‘Tis the season for Christmas treats! This one disappears just about as quickly as it is made. As soon as I start breaking it out of the pan I find people hovering to snatch pieces away. And by ‘people’ I mean Andy and Trinity. They have a gift for knowing when the pan is coming out of the refrigerator. Saltine’s are what make this “fool’s” toffee. It has all the deliciousness of real toffee with no candy thermometer required. I’ve made it for years and once you try it, I know you will too! Serve it at a party, give it as a gift, or just enjoy while curled up with a cozy blanket, a glass of milk and a Christmas movie.
Fool’s Toffee
Ingredients:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup butter
- about 36 saltine crackers
- 1 pkg (12 oz) chocolate chips
- chopped pecans or walnuts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Lay crackers out on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam. 
Melt butter in a medium saucepan with the brown sugar, whisking until they come together. 
Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat and boil for 4 minutes.
Pour over the crackers and spread to cover all the crackers. Place in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. It will get bubbly again in the oven.
Remove from oven and pour chocolate chips evenly over the top. Let sit for 5 minutes until the chocolate chips start to melt. 
Then use the back of a rubber spatula to spread the chocolate out evenly.
Sprinkle with chopped pecans or walnuts. 
Refrigerate until well chilled (at least an hour). Break into pieces and serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator; if there’s any left!
I made this before Thanksgiving at my parents house and as I write this post I’m really sad I don’t have any! I will have to buy some Saltine’s tomorrow! We’ll be decorating the tree and these will be the perfect treat. 🙂
sarahsjoys 
Sarah,
I will have to find some gluten free crackers and try this recipe!
I bet that would work out just fine! 🙂
these are yummy made with graham crackers as well 🙂
If I’d have known that last night I may have made some….but then I would have eaten more than I should have, so maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t. 😉
I heard that so I made my tray 1/2 and1/2. For a pot luck tonight so I haven’t tasted the finished product yet.
I was one of those people who made it disappear around Thanksgiving. They were delectable.
Thanks, Soph! It was so good to see you!
We love this stuff!! We call it ‘candy crack’ because once you have a piece, you’re addicted:)
SO true, Rachel!! If it’s around, I’ll eat it. We’ve been known to sneak pieces when the kids aren’t looking. 🙂
Love it! Another inspiring post from you, Sarah. Nice job!
Thanks, Carri!
We like to make these with graham crackers also; they’re good with both.
Sarah, these are really good! But holy cow they’re sweet! I didn’t put any sugar in my tea and it is just perfect! I bagged some up to give to Brianna’s teachers tomorrow otherwise I’ll be eating all of it! ;-p
I love these! I may have to make some tomorrow!
Hey Sarah,
Your photo is circulating Facebook without attribution or a link back to this post. (I found your original with a Google Image search.) Here is the post on Facebook:
Thank you!!! I wrote her asking not to steal photos or recipes and please provide a link to the source. She apologized and added a link. She did not get the photo directly from this site and did not know where it was from.
I made this, it looks good & tastes great. One problem, the bottom stayed pretty sticky. What did I do wrong?
I would say it’s in the cooking time somewhere. Did you time the boiling of the butter and sugar from a rolling boil? When you took the pan out of the oven was it bubbly? I’m glad it tastes great! I found I had to play with it slightly when I moved to high altitude and mostly do it by “look” now. I hope it hardens better for you next time!
I did time the boiling time, but I didn’t make sure it was bubbly when I took it out of the oven. I will definitely try it again.
be sure to use UNSALTED butter. I learned this the hard way in a different recipe and forgot that then I tried making this. The brown sugar does not melt/dissolve properly with salted butter for some reason.
Thanks! I never would have thought of that since I always use unsalted.
Salted butter makes no difference. Still set up great. I even used 3/4 cut salted butter and 1/4 cup margarine as not enough butter! And spread over 42 crackers. Worked fine. Yummm
Not true in my case, either. I used salted butter not knowing any better and it turned out just fine. Many toffee recipes online call for a little salt. I liked this recipe but I would like a bit more toffee in it. If I doubled the amount of butter and sugar would I still use the same times for stovetop boiling and oven baking?
I’ve never tried doubling the toffee portion but if you try it, will you leave a comment to let me know how it turns out?
what’s the English equivalent of Saltines please?
You can use Ritz crackers. I also did a quick google search and people recommended TUC crackers in place of saltines. And, while it would give a different flavor because they’re not salty, I’ve also heard of people using graham crackers in this recipe. Good luck! I hope they turn out well for you.
These are fabulous. I made with chocolate chips and crushed peppermint sticks. I also made with white chocolate chips and the peppermint. So pretty for the holidays! Delicious and yes addictive. SO EASY to be so good!!!!
omg best recipe ever, I have made this 3 times this week because all the family members are requesting their own batch. I’m not a baker but this was so easy and so delicious…!!!!
This was unbelievable! Easy, and awesome??? quite the trick , but this was a resounding success!
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Semi sweet or milk chocolate chips?
I always use semisweet. The toffee is so sweet that the milk chocolate might be too sweet but that’s also personal preference. Either would work!