The taste of homemade toffee without the work is in this Graham Cracker Toffee recipe. It makes in the oven and gives so much crispy, chocolaty, nutty, buttery toffee taste!
This recipe (sometimes called the Christmas Crack recipe) is a quick treat and simpler to make than classic toffee making. It's perfect for cookie exchanges, movie nights, holiday parties, or anytime you want to satisfy that sweet tooth.
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What Is Toffee?
Toffee making is a popular homemade treat, especially during the holiday season. You cook it with white sugar and butter for about a half hour using a candy thermometer to determine the perfect soft crack stage for best results.
This can be a little time-consuming, but there isn't much stirring involved like there is in other candy-making, like in pecan pralines.
Pralines are a favorite Cajun treat made with white sugar, evaporated milk, and pecans. You'll like my Maw maw's praline recipe. It's creamy, fudge-like, and melt-in-your-mouth good.
In this oven toffee recipe, we're taking a shortcut to get that classic toffee candy.
Ingredients
These simple ingredients for this crowd favorite candy falls sweetly into place for the best graham cracker toffee.
- Graham crackers - 15 whole rectangle crackers.
- Dark brown sugar - for real brown sugar taste, please consider dark brown sugar; natural (not imitation) brown sugar.
- Salted butter - for a buttery toffee taste, and the salt helps bring out the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Chocolate chips - semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate will work fine.
- Pecans - chopped for a nutty topping for these easy graham cracker toffee bars.
See the recipe card below for specific ingredient amounts and their nutrition facts.
Instructions
Begin by preheating your oven to 350° f.
Place a single layer of graham crackers onto an 18" x 13" shallow baking pan (cookie sheet or half-sheet pan) in a single layer edge to edge, but not on each other.
Heat the butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan until melted.
Add the brown sugar to the butter, stirring to combine.
Bring the sugar mixture to a boil and continue boiling for 2 minutes, stirring constantly; you may have to raise the heat to medium-high heat.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the toffee mixture on top of the graham crackers. Use a rubber spatula to scrape all of that brown sugar toffee goodness out of the pan. Spread evenly over the crackers with the back of a spoon.
Place the pan in the oven and bake for 5 minutes or until the toffee bubbles.
Remove the sheet pan from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the toffee layer.
Allow the chocolate to sit for a few minutes, then spread the melted chocolate evenly over the toffee.
Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the layer of chocolate. Then, press the nuts into the chocolate with the back of a spatula to keep the nuts from falling off when breaking into serving pieces.
Wait 15 minutes to allow the hot pan to cool closer to room temperature. Then, place the pan of toffee in the refrigerator for an hour to harden. You don't want a hot pan to cool other items in the refrigerator.
Now comes the best part. It's time to take the toffee out of the refrigerator and break the graham cracker toffee bark into individual pieces and enjoy!
Hint: There's no need to line the cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper or prepare it with cooking spray. The butter mixture in the toffee keeps it from sticking to the pan.
Substitutions
Choose the following substitutions to suit individual tastes.
- Saltine crackers or pretzel crisps - for a salty-sweet taste, instead of the graham crackers, for the base of the candy.
- White chocolate - use white chocolate chips or grated bark for a white chocolate toffee treat.
- Peanut butter chips - add these along with the chocolate chips for Reese's chocolate candy bar taste.
- Other nuts or no nuts - choose your favorite or omit the nuts altogether.
Variations
Here are different variations to suit dietary needs.
- Nut-free - sprinkle crushed pretzels instead of nuts to top the toffee.
- Sugar-free - try using brown sugar sweeteners suitable for cooking and zero-sugar chocolate bars for a sugar-free toffee experience.
Storage
Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 5 days. Toffee may refrigerate for a longer storage time.
Top tip
Don't overcook the toffee; it will become too hard to spread over the graham crackers.
FAQ
Only five ingredients are needed to make oven toffee: butter, brown sugar, graham crackers, chocolate chips, and pecans.
The oven should be preheated at 350° f in order to bake the toffee until it bubbles.
A shallow baking pan is needed to make this oven tofee. You can choose from a cookie sheet, half sheet pan, or jelly roll pan, as long as there is room enough for 15 whole crackers to place in a single layer edge to edge.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve at a gathering with Easy Graham Cracker Oven Toffee:
Easy Graham Cracker Oven Toffee (5 ingredients)
The taste of homemade toffee without much work is in this Graham Cracker Toffee recipe. It's made in the oven and gives so much crispy, chocolaty, nutty, buttery toffee taste!
- Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
- Yield: 15 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 15 whole graham cracker sheets
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 sticks of salted butter
- 1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate)
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° f.
- Layer graham crackers onto an 18" x 13" cookie sheet (half-sheet pan) in a single layer touching, but not on each other.
- Heat the butter in a medium saucepan until melted.
- Add the brown sugar to the butter, stirring to combine.
- Bring the butter mixture to a boil and continue boiling for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the candy over the graham crackers, spreading evenly all over the crackers with the back of a spoon.
- Place the cookie sheet pan in the oven and bake for 5 minutes or until the toffee bubbles.
- Remove from the oven and pour chocolate chips over the crackers topped with toffee.
- Allow the chocolate to sit for a few minutes, then spread the melted chocolate evenly over the toffee.
- Sprinkle with the chopped pecans.
- Wait 15 minutes to allow it to cool, then place the pan of toffee in the refrigerator for an hour to harden.
- Remove the toffee from the refrigerator and break into desired serving pieces.
- Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
Notes
- Light brown sugar is acceptable, but doesn't have as much brown sugar flavor.
- There's no need to line the cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper or prepare it with cooking spray. The butter in the toffee keeps it from sticking to the pan.
-
Don't overcook the toffee; it will become too hard to spread over the graham crackers.
- Prep Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Sweets
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
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Have a nice day!
"No one can pray and worry at the same time."
Max Lucado
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