Love saltine cracker toffee? Try this dark chocolate pistachio version this holiday season.

After finding the dark chocolate roasted pistachio toffee at Trader Joe’s over the holidays I have been a bit obsessed with the combination. First I annihilated that toffee, then I baked mini pistachio cupcakes with a dark chocolate ganache, and now made my own version of that toffee using the saltine cracker toffee recipe as the base.

Crispy crackers are topped with crunchy toffee, a layer of dark chocolate, and sprinkled with chopped pistachios. If you thought the original saltine cracker toffee was hard to resist, just wait until you get your hands on these. And as a side note, feel free to be amazed at the fact that I was able to make these without a trip to the grocery store. I wasn’t kidding when I said my pantry was stockpiled, needing to be used up before moving.

One year ago: Meyer Lemon Curd

Two years ago: Peanut Butter Cinnamon Raisin Apple Bars

Three years ago: Strawberry Fig Newtons

DARK CHOCOLATE PISTACHIO SALTINE CRACKER TOFFEE

Serves 10-12

Ingredients:

40 salted whole wheat saltine crackers (or enough to line your pan)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups dark chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped pistachios

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a rimmed cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Line saltine crackers in a single layer on the cookie sheet.
2. In a small pot combine sugar and butter and bring to a boil. Once mixture is at a boil, continue boiling for 3 minutes. Mixture should be a deep caramel color. Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes. It will get all bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and let sit a couple of minutes to melt (can also melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minute then spread it on). Spread melted chocolate and top with chopped pistachios. Cool completely and break into pieces.

Source: Adapted slightly from The Girl Who Ate Everything.

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Before I left east TN this past Sunday, my parents had a few friends over to play a card game called Five Crowns. They had just taught me the night before in preparation (it is like rummy but with five suits and a few trick cards that change with the number of cards in your hand) so I stuck around for one full round before hitting the road. I totally won, go newbie!

Of course what’s a party without food? One friend of theirs brought over a toffee that was made with a saltine cracker layer. I really liked how it made the toffee less hard and added a little extra saltiness. Naturally I had to find out how to make this in order to have a stash of it for myself. She told me it was from Food Network, but I could not find it on there (probably goes by a different name). However a quick Google search led me to Christy’s recipe on The Girl Who Ate Everything and I made these quick!

One year ago: Papaya Blueberry Almond Granola Bars

SALTINE CRACKER TOFFEE

Serves 10-12

Ingredients:

40 salted saltine crackers or enough to line your pan

1 cup unsalted butter*

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

*You can either use salted butter or salted saltines but not both. I used salted crackers and unsalted butter in this one.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Line saltine crackers in a single layer on the cookie sheet.
2. In a small pot combine sugar and butter and bring to a boil. Once mixture is at a boil, continue boiling for 3 minutes. Mixture should be a deep caramel color. Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes. It will get all bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and let sit a couple of minutes to melt. Sometimes I melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minute then spread it on. Spread melted chocolate and top with chopped nuts if desired. Cool completely and break into pieces.

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

The crispiest, tastiest onion rings you ever did have, made without a giant vat of oil! These oven-fried onion rings are simple the best.

Jump to recipe

I am not a lover of onions. When raw, too crunchy. When cooked, too slimy. But the flavor is not a problem, it’s the texture. Any recipe calling for onion only happens when I can mince it up. That being said however, when I saw the picture of these onion rings I drooled.

Oh they are so wonderfully crunchy and delicious! And that’s saying a lot coming from someone who dislikes onions. The sauce too is a must. It was also great on my burger I had along with the onion rings. What a complete little package for dinner!

I especially loved that these are made in the oven as opposed to frying in a pan of oil. Alternatively, if you have the functionality on your oven or other appliances, you could use the convection setting to make air fryer onion rings.

My only complaint is how I still seem to fail at being successful at getting perfectly coated food items (I take that back, I can chocolate coat anything in my sleep). It seems impossible for me to master the art of completely covering whatever it is I am making with it’s breading, crust, etc. Spots always fall off making me want to dip it in glue first.

Is there some magic trick I am unaware of? A flick of the wrist I have yet to master? Thankfully this lack of skill does not hinder the outcome. Mostly covered is still fantastic!

P.S. As you can see from the updated photos, I found that grinding up the chips and crackers a bit more increased their ability to stick to the onion rings. Huzzah!

Post updated 7/2/20, photo above is the original.

I would recommend heading over to Brown Eyed Baker for pictures of each step of the process.

OVEN-FRIED ONION RINGS

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Yield: 4-6 Servings Cooking Time: 15 Minutes 15 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

DIPPING SAUCE

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (or plain Greek yogurt)
• 2 tsp ketchup
• 2 Tbsp horseradish
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp dried oregano
• Dash ground black pepper
• Dash cayenne pepper

ONION RINGS

• 1/2 cup flour, divided
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 30 saltine crackers
• 4 cups kettle-cooked potato chips
• 2 large yellow onions, sliced into rings (1/2 inch thick and at least 2 inches in diameter)
• 6 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the dipping sauce and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Adjust oven racks to lower-middle and upper-middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Place 1/4 cup flour in a shallow bowl; set aside
4. Beat egg and buttermilk together in another shallow  bowl. Whisk remaining 1/4 cup flour, cayenne, salt and pepper into buttermilk mixture; set aside.
5. Pulse saltines and potato chips together in food processor until finely ground. Place crumb mixture in third shallow bowl.
6. Working one at a time, dredge each onion ring in flour, shaking off excess. Dip rings in buttermilk mixture, allowing excess to drip back into bowl, then drop into crumb coating, turning rings to coat evenly. Transfer coated rings to large plate or tray.
7. Pour 3 tablespoons oil onto each of two rimmed baking sheets. Place baking sheets in oven and heat until just smoking, about 8 minutes.
8. Carefully tilt heated sheets to coat evenly with oil, then arrange onion rings on sheets. Baking, flipping onion rings and switching and rotating position of baking sheets halfway through baking, until golden brown on both sides, about 15 minutes. Briefly drain onion rings on paper towel-lined plate. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.

Did you make this recipe? I want to see!

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