Sunday, January 27, 2008

A Twist On An Old Sweet

Have you ever had the chocolate covered toffee like bars made with Saltine Crackers?

My Grandma John made them for us when she visited a long time ago. I was reading through some old recipes and wanted to replace the Saltines with something else. I over bought baking supplies for the holidays and camping over New Years weekend. Ran out of time during the holidays and did not go camping over New Years. I hate throwing that kind of stuff in the trash so WHA-LA... I am using up some of the goodies I had for making Smores.

These bars are not as crunchy or toffee like as the ones my Grandma made but they are not too bad. Give them a whirl. Maybe make them for your Valentine/s! (:

Almond Caramel Graham Cracker Bars

1 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup butter, melted

15 to 20 full cinnamon Graham crackers broken into 4 segments

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

5 large size HERSHEY bars

1 cup toasted sliced almonds

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a 10 by 15 jelly roll pan with aluminum foil, shiny side up. Using the 1/4 cup of the melted butter, pour over aluminum foil and spread with back of spoon until foil is covered in melted butter. Place Graham crackers, side by side and spaced evenly, so that they cover the entire bottom of pan. Small gaps are OK.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, pour the other 1 cup of melted butter into pan. Add brown sugar and stir over heat until combined. Bring butter and sugar to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, until the mixture is a thick and bubbly caramel colored syrup. Boil until your candy thermometer reads 248 degrees. Remove from heat and slowly add the sweetened condensed milk. Use a whisk until both are blended smooth. Should resemble a thick caramel sauce at this point. Pour this mixture over the crackers, until every Graham cracker is covered.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes in the 425 degree oven. Open large Hershey bars and break into segmented pieces. Have them ready. After 10 minutes remove bars from the oven. They will be bubbly and brown. Place candy bar segments on top of bubbly caramel, being careful not to burn yourself. Let chocolate sit for about 5 minutes to melt and then using back side of spoon spread melted chocolate over caramel layer. Sprinkle toasted almonds on to the chocolate layer. Put bars in the freezer for 30 minutes or until chocolate has solidified.

Remove from freezer. Pull aluminum foil and lift bars from jelly roll pan. Set aside. Line jelly roll pan with paper towels or saran wrap. Turn bars almond side over onto paper towels or saran wrap. Some almonds might fall off, no biggie. Carefully remove aluminum foil from your bars. Using a knife follow the lines of Graham crackers and cut bars to that shape. Trim those pieces into smaller bite size pieces. Store in air tight containers or Ziploc bags and keep them in the refrigerator until ready to enjoy or serve.

These are super sweet and rich and toffee-licous!

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