Sweet and salty toffee bars

I don't know what it is about snow days, but I always feel compelled to bake. Perhaps it's the comfort of coming in from the cold to the smell of warm sugar. Perhaps it's a warm kitchen with steam on the windows.

I think it dates back to 2018, the last year we had decent snow. It was December, and my friend and I were doing some holiday baking. We got snowed in even deeper than the meterologists predicted, so we kept going and going. When we ran out of ingredients for our particular recipe, we started substituting and making up new treats. No more chocolate chips and white flour? We incorprated peanut butter, cereal, almond flour, sweetened condensed milk, coconut flakes, you name it. 

So when I saw the forecast for snow, my Pavlovian response was to stock up on a sweet and salty recipe I've been eyeing. They were triple-stacked toffee bars, salty with saltines, topped with chocolate, and all kinds of gooey in between. After a day of sledding, we put our soaked clothes on the radiator to dry and made these treats. No baking required! 

What you'll need:

• 48 saltine crackers
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup salted butter
• 1x 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
• 3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup (I used maple)
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 oz chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet or dark)
• 1 tsp of flaky sea salt (I just used more kosher)

What to do:

1.  Line an 8-inch square baking pan (or something similar in size) with aluminum foil
2. Coat foil generously with coconut oil cooking spray
3. Place a layer of saltines along the bottom - it will likely fit 16, give or take. 
4. In a saucepan, cook sugar and butter over low heat.
5. Once the brown sugar is no longer grainy but fully dizzolved into a smooth mixture (about five minutes), stir in condensed milk, cream, syrup, and salt. 
6. Increase the heat to medium. Bring the mix to a simmer, stirring constantly, until the mixture turns a deep golden color. This is important. I don't think my mix got to the point of simmering, or got as dark as it should have. Because while the end product was delicious, the toffee was too gooey. I wanted firmer toffee so that the dessert would cut more cleanly and be handheld without sticky fingers. Next time!
7. Stir in vanilla and remove the mixture from the heat. 
8. Pour 1/3 of the toffee mixture over the saltines, add a new layer of saltines, and keep layering with the toffee until you have three layers.
9. Set aside the crackers and toffee to cool off. While it's cooling off, melt chocolate chips in a double boiler. I secure a glass bowl over a small pot of heated water. Remember not to get the water to boiling, but just below boiling. The droplets from the steam could get into the chocolate to contaminate the texture, making it irreparably crumbly. Keep stirring over heat until smooth and runny. Add a little bit of coconut oil to the chocolate to smooth the mixture.
10. Spread the melted chocolate onto the top layer of the toffee mix with an offset spatula, making a smooth top later.
11. While still warm, dust the top chocolate layer with flaky sea salt. If you don't have that, use the coarse kosher salt. 
12. Chill in the refrigerator uncovered for at least two hours.
13. Remove from the refrigerator, lift out the toffee with the foil, remove the foil, and place the large confection on a cutting board.
14. Cut into squares with a sharp knife. To keep the toffee bars looking clean-cut, treat the knife with warm water, then wipe it dry before making the next cut.
15. Keep refrigerated in an airtight container, and enjoy for at least a week.

I don't know if we are getting any more snow this year. Right now we're experiencing our first "false spring" with temps in the mid-60s. But let's bake some goodness while it's still sweater weather! 

Enjoy!