wasn’t willing to open a new sleeve for 3 crackers.
Tailgaters Crack Toffee Recipe
You’ll Need:
1 sleeve of Saltine Crackers (which is about 4 oz if you happen to make your own)
2 cups of chocolate chips ( a full 12oz package)
1 cup butter (that’s 2 full sticks)
1 c. Packed Dark Brown Sugar (or 1 c. Packed Light brown sugar AND 1 TBS of Molasses)
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, peanuts, – aka use whatever floats your boat.)
Preheat the oven to 400F
Spread the crackers out on a large jellyroll pan lined with a piece of parchment paper. If you’re not sure what a jellyroll pan is, it’s a giant cookie sheet with about 3/4″ sides on it.
In a medium heavy saucepan combine the butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Bring it to a full rolling boil and cook for exactly 3 minutes. You can choose to stir, or not to stir, once it combines it really doesn’t matter either way.
Pour the toffee syrup over the crackers, evenly distributing it. It’s a good idea to ensure each cracker has SOME on it, but don’t worry, it’ll spread more during the baking. Now place that pan of toffee crackers in the preheated 400F oven for exactly 7 minutes.
As soon as the 7 minutes are up, remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle liberally with the package of chocolate chips. Return the pan to the oven for an additional 2 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and use the back of a spoon to spread the chocolate evenly over all of the toffee crackers.
Sprinkle liberally with chopped nuts. Again, you can use whatever kind of nuts you like, I like walnuts, my other half prefers pecans, so I used half and half on this tray to keep everyone happy.
Next, let the pan sit until completely cooled. (Good luck with that, by the way).
Why it’s called CRACK
Here’s where the “Crack” part of the name comes into play, Pick one side up and let it fall back into the pan, cracking into chunks.
Continue breaking the toffee crackers into pieces, place it in a baggie or shallow dish and bring it with you to WOW all of your friends and family at the next gathering.
Total time to prepare, about 15 minutes. Shhh… if you need to dip your fingers in flour and wipe’em across your forehead, after all.. you want them to think you slaved in the kitchen for hours and hours, right?
Budget101 Price Breakdown
All in all, here’s the Budget101 Price Breakdown for this one:
- Butter $1.50
- Brown Sugar .18
- Chocolate Chips $1.28 (store brand)
- Nuts $1.00 (ours were cheaper than that because we picked them off the trees)
Total cost for entire batch $3.96, makes 24 servings = 16.5¢ per serving, not too shabby!
Gift Idea
Wrap these in colored cellophane (or plain clear cellophane) attach a pretty tag and a ribbon and you have a very nice gift.
Make 3 different batches- using ritz crackers, saltine crackers, and graham crackers. Add a different type of chopped nut to the top of each, or crush some peppermint candies and sprinkle them in place of the nuts.
Divide the toffee into 3 different tiered boxes, wrap and present with a nice tag.
Other alternatives:
- Use White Chocolate Chips in place of the chocolate chips
- Use Butterscotch Chips in place of the chocolate chips
- Use Ritz Crackers in place of the Saltines
- Use Graham Crackers in place of the Saltines
- Used crushed Peppermint candies in place of the nuts
