Saltine Toffee Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my saltine toffee grainy? ›

Why is my saltine toffee grainy? The graininess you taste in toffee is always whole sugar crystals that did not fully dissolve when heated. To prevent this, stir the butter and brown sugar together while it melts. Then, make sure the entire mixture comes to a rolling boil, not just the edges of the pan.

Use as a topping: Crush the crackers or hardtack into small pieces and use them as a crunchy topping for casseroles, mac and cheese, or salads. Make stuffing: Use stale crackers or hardtack as a base for a savory stuffing. Combine them with sautéed onions, celery, herbs, and broth to create a fla.

Saltines have been compared to hardtack, a simple unleavened cracker or biscuit made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. However, unlike hardtack, saltines include yeast as a leavening agent, which causes the bread to rise.

The caramel topping needs to get to the hard-crack stage or it will be chewy. This means you may have to bake it a little longer or adjust your oven temperature slightly (every oven is different). I insist on a candy thermometer.

Low and slow

Simmering the syrup for English toffee to the requisite 300°F temperature can (and should) be a slow process — up to 20 minutes or so. Don't hurry this gradual transformation; syrup that doesn't reach 300°F, or close to it, will make candy with timid flavor and chewy (not crunchy) texture.

Why is my cracker toffee chewy? For firm toffee, the caramel needs to cook to what's known as "hard crack" stage. If you pull the toffee out of the oven and it isn't bubbling all over, leave it in for additional time. If using a thermometer, the temperature of the caramel should reach about 300°F.

While the texture and taste of stale food might be a little off, so long as there isn't anything else wrong with it, the food should be fine to eat. You're not going to suffer any stale food side effects.

People seem to think that crackers and chips are going to get soft as soon as you put them in the fridge, and that's simply not true. I'm actually not even sure how we all got that idea. As long as they're in a closed container, they will stay just as crunchy. Temperature has nothing to do with it.

Crackers are not meant to rise like sourdough and baguettes, though. For cracker dough to bake to a perfect crisp, it needs to release the steam. Basically, perforating crackers with holes (also called docking) helps release steam from the dough when it bakes to keep the crackers flat.

Make sure you choose your crackers carefully, as many brands are high in refined flour and added sugar, which may negatively affect blood sugar levels. To avoid these ingredients, always choose crackers made with 100% whole grains.

How did Civil War soldiers eat hard tack? ›

They would also break up the hardtack with the butt (the back part) of their rifles and throw it in soups such as a stew called “lobscouse,” which also included soldiers' rations of salt pork (which was preserved with salt to make it last a long time too), and any other things they could find to add to it.

A common thought is that it is called Christmas crack because of the crack the toffee-like candy makes when it is bitten into. However, another theory is that it is so delicious, that it's as addicting as crack.

The butter, sugar and syrup are melted together and should form a smooth sauce. When the sauce cools it should remain amalgamated. If the butterfat separates out then usually this is due to the mixture being either heated or cooled too quickly, which "shocks" the mixture and causes the fat to separate out.

If your toffee doesn't have a hard texture (where you can snap it in half) you did not cook it long enough. Again, the 5-minutes is just a guide. Cook it until it is the color of a brown bag.

Add Moisture: If the sugar is melted but you still see a few crystals- sometimes adding some liquid like water or heavy cream to the mixture can help dissolve any sugar crystals that have formed and promote a smoother texture.

Unlike other homemade candy and many caramel recipes that require constant stirring, toffee is different. It only needs to be stirred occasionally, otherwise it has a tendency to crystallize (turn sugary and grainy) or separate.

Graininess occurs when the sugar in caramel sauce hasn't completely dissolved before adding in butter and heavy cream or if the caramel is cooled too quickly. Luckily, you can bring grainy caramel sauce back to a smooth, creamy consistency with an easy fix. Simply reheat it on the stovetop and add more liquid.