Ghetto Toffee
So you are probably wondering why I would even post this, but it has become my holiday tradition to make it. I am only allowed to make it at Christmas time since I am addicted to it and having it year round would ensure me to weigh 400 pounds. Most call it cracker toffee, we call it ghetto toffee and the first time I had it they were just called yummies. The original recipe calls for Saltine crackers but I much prefer using Kebler butter crackers…I think it improves the flavor greatly. I had neither of those crackers so I had to use the Ritz crackers I had from when I was sick. These are difficult to use due to the fact they are round. So I laid them out and filled in the holes with crushed Ritz, and that worked out well. These are pretty simple to make until you get to the spreading the chocolate part…that is when you need patience and where many people have a melt down. I remember Lis at La Mia Cucina had difficulty with her cracker toffee, most likely spreading it too quickly.
I first had these at my mom’s friends house and she called them yummies….which they are. I was in the airport on my way to a hockey tournament I used to go to each year in Calgary called April Ice and I needed a book to read. There was a book that I had to buy just because of the title….The Sweet Potato Queen’s Big-Ass Cookbook(and Financial Planner). I never actually thought it would have recipes, but it does and I love most of them. The author of the book loves all food bad for you and shares my love of bacon and all the joy that bacon brings. It’s a funny read with a lot of good, bad for you, simple foods.
Ghetto Toffee
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
Enough crackers to make a layer on a cookie sheet
1 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips
1/2 12 ounce bag of toffee chips
Line a cookie sheet with foil(this is a must). Bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil in a saucepan and simmer it for about 5 minutes. Put a layer of crackers on the cookie sheet, close together. Pour the brown sugar mixture over the crackers and bake for about 6-10 minutes(I do the 10) at 350F. Remove and immediately pour the chocolate chips over the crackers, evenly distributing them. The recipe will tell you to spread immediately…I don’t. I let it sit for about 30 seconds. Then with the back of a spatula I move the chocolate chips just a little bit. I wait another 30 seconds and repeat. I start to slowly move the chocolate around being careful not to move the crackers. I let is sit for another 30 seconds and at this point it pretty much spreads like frosting. Then I top with toffee bits. YOu can top with whatever you like. I have done dark chocolate with candy cane bits, white chocolate with dried cherries, rocky road, m&m’s…just about every combo you can think of.
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December 2nd, 2006 at 4:43 pm
What a title for a cookbook or any book! That would have been one I’d have had to buy just for the title alone. It sounds like then it turns out to be a gem! In a totally different vein, I bought a title “Surely you’re joking Mr. Fineman” that turned out to be an all time favorite that I read aloud to my boys when they were 10 and 13.
You are too funny about the bacon and all the joy it brings. This is the season of joy so I say bring it on.
But there’s no bacon in the Ghetto Toffee. Does that mean we can expect another recipe from this source soon?
I’d be happy with a nice piece of this toffee but some how I get the feeling one piece might lead to many more…endlessly. I think I see the problem.
December 2nd, 2006 at 5:21 pm
I would have to eat the entire batch. I’d have to. It’s just too delicious, Peabody!
December 2nd, 2006 at 5:41 pm
Ghetto toffee – love it! What a great name! My mother-in-law makes this, so I’ll have to tell her the real name of it.
December 2nd, 2006 at 10:21 pm
What do you mean…. I thought I HAD to eat the whole thing…! I know this would be dangerous to have around. I have always been intrigued by the taste. I think I’ll just have to give in and make it. Looks darn good!
December 3rd, 2006 at 10:34 am
I make this toffee at Christmas as well and it is always a hit! I tried to make it less ghetto by switching out the crackers for Peak Freans NICE cookies (dont know if you have these in the USA)this makes it have more of a shortbread type bottom.
December 3rd, 2006 at 9:54 pm
I see ghetto. And I see cracker. And you know, this true Southern Belle took that to mean what it means around here! But I know it doesn’t. And it made me giggle. YUM. (My grandmother always made that, too, and I haven’t had it in YEARS. Hers, however, was graham crackers and pecans and something else. I’ve obviously never made it!)
December 3rd, 2006 at 10:22 pm
Looks so yummy. And anything called ghetto and made with chocolate begs to be made. Can’t wait to try it!
December 5th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
This looks delicious. You can never go wrong with anything ghetto =]
December 11th, 2006 at 9:42 am
Yummy! I think I might try with the cinnamon graham crackers I picked up at Trader Joe’s. Although I love the idea of a salty cracker in there.
December 21st, 2006 at 10:46 am
I am so happy I found this recipe… a girlfriend gave it to me before I got divorced.. and I haven’t been able to find it since. She called it poor mans’ toffee.
I totally have the same rule at my house about only at Christmas but since I’m snowed in here in Lakewood Colorado… (BLIZZARD 2006) I can make some today!
Thanks.
Chris
January 13th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Wow !!!!! This stuff is incredible. I’ve made it using Ritz crackers, TownHouse Club crackers, and good old Saltines, and somehow, they all taste exactly the same!!!! What a simple recipe. I usually have all the ingredients on hand.
Shannon
January 28th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
I got this recipe from my supervisor for Christmas a couple of years ago (she made cookbooks for all of us). She got it from a former employee named Mary B., so the recipe was clled Mary B.’s special cookies. I much prefer the Ghetto Toffee name. This is such a simple and quick recipe that you can get the kids involved and they don’t get bored, just anxious for it to cool. Our version called for 2 hours of refridgeration before breaking. I introduced my grown daughter to it this year. We both joined a gym.
September 27th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Thanks for posting this, I had that sweet potato queen book but lost it during Hurricane Katrina. When I made it I called it ‘fat on a cracker’ but now I think I’ll call it ‘White Trash Toffee’, as it seems more southern than urban.
January 26th, 2008 at 2:28 am
Yummy! I think I might try with the cinnamon graham crackers I picked up at Trader Joe’s. Although I love the idea of a salty cracker in there.
it so coOl”"”"”"””::::
;p
November 25th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Love, love, LOVE the name you have given this toffee!
December 13th, 2009 at 6:43 am
I make this during the holidays too. Best crackers to use are Townhouse original — buttery! After I put the chocolate chips on, I return it to the warm oven for just a few minutes, easy to spread the chocolate. I put them outside during the Vermont winter — they chill quickly!