Day 18- It's candy time!

SO I decided to make some candy(in addition to the dozen of cookies that I already baked!) this year for christmas time. One of my favorites is chocolate almond saltine toffee candy :-) Doesn't that just sound amazing? Well it is and it's really easy to make! I decided to make it even easier with step by step instructions by picture. If you're like me, recipes are more attractive when they have pictures to go with them.

I'll stop rambling now......


So you'll need: Saltine crackers, the saltier the better! 3 sticks unsalted butter(yes I did just say 3 sticks! THis is not for the fainthearted!!) 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 T. light corn syrup, sliced almonds(a cup or so), bittersweet chocolate chips(1/2-3/4 of a bag or just throw the whole thing in there, why not? More chocolate is better!)

SO dump your sugar, butter and corn syrup in a medium pan and turn on low heat. Cook until sugar is melted and brush down the sides with a moistened pastry brush to get the good sugar crystals off the sides of the pan. Cook syrup over moderate heat without stirring, until it starts to get brown around the edges and bubbly( about 5-6 min.)

See all that melty goodness? It's not ready yet though.....

So while you're waiting on your buttery goo to get bubbly, you can toast your almonds! Turn on the oven to 350 degrees and stick you're sliced,orwholepoundedwithahammertogetslicedalmonds, on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 6-8 min. until nice and golden.
Then if your goo still isn't bubbly, you can line a 17in.by12in baking pan with buttered waxed paper. Arrange the saltine crackers like so, in a single layer, filling in any gaps.

By now your goo should be way beyond the 5-6 min.(unless you're really fast) so you can insert a candy thermometer into the syrup and simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon until a honey-colored caramel forms and temp. is 300. Or you can just go by the color if you're too cheap like me and don't have a candy thermometer! The stirring process+waitingforcolortochange process takes around 16 min. Enough time to make dinner, do the laundry, read a book and wash the floors.........well you are supposed to stir the whole time, so if you get too bored, sing several christmas songs :-)

If you survived the long stirring process, your toffee should begin to look like this! So give yourself a pat on the back(if your hand isn't too tired) and reward yourself with eating some of the yummy caramel/toffee stuff, just don't burn your tongue!
Once your toffee is done, you can slowly pour over the crackers, covering them. Use a spatula to cover the gaps. Let cool 3 min.

Then sprinkle your chocolate chips over the toffee. Let stand until chocolate is melted(3min.) and spread over toffee like so! You may steal a couple choc. chips to eat along the way :-)
Spread your almonds over the chocolate and freeze until chocolate is set. Peel off the paper and break toffee into chunks! You can refrigerate for up to 2 weeks, if it lasts that long!

Yum, Yum and Yum!!!

And that concludes my very lengthy candy tutorial!