Graham Cracker Toffee Bars — If you’re looking for a recipe that will disappear at holiday parties, cookie exchanges, neighborhood potlucks, or school bake sales, this graham cracker toffee is a guaranteed winner!! It’s EASY and everyone LOVES it!!
Easy Graham Cracker Dessert
I have a recipe for Chocolate Saltine Toffee (aka Christmas Crack) that’s nearly 6 years old and every year before Christmas it’s one of my most popular. This recipe for graham cracker toffee bars is a spinoff on that but uses graham crackers instead of saltine crackers.
It’s fast and easy to make and it lives up to its name because it’s supremely addictive. It’s sweet, buttery with caramel and nutty undertones, crunchy, and chewy all in one.
The slight crunch of the graham crackers is a perfect base for the buttery, caramely, brown sugar-based toffee topping.
Although I didn’t brown the butter per se, it’s boiled with brown sugar for five minutes and takes on the rich, nutty flavor quality of browned butter, which is my weakness. It’s absolutely divine. Semi-sweet chocolate chips balance the sweetness of the toffee while toffee bits add crunch and extra flavor.
If you’re looking for a recipe that will disappear at holiday parties, cookie exchanges, neighborhood potlucks, or school bake sales, this is a guaranteed winner. Everyone I gave some to couldn’t stop eating it.
What’s in Graham Cracker Toffee Bars?
To make these toffee bars, you’ll need:
- Honey graham crackers
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Toffee bits
How to Make Graham Cracker Toffee Bars
Line the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan with aluminum foil, then spray with non-stick spray. Place the graham crackers on the bottom of the pan in an even layer.
In a saucepan, melt the butter, brown sugar, and salt. Once the butter has melted, let the mixture boil for a further 5 minutes. The mixture should become thick and almost caramel-like in consistency.
Pour the mixture over the graham crackers, then bake for a few minutes. Once the graham cracker crack starts bubbling around the edges, pull it out of the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. Return the pan to the oven to melt the chocolate chips, then remove from oven and spread the melted chocolate chips over the graham cracker toffee.
Sprinkle the graham cracker crack with toffee bits, then let it rest on your counter to set.
How Should I Cut Graham Cracker Toffee Into Bars?
With a very sharp knife! Because you’re working with toffee, you’ll wind up with lots of little pieces that have broken off — those were the ones that didn’t make it to these photos. If you made the toffee properly, you should be able to easily break it into pieces with your hands as well.
Why Won’t My Chocolate Chips Melt?
I’ve had a few readers say their chocolate chips wouldn’t melt or didn’t spread well. If this happens to you, it might be the brand of chocolate chips you’re using. I use Trader Joe’s chocolate chips and they melt perfectly every time.
Tips for Making Graham Cracker Toffee Bars
If you only have salted butter on hand, that’s fine to use in this graham cracker dessert recipe. Your toffee bars will just be more salty-sweet (which some people actually prefer anyways!).
When melting the brown sugar and butter, you must stir it consistently to prevent it from burning. Babysitting the butter for 5 minutes can be boring, but it’s very important that you do it.
I prefer letting my graham cracker toffee bars set at room temperature and not in the fridge. When you refrigerate these toffee bars, you’ll see condensation on them after the chocolate has been refrigerated and then comes to room temperature. But this is merely a cosmetic issue. If you’re in a hurry, you can expedite the cooling process by refrigerating, noting that condensation will gather on the bars.
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Graham Cracker Toffee (aka Graham Cracker Crack)
If you're looking for a recipe that will disappear at holiday parties or cookie exchanges, these graham cracker toffee bars are a guaranteed winner.
Ingredients
- about 10 full-size honey graham crackers, or enough to cover pan (I used low-fat)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup toffee bits
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×13-inch pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Place graham crackers in pan in a single, flat layer so pan is completely covered with them. You will have to break some crackers to fill in the smaller spaces at the edges. It’s ok if there are slight gaps, doesn’t have to be perfect; set aside.
- To a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan with high sides, add the butter, brown sugar, salt, and heat over medium-high heat to melt. Stir constantly until butter has melted.
- After butter has melted, allow mixture to boil for about 4 1/2 to 5 minutes at a medium-fast boil (lots of bubbles). Stir constantly to prevent burning. As you approach the 4 minute mark, mixture should seem thickened with the consistency of medium-thick caramel sauce. I pulled mine off the heat at 4 1/2 minutes because it was thick enough.
- Evenly pour mixture over graham crackers.
- Bake for about 7 minutes, or until there’s bubbling around the edges.
- Remove pan from oven, evenly sprinkle with chocolate chips, return pan to oven, and bake for about 2 minutes, or until chocolate chips are glistening and have softened.
- Use a spatula to smooth the chocolate chips into an even, smooth layer of melted chocolate.
- Evenly sprinkle with toffee bits.
- Allow toffee to cool for about 2 to 3 hours, or until chocolate has set up and dessert is sliceable.*
Notes
- *I made this on a very warm day and after 4 hours cooling at room temp, the chocolate was still on the melty side. I didn’t refrigerate it because of the condensation effect that happens after chocolate has been refrigerated and then comes to room temp and you can see fine water droplets on it, but this is merely a cosmetic issue. If you’re in a hurry you can expedite the cooling process by refrigerating, noting the condensation effect will occur.
- Toffee will keep airtight at room temp for up to 2 weeks, or in the fridge for up to 1 months, or freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 178Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 102mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 1gSugar: 23gProtein: 1g
More Easy Cookie Exchange Recipes:
Cowboy Bark: Trader Joe’s Copycat Recipe — Just like the real thing and ready in 5 minutes. Salty, sweet, and supremely good!
Toffee Almond Bars — An ultra buttery base made with almond extract and topped with chocolate and toffee bits! An easy dessert that’s ready in 15 minutes but tastes like you slaved over it!
White Chocolate-Dipped Oreo Cookie Balls — These are such a simple no-bake treat with only 4 ingredients, and everyone loves them!
Holiday Special K Bars — Super chewy, gooey, FAST, easy, no-bake cereal bars loaded with peanut butter, chocolate, and sprinkles!! Like scotcheroos but with Special K!
Loaded M&M Oreo Cookie Holiday Bars — The bars are loaded with goodies in every bite. Crunchy Oreos and crisp M&M’s are a great texture contrast to the soft, buttery bars.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls — EASY, NO-BAKE chocolate peanut butter balls that are a holiday favorite!! They have it all: Salty, sweet, crunchy, with chocolate and peanut butter!
Softbatch No-Roll Holiday Sprinkles Cookies — These tender, buttery holiday cookies use a no-roll dough with the sprinkles baked right in so you don’t even have to decorate them!
Originally published September 2016 and reposted November 2019 with updated text.
The semi-sweet mini morsels melt easily on top of graham cracker. This last Christmas I made it for gifts and it was a Great Hit! My sister has me make it once a week for her. This recipe is so easy, thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this was a hit for you over the holidays and that it was easy!
Not sure what I did wrong. I only boiled the Carmel for 4 minutes, but it was very thick. It is just sitting on top of the crackers and the butter is separating out of the sugar. ☹️
Boiled too long and/or at too high of a heat. Your boil was too “fast” of a boil.
Try again next time at lower heat, less time, and a heavier bottomed pot.
And/or all 3 of the above suggestions and that will correct the issue.
Need help from fellow bakers please. I have made this recipe numerous times in the past but big failure tonight. Why would the butter and sugar mixture boil turn to curdle/oily looking mess? TWICE?? Unsalted butter? (Challenge brand) Natural sugar? The first time I thought maybe I heated it too quickly, but low-medium heat did not work either. What went wrong??
What does ‘natural’ sugar mean? You want to use basic, average, white sugar that our grandmothers were using.
If that’s what you’re using, I really don’t know. The odd thing is that you’ve made it successfully in the past so it’s something with the ingredients I am thinking but it’s really hard to guess from afar.
Can you freeze them after they are done?
Yes but honestly it will keep for a very long time at room temp, or in the fridge, if you don’t want to freeze it.
I make a version of this for Passover: matzah boards, the same caramel & chocolate bits, and use walnuts or almonds, and even sprinkle white chocolate bits over the dark chocolate then swirl. It isn’t Passover without Matzah Crunch.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad you have a favorite version of this recipe too!
I made it twice. but the caramel doesn’t soak into the crackers and is a separate layer on top of the cracker.
I think you’re overcooking the caramel then. I would cook for 30-60 secs less, not sure exactly, but it sounds like you need to reduce the cooking time by 20-25% in my opinion. It’s hard to tell from afar what exactly is going on but that’s my gut instinct on this.
These look so good, Averie! And so easy to make, too. I’ve been on a sweets kick since before Halloween but now I’m out of Halloween candy. :( I know these will help fix my sweets cravings!
Haha! Yes this is a good substitute once you run out of Halloween candy but still have a sweet tooth! And yes, easy too!
Can I make a shortbread or tart base rather than crushed graham crackers? The graham cracker base seems like it would fall apart. Will try both ways!
They don’t fall apart.
The graham crackers are not crushed for the base.
i have yet to cut it but so far so good the chocolate chips didn’t really melt to one smooth piece and when i tried using a spatula the toffee came up with it so i don’t think i’ll be smoothing it out but will come back shortly and tell you how it turned out
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am sure it will still taste delicious. Some brands of choc chips are more resistant to melting than others. That could be the issue or just pop it in the oven at like 300F for a minute or two and see if that helps.
I want to cut my graham cracker candy for smores – how did you cut yours? I don’t want to break it up because I want it to be uniform.
Asking for a friend ;)
With a super sharp knife BUT there are lots that will break, that is the nature of toffee. The broken ones just didn’t make the photos :)
Ok, so the cutting – I got a dollar ‘betty crocker’ pizza cutter from Dollar Tree and after about 7 minutes of cooling I used it to cut them – hey cut like a BOSS. Cutting them while still warm I think is the real trick.
Thanks for this recipe – I’ve been using another one but like this one way better.
Glad you like this recipe way better and that is a great $1 investment for sure :) Love it when gadgets work like that!
i accidentally bought salted butter instead of unsalted, is it okay to still use it?
If you like salty-sweet treats, yes. If not, swap it out.
OOPS. You could cut back on the SALT in the caramel mixture.
I suck at cooking I guess these days I needed it to be perfect. I made it and the first round I burnt the butter and brown sugar then second time it separated and so still tried to complete but five hours later it’s wont set up at all soft taste good but messy. I also did the cowboy bark well failed there too and I normally can cook.
Not really sure what to say other than sometimes baking is a learning experience and not everything works out perfectly until you get a little experience under your belt.
I usually fail with anything resembling candy. Other than my stove required a couple minutes longer for each baking aspect (2 yr old stove?), it came out great! Walmart brand chocolate chips and all! Thank you for such a winning recipe.
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad it was a winner you you!
I have made this every Christmas and always make it the same. However sometimes the caramel doesn’t soak into the crackers and is a separate layer on top of the cracker. (the cracker is dry)
Any suggestions?
Am I boiling it too long and too thick (4 min)?
If it’s too thick, and to viscous to absorb, yes I would say you’re boiling it too long. Cut back on that and you should be fine.
I made this for a church fund raising silent auction and it got rave reviews. Sorry I didn’t get to sample my wares. I’ll make a batch for me 😁
Yes next time I hope you can sample some of your own creation! Glad it got rave reviews!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I have been asking around for a recipe and no one seemed to have one. It is additive.
Glad you found mine!
What is a “typical” serving size and how many people does this recipe serve?
It’s candy and it’s pretty rich. So a small piece is what I would consider a serving. Probably 40 servings but then again it really depends on if you’re serving it to people who are watching what the eat or people who don’t care and eat whatever they want.
I’m making This tonight for tomorrow’s church event and it’s gonna be entered in for sweet contest.. hopefully it will work out.. kind of last minute, but cheap to make
Great and good luck!
Wow Averie, thank you!!! I have a BBQ tomorrow , and I just finished cutting these toffee bars up! Fabulous! And so simple as well.. I know they’ll be a hit! 🤗
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these will be a hit at the BBQ!
Made this for a work potluck. Huge hit – disappeared with a quickness!! Such a easy recipe too. Will definitely be making this again very soon. Thank you for a delightfully rich and simple recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it was a huge hit at the potluck!
My cousin’s and I made this when mom and dad drove us back to visit them. This recipe will always have the memories attached to it. I made some yesterday and decided to make half of the sheet with saltines and the other with graham crackers. It works well. As for the parchment paper question. YES! Use it! It’s far better than peeling tiny bits of foil off. I didn’t have to grease it, and they peel off beautifully.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this is a family fave for you!
Tried my hands at this recipe this past weekend..DELISH!! The work gang loved it!!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great! Glad it was a big hit at work!
This looks delicious! How do you cut it? Could you pour it in a pan coated with parchment paper and lift it out?
With an extremely sharp knife or just break it.
Do you ever use a candy thermometer? My mother’s recipe of ‘Cracker Toffee’ aka ‘Christmas Crack’ was very specific about temp. I no longer have that recipe so I am looking for something comparable and want to try your graham cracker variation.
Never use one! Neither in the Xmax Crack or the Graham Cracker Toffee/Cracker version. Enjoy!
Hi Averie! I tried these and they were amazing! I wanna make them for my friends, but i was hoping to make the graham crackers a little less obvious (to keep the magic a secret ;) ). Will it work if i sort of crush the graham crackers to tinier pieces and then mix it with the toffee before adding the chocolate?
I would not because the pulverized crackers will not stand up to the topping layers and it will be a real mess. WHY DISGUISE? Who cares! They’re delicious as is and if your friend will realize that.
I followed this to a tee but my Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chips would not melt! I tried leaving them in longer and it just got worse. So my cchips are just sitting on top, which I guess is ok but not as pretty. Aldo, I didn’t have toffee bits so I used pecans instead.
I hate to say it but Nestle chips melt the least of all brands I’ve ever tried. If you have a Trader Joe’s in your area, theirs melt beautifully smooth. Or try other brands in the grocery store next time.
How many squares does this make?
It’s makes a 9×13 inch pan and depending on how you cut the pieces (small or large), the amount of pieces will vary.
I made this about a month ago, took it to our book club, and it was amazing. Today I made it again to take to our family Thanksgiving. Something went wrong. When I cut it, the chocolate layer separated from the graham cracker layer and they look terrible. Taste great though. I need to remake it. What to do differently? I cooked the caramel about 4 and a quarter minutes both times, in the oven about 6 and a half minutes both times, cooled on the counter. Thanks!
Baking science and why things happen sometimes and other times they don’t…I do not know. I would say the problem is in the chocolate not the toffee. Sounds like the toffee part was fine and it’s just an issue of the chocolate not sticking well to the toffee. I swear by Trader Joe’s chocolate chips for stuff like this because they are more forgiving I find than other brands. If you don’t have access to those, I would switch up your choc chip brand. Also something like a chopped chocolate, i.e. Trader Joe’s 72% pound plus bars, or a darker baking chocolate could work. LMK how the re-make goes.
this sounds amazing. thanks for your post i have one more suggestion to do for my kid’s birthday party next week.
hope you enjoy your day!
I could seriously eat an entire tray of these! YUMMMM! I’ve always wanted to make one of these saltine crack recipes and this might be the one I need to try first!
Thanks Jenn!
Whoa! I feel like I need this in my life!
I grew up eating this stuff at Christmas. It is SO good!
I had never had it until this recipe and OMG…I have been missing out!
I can easily eat the entire pan of this! It’s the BEST candy.
Seriously this is the BEST. I take it you’ve had it? Omg this stuff was.so.good.!!! This should have been post (or pre!) marathon food :)
I’ve made graham cracker toffee before and I LOOOOOOOOOVE IT. Yours look fantastic!
Christmas crack is delicious and this honestly sounds SO much better! IAnd they have GF graham crackers, but not saltines. Not that I’m going to make this because I’d eat it all in one day.
LOLing at the fat free graham crackers!! That’s like ordering a diet coke with a big mac and fries. (I’m teasing, I know its probably just what you had at home.)
hey girl this looks so good! I have made it with saltine crackers and it is so yummy!
You’ll love it with the graham crackers, too! I couldn’t pick a favorite!
Wow this sounds amazing! I’ve made your toffee crack before as a Christmas present to my dad and that was a huge hit. It was dangerously good!
Glad to hear you’ve tried the other version of this recipe and this one is as equally dangerous :)
Ooh. I’ve had something similar, made with matzo bread, but I love graham crackers and I think this would be a nice riff.
Yes the Saltine Toffee that I adapted this recipe from, I’ve seen that recipe call for matzo too. I think they’re all wonderful!
Graham cracker crack sounds delicious! One look at the photo tells me it’s addictive. These also seem like the perfect cross between a bar and candy…..with a little bias toward the candy aspect!!
It was so, so good Paula, and your description is spot-on, bias toward the candy aspect :)