Graham Cracker Toffee (Easy!)

Graham cracker toffee is the easiest candy you’ll ever make. No candy thermometer or other special equipment, less than 10 minutes of work, a few minutes in the oven, and you have a delicious treat for gifting or snacking! And the ingredients are all pantry staples!

If you follow me on Insta (which you should!) you may have seen this graham cracker toffee in my stories awhile back. . .I’d messed up a test batch and was eating it anyway.

Yes. The toffee didn’t turn out (because I doubled the sugar accidentally) but it still tasted incredible. Sweet, crumbly, buttery, and OMG perfect.

So that should tell you something: this is a very forgiving recipe. Even if you manage to mess it up, you’ll still love it. (But as long as you pay attention to the recipe—unlike me—you won’t mess it up. It’s easy enough that Cookie could make it if I gave her a step-stool.)

Christmas candy without a candy thermometer? YUP. No special equipment, no fancy ingredients. Just pantry staples and a few minutes in the oven. And you have a perfect treat for gifting/keeping for yourself/eating for dinner when you don’t feel like cooking!

What are the ingredients in graham cracker toffee?

I’m so glad you asked! Graham cracker toffee is made with:

• brown sugar
• butter
• salt
• graham crackers
• almonds
• chocolate

And that’s all! (See below for a few other topping ideas, if you like to change things up.)

Notes:

• You can substitute dark brown sugar for light brown if that’s what you have on hand
• Salted butter is fine if you don’t have unsalted but you may want to omit the salt in the recipe (it depends on how much salt you like in your sweets)
• You can use any kind of chocolate, including chocolate chips, for this toffee (I use it as an excuse to clean out the almost-empty bags and boxes of chocolate I have in my pantry)
• White chocolate is fine, but I don’t recommend using white chocolate chips because they don’t melt very well (that said, if you really want to use white chocolate chips, go for it, just know they might not melt; they’ll probably still stick to the toffee though)
• If letting the chocolate sit on the hot toffee for a few minutes isn’t enough to melt it, you can pop the pan back in the oven for a minute or so to help the chocolate along
• Remember that molten sugar is VERY hot and causes painful burns, so this isn’t a great recipe to make with kids
• See below for some fun variations on your graham cracker toffee
  

What is graham cracker toffee?

It’s just what it sounds like: buttery toffee poured on top of graham crackers. It’s also called Christmas crack, graham cracker candy, or just cracker candy and it’s a really yummy, extra crunchy alternative to regular toffee or brickle.

You may have seen similar recipes made with saltine crackers. You can totally substitute saltines here if you prefer! If you do, you might want to omit the salt in the toffee (that’s up to you).

Variations on graham cracker candy

• This recipe can easily be halved; just use a 9-inch square baking pan instead of a jelly roll pan. The cooking and baking time will remain the same
• The recipe can also be doubled! Obviously, you’ll just need more pans
• Add some sprinkles when you top the toffee with almonds
• If you don’t like almonds you can use any nut—pecans are delicious—or omit the nuts completely
• Instead of almonds you could use toffee baking bits or chopped butterfingers or even chocolate covered espresso beans. Have fun with it! 
• A healthy sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top of the chocolate is AWESOME if you like salty sweets
• As stated above, you can use saltines instead of graham crackers; if you do, you might want to omit the salt in the recipe (that’s up to your personal salt preferences)

How to store graham cracker toffee

Uneaten toffee (which is a rarity but if you make five batches you might have a few pieces left) is easy to store for a rainy day.

Once the chocolate is set, you can store the toffee in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, in the fridge (also in an airtight container) for up to about a week, or in the freezer for about 2 months.

If you’re planning on storing your toffee for a long time, it’s best to put parchment or wax paper in between layers of toffee. 

But when I leave it out on the counter for easy holiday snacking, I don’t bother—it gets eaten up really quickly and I don’t want to waste the paper :).

And now let me wish you a happy Thanksgiving if you’re celebrating this week! Graham cracker toffee makes a delicious party favor. . .just saying! It’s irresistible!

A few more recipes you might enjoy
Coffee Toffee
3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Fudge
White Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
Nutella Bars

Did you make this graham cracker toffee? Hooray! Let me know what you think with a comment and a rating below. Then post a pic on Insta–tag @theitsybitsykitchen so I can see your delicious creations!

5 from 10 votes

Print

Graham Cracker Toffee

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Setting time

2 hrs

Total Time

15 mins

 

Graham cracker toffee is the easiest candy you'll ever make. No candy thermometer, just a few minutes of prep, five minutes in the oven, and your candy is done!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 40

Author: Kelsie

Ingredients

• 12 to 14 graham crackers
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups chopped milk dark or semi-sweet chocolate*
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 15- by 10-inch (or so) jelly roll pan** with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Arrange the graham crackers in a single layer on top of the parchment and set pan aside; you’ll need to break a few of them in half or quarters to fit them all.
3. Combine the brown sugar, butter, and salt in a small saucepan set over medium heat.
4. Allow the butter to melt, stirring occasionally. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 3 minutes WITHOUT STIRRING.
5. Pour over the crackers and bake 5 to 10 minutes; the butter-sugar mixture should be bubbling all over.
6. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the chocolate over the candy. Let the chocolate sit for 2 or 3 minutes, then use a spatula to spread the chocolate into an even layer.

7. If the chocolate won’t melt after sitting on the hot toffee for a couple minutes, you can return it to the oven for a minute or so.

8. Once the chocolate is spread out, sprinkle with the almonds.
9. Set aside to allow the chocolate to set. (Depending on the kind of chocolate you used, you might need to refrigerate the toffee to set the chocolate completely. Just cool the toffee to room temperature before putting it in the fridge.)
10. Break into pieces and serve.
11. Uneaten candy can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, in the fridge for about a week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. (Be sure it’s tightly wrapped in the freezer.)

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

• *Chocolate chips are fine but they don’t melt as easily as regular chocolate bars! (Hershey bars are great for melting if you like milk chocolate.)
• **It doesn’t have to be exactly 15- by 10-inch; somewhere around there is fine. The cooking and baking times will remain the same.
• If you don’t have a jelly roll pan you can use two 9-inch square baking pans OR one 9-inch and one 8-inch square pan OR one 9-inch and one 11- by 7-inch pan. You may need to adjust the number of crackers you use; just use enough to cover the bottoms of the pans in a single layer.
• You can use salted butter; just omit the salt in the recipe
• If you don’t like nuts feel free to leave them off; you can also substitute any nut you like for the almonds. Pecans are a good choice.