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Janes Poor Mans Toffee Bars

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My next-door neighbor Jane used to make up huge platters of yummies on the holidays and then bring it to our house….and these things are just totally addictive and relatively easy to make

Mock Salted Caramel Toffee with Chocolate

Made with crackers, homemade toffee, nuts, and chocolate. I’ve also seen this called “Christmas Crack” when it’s made with saltine crackers.

janes mock toffee Holiday bars

Pin this Mock Salted Caramel Toffee to your Holiday Baking Pinterest Board.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • Enough graham crackers or square pretzels (Gluten-free Option) to make a layer on a cookie sheet* higher sides are best… if it’s a large sheet you will need to increase butter and sugar to 1 1/2 cups of each!)
  • 1 12-ounce bag of Nestle’s chocolate chips which are also gluten-free. or (your favorite kind)
  • Optional: 1/2 12-ounce bag of toffee chips (you can substitute SCOR bars or Heath Bars if your store is out of toffee chips) I saw salted caramel chips that are GF at my local Trader Joes store so I’ll let you know how those are.

DIRECTIONS

  1. Line a high-sided cookie sheet or shallow 9 x 13-inch baking dish with foil or parchment paper(cleanup easier).
  2. Preheat oven to 350F.
  3. Bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil in a saucepan and simmer it for about 5 minutes until it’s a rolling boil and starts to turn into a magical toffee color. It’s very important to pay attention at this point.. Things start moving quickly and this can easily burn. If you are prone to “SQUIRREL” moments like I am.. set a timer, have a kitchen helper stir, and watch this pot of bubbling sugar..
  4. Put a layer of crackers or square pretzels on the cookie sheet, close together.
  5. Pour the brown sugar mixture over the crackers and bake for about 6-10 minutes – Check early, you don’t want it to burn. ( it should be bubbly)
  6. Remove and immediately pour the chocolate chips over the crackers, evenly distributing them. Let it sit for a minute and then spread the chocolate across the mixture with the spatula gently so as not to disturb the crackers underneath. Let it sit for another 30 seconds and at this point, it pretty much spreads like frosting.
  7. Grind some good quality Alder Smoked Salt while it’s nice and gooey. I’m currently obsessed with Salted Caramel anything.
  8. Add toffee bits and/or other optional ingredients below.
  9. After that you can top with whatever you like…. options are listed below
  10. Let harden and then break up into random size and shape pieces (If you are in a hurry put it in the freezer)

My favorite is just some chopped walnuts, but you can also try dark chocolate with candy cane bits, white chocolate with dried cherries, rocky road, m&m’s…just about every combo you can think of.  Put it in the refrigerator to let it set up… then break it apart into toffee-shaped pieces.  I’ve seen recipes using other types of crackers too, but the graham crackers or square pretzels are my favorite.

This makes a big batch of toffee bars.. but they won’t last long!

Place it on a beautiful cookie plate for your cookie exchange, or on festive paper plates or neat Christmas boxes to share with your friends and neighbors.

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