Chocolate Pine Bark
Absolutely delicious chocolate treats. Made with saltine crackers but these taste just like toffee. Everyone is surprised when I tell them it's made with saltines. It's super easy and a wonderful treat.
Absolutely delicious chocolate treats. Made with saltine crackers but these taste just like toffee. Everyone is surprised when I tell them it's made with saltines. It's super easy and a wonderful treat.
- Carbohydrate 24.3681044201681 g
- Cholesterol 31.5931428571429 mg
- Fat 16.2963843697479 g
- Fiber 0.878352967430564 g
- Protein 2.43736440336134 g
- Saturated Fat 9.86118358655462 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (47g)
- Sodium 217.886892436975 mg
- Sugar 23.4897514527375 g
- Trans Fat 1.21299528739496 g
- Calories 252 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a 15 by 10 by 1-inch jelly roll pan with tin foil. Lightly spray foil with a non-stick cooking spray.
- Place saltine crackers, salty side up, in prepared pan. In a saucepan, boil butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Pour mixture over crackers and bake for 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from oven, top with candy bars, and spread evenly as chocolate begins to melt. Cool slightly and transfer onto waxed paper. Allow to cool completely.
Sugar Crystallization and the Toffee Base
Many cooks fail at making sheet-pan confections because they stir boiling sugar past the safe window of emulsification, causing the butter fat to separate from the sucrose. Achieving a stable caramel requires boiling the butter and light brown sugar for exactly two to three minutes without agitation once a rolling boil is achieved. Sucrose molecules suspend within the dairy fats during this rapid heating phase, preventing grainy crystallization and forming a crisp, brittle structure when cooled. Lining the 15 by 10-inch jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and coating it with non-stick spray prevents the molten sugar from bonding permanently to metal surfaces.
Thermal Transfer and Chocolate Application
Timing dictates the textural integrity of the final confection during the brief oven phase. Baking the sugar-coated saltines for four to six minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit drives off excess moisture from the crackers while allowing the caramel layer to bubble uniformly. Residual heat from the pan melts the milk chocolate bars once they are placed directly on the hot surface, requiring immediate spreading with an offset spatula before the fats begin to seize. Transferring the semi-cooled sheet onto waxed paper stops the cooking process and prevents condensation from softening the salted cracker base.
