Saltine Toffee Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my saltine toffee chewy? ›

If your saltine toffee, or Christmas crack, is chewy, it's because the chocolate hasn't fully set yet. Try popping it in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm it up. Do not store it in the fridge for any longer than 15 minutes, however.

There are a few ways to beat the Saltine cracker challenge. The first way is to eat them one at a time and take small sips of water in between each cracker. The second way is to put a little bit of peanut butter on each cracker before eating them.

Don't hurry this gradual transformation; syrup that doesn't reach 300°F, or close to it, will make candy with timid flavor and chewy (not crunchy) texture. Think you can save time by bringing the syrup to a full rolling, popping boil in order for it to darken more quickly? Think again.

Brittles and toffees accumulate small amounts of acid from the browning reactions that occur during cooking. This is one reason why the baking soda is added at the end of cooking. The soda reacts with the acid to make bubbles, and the syrup foams.

Mel's Dumbed Down Version: patience, moderate heat and heavy-bottoms (see saucepan note above) make the best toffee. It's important while the toffee cooks to only stir it occasionally. Constant stirring can cause the toffee to crystallize and separate.

Toffee Making Tips + Troubleshooting

Undercooked toffee won't be anything more than a caramel sauce. But overcooked toffee will be just slightly crunchier (almost unrecognizably). So, always err on the side of over-cooking!

Although the challenge may sound trivial, it is difficult because the crackers quickly exhaust the saliva in the mouth. Even though six saltines can fit in one's mouth at the same time, and a minute is plenty of time to chew, the resulting mass of crumbs is still difficult to swallow with a dry mouth.

In actuality, without these holes, crackers wouldn't bake correctly. These holes allow steam to escape during cooking. This keeps the crackers flat, instead of rising a bit like a normal biscuit as the steam tries to escape; these holes also help to properly crisp the crackers.

Last, keep temping toffee until thermometer says 285-295...at 285 do the ice water test by dropping a dot of toffee into some ice water...it should be brittle. If so, it's done. It will be a very dark amber color. Pour into foil lined pan, put on chocolate and nuts and, VOILA!

Why does butter separate when making toffee? ›

If the butterfat separates out then usually this is due to the mixture being either heated or cooled too quickly, which "shocks" the mixture and causes the fat to separate out. It can also be caused by the mixture being heated unevenly (if the pan has a thin base and has hot spots).

Cream of tartar is a white powder sold in the baking aisle that's commonly used to stabilize whipped egg whites in meringues and cakes, prevent sugar crystallization in candies and caramel, and act as the activating ingredient in baking powder.

This usually happens when the toffee mixture is heated too quickly or at too high of a temperature. Make sure to use medium heat (or medium-low) and go SLOW!

English Toffee is a nationwide favorite that is easily made with only a few ingredients. The difference between regular toffee and English Toffee is one important ingredient – butter! I make English Toffee throughout the year for special occasions and it's always a big hit.

a hard, chewy, often brown sweet that is made from sugar boiled with butter.

If your toffee doesn't have a hard texture (where you can snap it in half) you did not cook it long enough. Again, the 5-minutes is just a guide. Cook it until it is the color of a brown bag.

Toffee basics

Toffee is a hard candy made by cooking a sugar syrup with butter to the hard crack stage, 300–310°F (149–154°C), and then pouring it out to cool. It can have inclusions or not, and it can be made either very dense and hard or can be lightened by adding baking soda when the candy is almost done cooking .

As the toffee cools and the molten sugar crystals become solid again, they are attracted to the 'seed' forming new lumps of tiny crystals – hence the grainy texture. This can also happen if the toffee is stirred, or agitated, after it has begun to boil or on cooling (as happened with this pink-tinted toffee).