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You’ll love this salty, sweet, crunchy, chewy saltine cracker candy, sometimes known as Christmas Crack, and you can make it in 15 minutes with just 5 ingredients!
I grew up eating Saltine Cracker Candy every Christmas. We stored the candy, and all of our holiday goodies, on the patio outside (or in the garage if it was going to be REALLY cold that night). Everything went in leftover ice cream pails or plastic tubs.
My favorite thing to do was build the cookie plate for Christmas morning. I’d choose a few of each and pile them on the large glass Christmas plate, building a collection of the best offerings from my mom’s annual baking day.
Christmas Crack always went on top and it was always the first treat to disappear. To this day, the cookie plate remains my favorite holiday tradition.
Table of Contents
Christmas Crack ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
- Chocolate: Sometimes chopped bar chocolate works better than chocolate chips. To melt the chocolate, you can either 1). melt it in the microwave and pour it over the top, or 2). sprinkle the chips on the hardened caramel topping, let them sit for a minute to melt, and then spread the softened chocolate chips with a spatula.
- Toppings: Try chopped pecans, pretzels, OREOs, M&Ms, toffee bits, peanut butter cups, toasted coconut, coarse sea salt, candy canes, or drizzles of white chocolate. Or, just leave it plain!
How to make Christmas Crack
I highly recommend a candy thermometer so you know when the caramel hits the right stage in hardness.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 15” x 10” x 1” pan with parchment paper, foil, or a silicone mat. Line up crackers in a single layer in rows on prepared sheet.
- Meanwhile, using a candy thermometer, melt butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 to 3 minutes (270 to 290 degrees if using a candy thermometer).
- Immediately pour over crackers and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake 5 minutes or until the candy hardens. Remove from oven.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second increments at 50% power until melted. Spread over hardened caramel. (You can also sprinkle the chocolate chips over the hardened candy, pop it back in the oven until melted, and spread after that).
- Sprinkle nuts or other toppings and press into the chocolate using a greased spatula. Cut into squares while warm. Cool completely for at least 15 minutes and store in the refrigerator.
Do you need an instant-read thermometer?
Because you want to make sure the caramel is at the exact hardness, the best way ensure it doesn’t overheat with a good instant-read thermometer. I love my Thermapen One from ThermoWorks and it’s one of my most used cooking tools. I get nearly instant, extremely accurate results every time. In fact, we named it the top pick in our roundup of the best instant-read thermometers. You can also use it for cooking meat precisely!
It’s a bit pricey and you can get it for $99 at ThermoWorks. It does go on sale every so often, but if you want a more budget-friendly option, I also like the ThermoPop, which is only $15.99 at ThermoWorks and it makes a great gift!
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 12 servings of Christmas Crack.
- Storage: Depending on the season and the humidity, Christmas Crack should keep well in an airtight tin or container for about a week or longer at freezing temps (like on your patio or in your garage, Midwestern friends!).
- Freezer: Christmas Crack freezes well! Break or cut it into pieces and store it in freezer-safe bags for up to 3 months.
Cracker Candy FAQs
The caramel topping needs to get to the hard-crack stage or it will be chewy. This means you may have to bake it a little longer or adjust your oven temperature slightly (every oven is different). I insist on a candy thermometer.
Club crackers, graham crackers, or buttery Ritz crackers are all delicious bases for this candy.
Make sure the hardened caramel topping is still warm when you add the chocolate to prevent separation.
It might still be too hot. Let the candy cool until it’s easy to handle, then remove it from the foil or parchment.
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Christmas Crack Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 35-40 saltine crackers
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 1/2 cups chopped chocolate or chocolate chips (see note 1)
- 1 ½ cups toppings such as chopped pecans, crushed pretzels, M&Ms, or crushed OREOs (see note 2)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 15” x 10” x 1” pan with parchment paper, foil, or a silicone mat. Line up crackers in a single layer in rows on prepared sheet.
- Meanwhile, using a candy thermometer, melt butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 to 3 minutes (270 to 290 degrees if using a candy thermometer). Immediately pour over crackers and spread evenly with a spatula.
- Bake 5 minutes or until the candy hardens. Remove from oven.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second increments at 50% power until melted. Spread over hardened caramel. (You can also sprinkle the chocolate chips over the hardened candy, pop it back in the oven until melted, and spread after that).
- Sprinkle nuts or other toppings and press into the chocolate using a greased spatula. Cut into squares while warm. Cool completely for at least 15 minutes and store in the refrigerator.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Chocolate: Sometimes chopped bar chocolate works better than chocolate chips. To melt the chocolate, you can either 1). melt it in the microwave and pour it over the top, or 2). sprinkle the chips on the hardened caramel topping, let them sit for a minute to melt, and then spread the softened chocolate chips with a spatula.
- Toppings: Try chopped pecans, pretzels, OREOs, M&Ms, toffee bits, peanut butter cups, toasted coconut, coarse sea salt, candy canes, or drizzles of white chocolate. Or, just leave it plain!
- Yield: This recipe makes about 12 servings of Christmas Crack.
- Storage: Depending on the season and the humidity, Christmas Crack should keep well in an airtight tin or container for about a week or longer at freezing temps (like on your patio or in your garage, Midwestern friends!).
- Freezer: Christmas Crack freezes well! Break or cut it into pieces and store it in freezer-safe bags for up to 3 months.
Made this for the first time. It came out okay, except the Carmel came out a little burnt , I used a candy thermometer but was kinda scared to reach the temperature you said. It was looking super dark already, so I just used it like that!! Any suggestions? Thanks
Made this twice now and it is great. First time I followed the recipe temperatures exactly and I had this amazing crackle butter toffee like top. The second time I couldn’t find my candy thermometer and guessed at the temp. It was still great, more of a light caramel but yummy. I topped it semi-sweet chocolate and swirled in peanut butter chips. What a great taste. Thanks for the recipe.
I MADE THIS THE OTHER DAY AND IT WAS SO GOOD I MADE IT AGAIN TODAY. .LAST TIME I USED WALNUTS THIS TIME PECANS. CAN`T STOP EATING IT THANK U.
Made as currently updated and the recipe works perfectly! Use Reynolds NONSTICK FOIL! I used a candy thermometer to 285-290. Melted chocolate and spread with an offset spatula after the caramel/cracker layer cooled just a bit to prevent caramel from shifting. Lightly toasted chopped pecans prior to sprinkling on warm chocolate. Chilled then cut into uniform pieces with a long knife. Thanks!
Christmas crack is the best. Lots of variations and I’ve never had a Christmas crack I didn’t love. My grandmother use to make this, throwing together odds and ends in the kitchen. Don’t make it complicated. Ive made it camping. Even if you bomb, it’s still delicious. I never use a candy thermometer, the butter/brown sugar appears mixed when ready. Prehaps a good tool for those that like to crank the heat. But if you keep the heat low you’ll be fine.
Just curious. I’ve been comparing a number of Christmas Crack recipes and most bake at 400 or 425. But yours is 300. Why do you use such a low temperature? Trying to figure out the best method.
Hi Erika! Thanks for the question. For my recipe, the caramel is nearly set and only needs 5 minutes in a 300 degree oven to harden. Anything hotter, at least for mine, and the sugar could burn and the caramel would be ruined. I don’t know what everyone else is doing out there, but it is possible they are adding the caramel to the crackers at an earlier stage and need to give it more time in the oven to finish. Does that make sense? This is purely speculation! I just know that sugar burns, and it burns easily, so I bring it to a certain point on the stove and then finish it in the oven. In theory other recipes could pull it off the stove at an earlier stage. Again, just speculation! I hope this is helpful even though I can only say why I’m doing what I’m doing, not in comparison to anyone else. Good luck! I hope you find the best recipe for you!
can this be frozen for 2-3 wks before serving? thanks!
Hi Sara! Yes definitely! Thus freezes really well. It’s smart of you to get ahead! 🙂 thanks for the question. I’ll update the post with this info!
Yes! I some how found a small container of it in my deep freeze 9 months after Christmas and it still looked and tasted amazing!
Oh and I pour melted almond bark in a pretty design over the top of the semi sweets, then add chopped pecans and milk chocolate minis! Yumm!
I happened on to this recipe while I was making spinach artichoke dip. I Have made these twice in the past weeK, following your recipe exactly. I do not use a thermometer. I honestly cannot believe how absolutely delicious these are. Both my children take them to school and share them with their friends and their friends keep asking for more and more….Im an RN and was delighted to watch people’s face light up, just like mine had, when I took them to work. The flavor and flakiness of that Cracker makes it hard to believe it was ever a Saltine. I am planning on making lots of this and giving it as a Christmas gift that I know everyone will love. Thank you so much for the delicious recipe.
So I never follow recipes… I simply use them as a guideline… (could be 3 failed marriages of constantly controlling me). 😂 anyway… I didn’t have saltines, so I improvised with club crackers and it was awesome!! I then went to store and forgot saltines again!!! So I bombed on some easy sugar cookies(uh, weren’t so easy as they crumbled). But I used the crumbled sugar cookies as a base and WOW!! I kept some for a bake sale at work and mailed the rest to my nephew and his buddies who are in Afghanistan right now!!! Thanks for the awesome recipe!!!