Chocolate and Salted Caramel Matzoh Brittle
By: Kitch Coquette
Iʼm an Irish Jew, which means I’m a walking-talking oxymoron. This year, both St. Patrickʼs day and Passover fall in March. This unfortunate overlap means I have to choose between my two heritages for this monthʼs Pin Curl article. I can either make my famous shepherd’s pie or give you a recipe from my Seder table. Turns out the choice wasnʼt that difficult. Passover is my favorite holiday of the year. When else are you religiously obligated to drink eight glasses of wine during one dinner?
The recipe I want to share with you is one of the easiest recipes in my arsenal. It starts with the simple matzoh cracker. Matzoh is also fondly referred to as “bread of affliction” or “poor manʼs bread”. If youʼve never had matzoh, itʼs similar to a sheet of stale saltine crackers without the salt. Until I found this recipe, I thought the best use for these tasteless crackers was to secretly feed them to your dog under the table, build a 10 foot tall house of matzoh cards, or break and throw them at your friends like misshapened ninja stars.
So why would I start with matzoh? First, Jews canʼt eat leaven bread during the week of Passover. Second, matzoh turns out to be an amazingly crunchy delivery mechanism for chocolate, peanut butter, salted caramel, toffee, and pecans. This brittle recipe is basically Jewish crack. Once you take your first bite, you wonʼt be able to stop.
What You Need
4 unsalted matzoh crackers
1 cup unsalted butter or margarine
1 cup light brown sugar
1 pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate chips (at least 1 cup)
Peanut butter chips (at least 1 cup)
Toffee bits (at least 1/2 cup)
1 cup of chopped pecans
What You Do
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a lipped baking sheet with aluminum foil and line the bottom with matzoh crackers, breaking the fourth cracker to fit the baking sheet. Set aside.
In a pot, melt unsalted butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Stir constantly until well incorporated.
Then continue to cook for 5 minutes more, continuing to stir. It will thicken as you stir.
Off the heat, add the pinch of salt and the vanilla extract. Stir to incorporate.
Pour the brown sugar mixture over the matzoh. Spread with a spatula to cover the matzoh.
Place in an oven and bake for 5 minutes. Take the matzoh out of the oven and immediately sprinkle generously with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and toffee bits. Let sit for 5 minutes until the chips are shiny.
Spread the now melted chocolate and peanut butter chips over the matzoh.
Sprinkle with chopped pecans then place entire baking sheet in the refrigerator overnight or until chocolate has hardened.
Break apart the crackers and serve at room temperature.
Want more cooking ideas from Kitch? Try her Pin-Up Pot Stickers, Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies, Braised Corned Beef, Bacon Mashed Potatoes, Farmer’s Wife Avocado Salad, Kahlua Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars, Ribs or Sponge Cake