Crazy Cracker Candy – And You Thought I Forgot That Today was Recipe Saturday

Turn these into candy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am going to provide you with a bit of an eccentric recipe but one I made a lot when my kids were little. It uses saltines as the base and is super easy. It is a fun recipe to do with kids, because they love to line up the crackers on a cookie sheet and try to leave no gaps.

I was given this recipe during a phone conversation with a friend. I had tried the candy at her house and just loved it. As such, this is a rather “loose” recipe, but it works with just a few ingredients and is super fast to make.

Crazy Cracker Candy

Ingredients:

Saltine crackers; 1/2 cup butter or margarine; 1/2 cup brown sugar; chocolate chips; nuts if you desire

Instructions:

Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Line up saltine crackers so there are no gaps or overlapping. Boil 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter or margarine. Spoon over the crackers covering them with the liquid “gold”. Put them in the oven for about a minute in a preheated 350 degree oven.

Take them out of the oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips and then put back in the oven until the chips melt and spread. When they come out you can sprinkle them with nuts (I never do this). Put them in the fridge for 1/2 hour to cool. Score bars and remove them from cookie sheet. (I usually just break them up).

Seriously, these are so good–and your kids will love them. You will love them. And most of us have these ingredients hanging around our pantry and fridge.

Do you have a recipe that is blissfully easy, but good, and uses really accessible ingredients?

If It Is Saturday~Must Be Recipe Day Favourite Easy Recipe of All Time

Mixing chocolate chips into batter. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Don’t be fooled. I have lots of “Favourite Easy Recipes” of all time, because that is just the way I roll. This recipe is from a magazine and was included in a “Teens in the Kitchen” article. I figured if kids could do it, I could do it. And—this is the important part – it is from scratch and uses real flour. I used to have a fear of flour. I have conquered that fear. I still have a fear of yeast.

My youngest son loves these bars and asks for them all the time. That is a good indication that it is a good recipe. He is one very picky eater.

This recipe also meets my all important criteria of not having more than five ingredients so  I do not get confused.

So, without further ado:

TOFFEE BARS

1 ½ cups butter

1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

3 cups of flour

1 cup of chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350 F

2. Put butter, brown sugar, and vanilla in large bowl and mix on medium speed for 3 minutes until completely combined. Add flour and mix on low for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. (This is not for the faint of heart—by now the cookie dough is quite stiff—good for the biceps!)

3. Put dough in an ungreased 15 X 10 inch baking pan (I don’t have one so use a 10 x 13 I think) and press into an even layer. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool for only 5 minutes then cut into squares. (If you let them cool longer, they will crack when you cut them).

This is a very forgiving recipe as I am a distracted cook—I think I have added the flour with the butter and brown sugar and vanilla, and I usually mix everything on high (remember my brother’s motto—everything is better on high). Sometimes I do not have vanilla. But I always have chocolate chips. This is like a moist brown sugar shortbread with chocolate chips—could there be anything better?

Seriously easy and seriously delicious.

Anyone have suggestions for me on how to get rid of my fear of yeast?

Day 16 ~ 200 Words

English: Peanut butter cookie with a chocolate chip smiley face (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When my brother sent me the obituary for the Pillsbury Doughboy, (Day 5) I wept, as he was my hero. He helped me through so many trying times.  When in the depths of despair that there was no dessert for lunches I would discover a package of his chocolate chip cookies hidden in the crisper. I had to hide the dough because my sons would find it and eat it raw before I got a chance to turn it into cookies.

On occasion, I do bake from scratch, and today I am going to share one of my favourite recipes for cookies. It has three ingredients, but because I like to get fancy, I add a fourth. I found it on the back of a Kraft peanut butter jar. It is my go to when the Pillsbury Doughboy dough gets eaten before I have a chance to turn it into a culinary pleasure.

pillsbury doughboy (Photo credit: johnnyvintage)

You need one cup of Kraft peanut butter, one egg and ½ cup of sugar. You mix these together along with my magic ingredient: chocolate chips, roll them into balls and flatten them with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees and voilà: homemade cookies that will amaze your family! (Or, at least my family.)