Saltine Caramels

One of the huge perks of attending Eat, Write, Retreat was the well-stocked swag bag that attendees received. The samples and gifts seemed never ending, and one that I enjoyed weeks later was a copy of the beautiful magazine Where Women Cook.

I took it to the Cape, and in the cold, rainy days there, thumbed through each of its recipes, stopping dead in my tracks when I saw this:

Caramels made with saltine crackers

I thought these looked so easy, so beautiful, and so delicious that I couldn’t stop thinking about them until I made them. For the post that follows, forget the above photo. It didn’t go down that way.

First off, I didn’t have the cute tin with little squares to neatly fit the saltines in each little square for a perfect caramel. Second I didn’t have parchment paper, and my husband picked up dark brown sugar instead of light. This is why I don’t do desserts. Meals can be made from almost nothing.

But I digress.

My caramels turned out just fine and not at all fancy or presentable.

I used a pie plate with no parchment, fitting in as many saltines as possible

Then I made my caramel, as simple as boiling up a cup of brown sugar and a cup of butter. I used dark brown sugar, and I actually think I liked it better than the light brown sugar the recipe called for.

I cooked the caramel until bubbling and thick and the butter and sugar were completely blended, stirring constantly, according to the recipe directions. Then I poured it over my saltines and baked the whole thing at 350 for five minutes.

Once the pan was out of the oven, I sprinkled it with chocolate chips and sea salt.

The caramel cooled in the fridge for a few hours before I decided to dive in with a sharp knife. It had hardened to a perfect candy consistency, the chips slightly melted in, the salt hanging out just at the surface, and the saltines providing a crunch at the bottom. And getting it out of the pie plate was so difficult, I believe I burned all of the calories from eating the caramel before I even started. Luckily the caramel was just for home consumption, so it didn’t have to be beautiful. I can’t wait to try again; this recipe would make for great little holiday gifts!

What toppings would you put on your caramels?