Christmas Toffee

Years ago, I was teaching Kindergarten and one of my students gave me some toffee for Christmas. I got the recipe and made it several times.  I found this recipe this year and it is not quite as good, but it is pretty darn close.  And sooooooooo much easier. You can make it start to finish in about 45 minutes, and that is counting being in the freezer for 30 minutes. I used Graham cracker, but I'm sure the salty/sweet combination of the saltine crackers would be awesome. I cut this recipe in 1/2.

Ingredients:
50 saltine crackers or graham crackers
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, cubed
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 to 1 cup M & M's, chopped nuts, or sliced almonds (as you can see, I chose the pecans)
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a large jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray and then line the pan with saltine crackers.

Place the butter and sugar in a medium sized pot over medium-low heat. Stir until the butter is melted. Once the butter has melted, bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes. Stir constantly.

Once it is nice a bubbly, remove pan from heat and pour evenly over the crackers. Spread mixture with a knife, however it doesn't have to be perfect. Try to move quickly during this part so the toffee doesn't harden.

Place pan in the oven and bake for 6-8 minutes. The mixture will spread evenly over the crackers as it bakes.  Remove pan from oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the toffee while it is still hot. Let the chocolate chips melt for a few minutes and then spread the chocolate all over the toffee with a spatula. Sprinkle with M & M's or nuts. Place in the freezer 30 minutes. Break pieces off the foil and place in a container. It will stay fresh 1-2 weeks. I took mine out of the pan with the aluminum foil still under the toffee. I used a big knife to cut mine into 1 1/2" strips and then cut the strips into 3" pieces. Some of them broke, but it worked well.