This Bourbon Pecan Christmas Crack is an easy and absolutely delicious dessert that combines a base of saltine crackers with bourbon-infused toffee and a chocolate and pecan topping. The "crack" in its name has nothing to do with what you're probably thinking - it has everything to do with the "crack" sound you'll hear when you break it into pieces!
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This Christmas Crack might be the perfect dessert to make around the holidays, because it combines only a few simple ingredients, only takes about 30 minutes to make, and is a surefire crowd pleaser.
We're serious, if you bring this to a holiday party it will disappear quickly!
It also makes for a great DIY edible gift for just about anyone on your list! Plus, you can absolutely leave out the bourbon for those that don't drink.
We created this recipe for Day 7 of our 2024 Recipe Advent Calendar, a series where we share super fun, festive recipes every day from December 1-25! If you missed the first few recipes, try our Slice & Bake Christmas Cookies, The Grinch Cocktail, or these Dauphinoise Potatoes.
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Bourbon Pecan Christmas Crack Ingredients
- Saltine crackers: These form the base of the dessert. They're not amazing on their own, but their saltiness pairs really well with the buttery caramel, and their holes allow the caramel to drip through and underneath, helping to create that signature "crack" when broken.
- If you don't like saltine crackers, try this bourbon pecan Christmas crack with pretzels, Ritz crackers or graham crackers instead.
- Butter: We used unsalted butter in this recipe. It's a key component to the caramel and gives it a butterscotch-like flavor.
- Brown sugar: We used light brown sugar, but you can also use dark. Make sure it's well-packed into your measuring cup.
- Bourbon: This is totally optional, but it adds some depth of flavor to the crack. Feel free to leave it out if preferred.
- Vanilla extract: This is also optional, but it adds some extra flavor.
- Chocolate chips: We use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but feel free to use milk chocolate or dark chocolate. They'll be melted atop the toffee layer and spread evenly to create a chocolate topping.
- Pecans: You can use whatever nuts you prefer, but the rich, buttery flavor and crisp crunch of pecans are perfect in this dish.
- Flaky salt: We sprinkled flaky salt atop the chocolate. If you decide to skip this, make sure to add about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt to the caramel. If you don't like salty/sweet desserts, you can absolutely leave this out!
How to Make this Bourbon Pecan Christmas Crack Recipe
STEP 1: Preheat oven to 400˚F / 205˚C. Line an 18" x 13" sheet pan with a silpat, parchment paper or aluminum foil and place down a layer of saltine crackers. Make sure you don't go all the way to the edge - leave about an inch of space around the edges. This will ensure the caramel and chocolate don't stick to the sides of the sheet pan, thus making the crack impossible to remove.
STEP 2: Combine the butter, brown sugar, and half of the bourbon in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and boil for about 3 minutes. Carefully add in the other half of the bourbon and the vanilla extract - this will cause some bubbling as some of the alcohol bubbles out.
STEP 3: Pour evenly over the bed of saltine crackers and use a nonstick spatula to smooth out the caramel layer. Place sheet pan into the oven and bake for 5 minutes.
STEP 4: Remove from the oven and sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips, then return to the oven for 2-3 minutes, so the chocolate chips are fully melted.
STEP 5: Use a spatula to spread the chocolate into an even layer, then sprinkle chopped pecans and flaky salt over the top.
STEP 6: Let it cool completely so the chocolate can set (about 1-2 hours), then crack it up into pieces and enjoy!
Substitutions and Variations
- Base variations - Instead of saltines, you can also try pretzels, graham crackers or Ritz crackers. Our homemade ritz crackers would be delicious here!
- Peanut butter - For an even richer treat, spread peanut butter over the caramel before adding the chocolate chips.
- Chocolate - You can also use butterscotch chocolate chips, white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate or a combination of chocolates swirled together.
- Toppings - You can try crushed candy like peppermints or candy canes, dried fruit, or multicolored sprinkles.
Equipment
We highly recommend using Silpat underneath your Christmas crack. It makes it a lot easier to remove from the sheet pan, and avoids some issues that pop up with parchment paper, namely the caramel getting underneath it, creating an impossible to remove layer of paper sandwiched between the caramel.
Storage
Once broken apart, store in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within a week, or up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. It's important the container is airtight, because humidity can soften the toffee. Be sure to arrange the Christmas Crack in layers separated by parchment paper, or they may stick together.
You can freeze in an airtight container and enjoy within 3-6 months.
Tips and FAQ
Let the Christmas crack cool completely
To ensure you achieve that trademark snap, you'll want to let the dessert cool for an hour or two, which will ensure the chocolate and the toffee have fully set.
More tips
- Be sure to let the caramel boil for 3-4 minutes before placing it in the oven. This will help ensure that the caramel reaches the proper temperature in the oven. It needs to reach 300˚F-310˚F to achieve the "hard crack" stage.
- Don't skimp on the chocolate. You'll need to make sure you have an even layer or pieces of your toffee will be missing chocolate on top.
- Edible gift: Package up this bourbon pecan Christmas crack in a cute, festive tin and give it as a gift to hosts/hostesses, friends, coworkers, teachers, etc!
More holiday dessert recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
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📖 Recipe
Bourbon Pecan Christmas Crack
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: ~40 pieces
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Bourbon Pecan Christmas Crack is an easy and absolutely delicious dessert that combines a base of saltine crackers with bourbon-infused toffee and a chocolate and pecan topping.
The "crack" in its name has nothing to do with what you're probably thinking - it has everything to do with the "crack" sound you'll hear when you break it into pieces!
Ingredients
- ~40 Saltine crackers
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup bourbon, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- Flaky salt for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚F / 205˚C. Line an 18" x 13" sheet pan with silpat, parchment paper or aluminum.
- Place saltine crackers on the sheet pan in an even layer, leaving about 1 inch of space around the edges of the pan.
- Combine the butter, brown sugar, and half of the bourbon in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and boil for 3-4 minutes, whisking occasionally.
- Remove from heat and carefully whisk in the other half of the bourbon and the vanilla extract (it will bubble up a bit when you add in the bourbon, so be careful!). Pour the caramel evenly over the bed of saltine crackers and use a nonstick spatula to smooth it out. Make sure it covers all of the saltines.
- Place sheet pan in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top in an even layer, then return to the oven for 2-3 minutes to fully melt the chocolate chips.
- Use a spatula to spread the chocolate into an even layer, then sprinkle chopped pecans and flaky salt.
- Let it cool completely so the chocolate and toffee can set (about 1-2 hours), then crack it up into bite-sized pieces and enjoy!
Notes
Storage: Once broken apart, store in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within a week, or up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. It's important the container is airtight, because humidity can soften the toffee.
You can freeze in an airtight container and enjoy within 3-6 months.
Alcohol free: To make this without alcohol, just leave out the bourbon! You won't need to make any other changes to the recipe.
Base variations - Instead of saltines, you can also try pretzels, graham crackers or Ritz crackers. Our homemade ritz crackers would be delicious here!
Chocolate - You can also use butterscotch chocolate chips, white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate or a combination of chocolates swirled together.
Toppings - You can try crushed candy like peppermints or candy canes, dried fruit, or multicolored sprinkles.
Edible gift: Package up this bourbon pecan Christmas crack in a cute, festive tin and give it as a gift to hosts/hostesses, friends, coworkers, teachers, etc!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 pieces (cracker sized)
- Calories: 260
- Sugar: 22.6 g
- Sodium: 272.1 mg
- Fat: 16.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.3 g
- Fiber: 1.9 g
- Protein: 2 g
jilby01 says
Definitely need to cook the butter, brown sugar and bourbon until you hit 300-310 degrees (hard crack)—otherwise, it’s a bit soft, though delicious. I will make this again using the thermometer!
Sue says
It’s still cooling, I’m sure it’s delicious! Two things—-I’d use FOIL not Silpat, as no baking sheet I had was big enough to allow my silpat to lie flat, so one end was kind of sticking up. I’m pretty sure I have a big sticky mess to clean up, as this molten mass oozed absolutely everywhere. The foil could be molded around edges better, and not allow leakage.
Second, my chocolate chips got nice and hot, but were never ‘thoroughly melted’, which seems weird.
Jennifer says
This did not work at all. The toffee is sticky at room temp. Does not truly harden.