Cracker bars

A friend made these delicious toffee bars from Ritz crackers and when I tried them, I knew I had to make some too.  Soooo simple to do and soooo addicting.

I took some pictures of the steps and was going to take a photo of the finished product, but MY FAMILY ATE EVERY LAST BITE!

Well, I just had to make some more.  I grabbed a pic fast, because those things don't stay in the house long at all. 

There are many recipes online for how to make these.  Once I read a few, I decided to change it up a bit to suit our household.  Here is a photo of what I used, along with pecans.

Because caramel goes sooooo good with pecans.  And yes, Im exaggerating my "sooooooo's", but I am NOT exaggerating how addicting-ly, wonderfully, delicious these are.  

Sooooooo delicious!  

That is, if you like salted caramel-ish, buttery, chocolatey, crunchy, goodness.

With chocolate!

First, you line a pan with parchment paper, then fill it with broken crackers. I let the kids do this part, and had them use a lot of crackers, not just a thin layer.  Over that, we sprinkled about a cup of chopped pecans.

Next, I melted a stick and a half of butter with 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup sugar.

After the sugar dissolves, it needs to bubble until it looks creamy.  And it needs the pan's sides constantly scraped so sugar doesn't form on the sides.  If you don't feel like you can keep it from turning to sugar this way, when it starts to get creamy looking, put a lid on it, take it off the heat, and let the steam melt the sugar that  might have crystalized on the side of the pan.  If you stop the mixture from turning to sugar, then you get a rich, toffee/ caramel texture.  (This trick works with fudge and other candies where you have to boil sugar too)

Poor the mix over the crackers, then stir it up to make sure each bite is covered in gooey goodness.

Pop the pan into the oven for five to ten  minutes at 350.  But, please check on it, to make sure that it doesn't burn.  Ten minutes might be too much.  Five might not be enough. You just want it to brown and firm up, loose the wet look it had when you poured it on.

As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle it with chocolate chips to cover the crunchy layer and spread them with a spatula. The heat of the baked mix will melt the chips as you spread them.

I didn't use a whole bag. I was going more for more emphasis on the toffee portion of the candy than the chocolate topping.  But if you are more of a chocolate lover, please feel free to add as much as you'd like. Mine barely covered the cracker base.

The bars will set up in the fridge, and after a few hours, can be cracked into pieces.   

If you want to take a photo of your tasty treats, do it fast.

These don't last long.

They are soooooooooooooooooooo good!