No bake Christmas Crack Candy: a delicious nut free treat

No bake Christmas Crack Candy: a magical holiday treat! Layers of crackers, toffee, chocolate and any other desired toppings! Easy, quick and festive.

Christmas crack came on my radar about 3 years ago, and when I tell you the first time I made it, I burnt the ish out of it and it was…lacking. The initial recipe called for caramel, not toffee. Mistake number one—Caramel is persnickety to make, bake and eat. Toffee has such a richer flavor profile, and a better ‘bite’ that this recipes needs.

Carry on to mistake 2: The ‘failure’ recipe used saltine crackers, which to be fair, isn’t the worst thing in the world but doesn’t it remind you of the cracker you eat when you’re under the weather, and use it to dip in soup? I digress.

Furthermore, mistake number three, the old recipe required me to bake it. Yikes. BURNT saltine crackers and TWICE BURNT caramel…oof.

So learn from my mistakes to make the best no bake Christmas crack candy-

1. Make toffee, it’s like the premium version of caramel. It produces a beautiful snap and rich and velvety flavor.
2. Use Club crackers, a buttery cracker OR Graham crackers. I honestly can’t pick which one is my favorite. Club crackers and Graham crackers both have such strong merits, and guess what you can use both on the same pan. Problem solved.
3. Invest in a food thermometer. You won’t be burning any toffee, and you can use it for so many other things! I use it to temp my breads, my meats, my water/milk to add yeast into… honestly the best kitchen tool. — it is not mandatory you own one for this recipe as you may go off color, but it certainly makes your life a lot easier. 10/10 recommend.

Now that we’ve cleared those issues up, I have some other tips that may help in the success of this Christmas crack candy adventure. For fun, let’s brainstorm a variety of toppings:

You could add marshmallows or the mini hot chocolate dehydrated marshmallow bits (see mine); You could add crushed Oreos, crumbled cookies, sprinkles, gummies, pretzels, m&m’s or smarties if you’re in Canada, raisins/other dried fruit (highly contentious subject), maraschino cherries (keep it in the fridge), candy canes (how festive!), shredded coconut or even some flaked sea salt (so classy, you!)

Whatever you decide, a no bake Christmas crack candy is sure to be delicious and add merriment to your holiday. Whatever holiday you celebrate 😉

How to achieve jolly no bake Christmas crack candy:

Prepare your fixin’s: whatever toppings you wish, pour into a bowl and have handy. Also measure out your chocolate chips at this time and set aside.

Prepare you pan: I used a 12×9 sized pan, covered with tin foil, and placed crackers salt side down, and Graham crackers. Set aside. Grab an offset spatula at this time and leave beside the pan as well (or other tool you plan on using to spread the chocolate.)

In a small pot, combine sugar, butter, water and vanilla. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until it reaches 300°F (this is known as the hard candy/ ‘crack’ stage. If you’re going by sight, it will just be lightly brown, which takes about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and pour over the tops of the awaiting crackers. Don’t dilly dally, move quickly!

Using your toffee mixing spoon, spread the hot toffee mixture evenly over the crackers. Add marshmallows (if using) or skip to the next step which is add chocolate chips. Try to distribute these evenly over the hot toffee mixture. Give it about 30-60 seconds then, while using an offset spatula, smooth the melty chocolate chips over the toffee and marshmallows.

Top with your desired fixin’s, like sprinkles, or additional dehydrated marshmallows. Place pan in fridge and allow chocolate to harden and the rest to cool completely before breaking apart and digging in, approximately 15-30 minutes.

Try to stop yourself from eating all of it. Woof it is mighty addictive.

Things that helped in the kitchen for this recipe, and can help you too:

Food thermometer (amazon) to check the temperature of basically everything and anything. One of my most used and underrated kitchen tools.

Jet Puffed marshmallow bits– delicious addition to hot chocolate too! (amazon)

Offset/ angled spatula- perfect for spreading chocolate, frostings, icing, or smoothing savory foods like mashed potatoes (amazon)

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This comes at no cost to you, just like a free Disney travel agent. I’m only here to make suggestions that hopefully help you 😀

Looking for other holiday inspired recipes other than No Bake Christmas Crack Candy? Head over here for grinch fruit kabobs, cookies, pudding, and more!