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On the first day of Christmas cookies: Brickle

 
/2011 ST. PETERSBURG)  8. Brickle.  FOR TASTE SECTION.    TIMES PHOTO SCOTT KEELER
/2011 ST. PETERSBURG) 8. Brickle. FOR TASTE SECTION. TIMES PHOTO SCOTT KEELER
Published Dec. 1, 2014

How can a cookie that starts with a layer of saltine crackers be so delicious?

Take our word for it, this one is. And it's likely to be the first one gone from the cookie platter.

Brickle, sometimes called Toffee Bark, tastes like something more than it is, which is the beauty of the simple recipe. If they don't ask, don't tell them it's not homemade toffee.

Don't worry about crunching up the saltines; lay them down whole. Also, remember to use a cookie sheet with a lip or you'll have melted butter and sugar dripping all over the oven.

You can use any type of nuts or chocolate that you like. Once, I made them for an Academy Awards party and called the batch Red Carpet Brickle because I used expensive European chocolate and a mix of high-end nuts. Another time, I baked a batch for a beginning-of-the-season baseball party and used peanuts: Take Me Out to the Ballgame Brickle.

So as well as being delicious, they are versatile.

Brickle

40 saltine crackers

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 12-ounce package chocolate chips

Chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cover cookie sheet with foil and coat lightly with a non-stick spray. Place saltine crackers in single layer on foil.

On stove, melt butter and brown sugar. Bring to full boil and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove and pour over crackers. Bake for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Leave until melted, about 3 minutes. Spread out the chocolate and sprinkle with nuts.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Break into pieces.

Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

This will make up to 40 or more pieces, depending on how small or big you break them.

Source: Judith L. McVaugh, Beverly Hills; Carol Latta Milner, Seminole.