April 30, 2010

Snap, Crack, Crunch


Let me be brief.  Make this.  Now. 

There's a reason why a quick Google search will turn up a rash of recipes for this confection; why it's been nicknamed "matzo crack".  This stuff is gooood.  Addictive good.  Matzo, you're thinking?  That blah cardboard-y cracker sheet?  Good, nay, amazing?  Mm-hmm.  Come on, it's covered with toffee and then chocolate and sprinkled with a little sea salt if you like.  You can't find fault in that combination of ingredients, unless you're allergic, in which case I'm sorry, you're missing out.

From the moment I started cooking the butter and brown sugar and the kitchen was filled with that warm caramel sweet smell I was counting down the minutes until I could break a piece off and gobble it up. (10 minutes to preheat the oven and cook the caramel, another 10 to bake, 5 minutes for the chocolate and salt and about 30 minutes in the freezer - yeah, I'm impatient - to chill.  That's nearly an entire hour!  To wait!  Gah!)  But oh, sweet rewards!  I now have my very own stash which is taking all the willpower I've got not to devour in one sitting.

I topped my matzo crunch with Hawaiian black sea salt because I like the bigger crystals and extra crunch it gives, but fleur de sel would be wonderful too.  Or chopped nuts.  Or nothing at all and leave it at toffee and chocolate.  Whatever you fancy.

Matzo Toffee Crunch

36 candy pieces

3 sheets unsalted matzo
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Lay the matzo crackers on the cookie sheet, as closely together as possible (you may have to break one of the crackers depending on how large your cookie sheet is) and set aside.

In a sauce pan melt the butter and brown sugar together and bring to a boil.  Let it cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until it begins to thicken, then carefully pour over the matzo crackers and spread around with a heat proof spatula.  The cracker may curl up a bit at the edges, but once it all heats up in the oven, they'll lay flat again and the caramel/toffee should spread out nicely.  Bake for 10 minutes until caramel/toffee is bubbly and the edges are not burned.

Remove from oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.  Let it sit for several mintues until the chocolate melts, then spread evenly again with spatula.  Sprinkle on salt.  Let it cool completely in the fridge then break each matzo sheet into about 12 pieces.

Store in an airtight container in a cool place (I kept mine in the fridge.)

1 comment:

  1. Tasty, A+, neat-o, really super-duper, gang.

    ReplyDelete