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.

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.

This toffee is cooked initially to 310°F (154°C), then the salt and baking soda are added, creating carbon dioxide. The foaming and bubbling aerate the candy somewhat, making the texture lighter and the candy easier to bite into.

Low and slow

Simmering the syrup for English toffee to the requisite 300°F temperature can (and should) be a slow process — up to 20 minutes or so. 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.

It's important while the toffee cooks to only stir it occasionally. Constant stirring can cause the toffee to crystallize and separate.

Toffee – the hard, sweet candy – is an old-fashioned treat, so you might not hear the name very much around modern candy shops. But this classic candy is an enjoyable delight that bursts with flavor at each bite. What is toffee, you ask? Basically, it's hardened caramel (more on that later).

The difference is mainly in the candy-making process: taffy is pulled and stretched until it's soft and chewy. Toffee, on the other hand, won't stick in your teeth like taffy, because it is boiled, shaped, and allowed to harden into a delicious, glossy slab.

Pig candy is a dessert made by taking thick strips of smoked bacon and pecans and coating them in caramel or another type of sugar, notably brown sugar. Cayenne pepper can be added and it can be dipped in chocolate.

With the texture issue, something is crystallizing the sugar. Try using your ingredients with the more classic method. I just made three trays of these and they turned out grainy and not set-up. I followed the recipe I was using and boiled for 3 minutes at a rolling boil before pouring on crackers and baking.

Inside a cracker there are two strips of card, attached end-to-end with a slight overlap. This overlap is treated with gunpowder – a mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulphur. When the cracker is pulled, the friction generated between the two strips causes enough heat to set the gunpowder off.

Why is it impossible to eat 6 saltines in a minute? ›

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.

Saltine crackers may improve symptoms of upset stomach in people with gastroparesis or nausea and vomiting induced by pregnancy or chemotherapy treatments.

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.

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!

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.

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).