Chocolate Toffee Matzo Crack
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With layers of matzo, crunchy toffee, chocolate, and sea salt, matzo crack is an absolute must for Passover!
If you like Heath bars, you’ll love this homemade chocolate toffee candy. It’s made with matzo, a Jewish cracker-like flatbread, and called crack because it’s so hard to resist. (Get it? Crack-ers.) Originally created by cookbook author Marcy Goldman of Better Baking, matzo crack is the Jewish version on crack candy (or Christmas crack), which is made from saltines. Both recipes have a crispy, flaky cracker layer topped with buttery toffee, melted chocolate, nuts, and sea salt. And the best part is that it’s easy to make – no candy thermometers, special equipment, or tempering of chocolate required.
Matzo crack is a dessert staple during Passover at our house, along with chocolate chip meringues, coconut macaroons, and flourless chocolate cake.
How To Make Chocolate Toffee Matzo Crack
Begin by arranging the matzos in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Make the toffee: Combine the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil.
Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until foamy and thickened, about 3 minutes.
Pour the toffee over the matzos and spread into an even layer with an offset or rubber spatula. Be very careful – it’s very hot.
Bake in the oven until bubbling all over, 8 to 10 minutes.
While it’s still hot, scatter the chocolate chips over top and let sit for a few minutes to soften. Then, use a spatula to spread the chocolate into an even layer.
Sprinkle with chopped pecans and sea salt.
Refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes, then transfer to a cutting board and cut into squares.
Eat and enjoy or give as gifts.
You may also like
- Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies
- Coconut Macaroons
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Chocolate Toffee Matzo Crack
With layers of matzo, crunchy toffee, chocolate, and sea salt, matzo crack is an absolute must for Passover!
Ingredients
- 4-5 lightly salted matzos (preferably the Streit's brand - see note below)
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
- 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 1 (12-ounce) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)
- 1 heaping cup chopped pecans (toasted if desired, for maximum flavor - see note below)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt flakes or kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil, making sure the foil goes up and over the edges, and top with a sheet of parchment paper.
- Cover the baking sheet with the matzos, cutting and piecing them together as necessary to fill the entire pan.
- Make the toffee: Combine butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until the mixture comes to a boil. (If it looks like it’s separating, just keep stirring; it will come together.) Once the mixture comes to a boil, continue cooking and stirring for another 3 minutes until foamy and thickened. (Be extra careful -- the toffee will be very hot!) Immediately pour the toffee over the matzos and, using a spatula, spread into an even layer.
- Put the pan into the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the toffee topping is crackled and bubbling all over. Remove the pan from the oven and place on wire cooling rack on the counter. Immediately scatter the chocolate chips evenly over top. Wait 3 to 5 minutes for the chips to soften, then use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate into an even layer. Sprinkle with the pecans and sea salt. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 45 minutes. Don't leave it in the fridge too much longer, otherwise it will be hard to cut.
- Lift the foil overhang to transfer the matzo crack onto a large cutting board. Using a large sharp knife, cut into 2-inch squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and serve cold.
- Note: I love Streit’s lightly salted matzos for this recipe but any brand will work. If you can only find regular salted matzos, cut back or omit the sea salt at the end. If you can't find matzos, substitute Saltine crackers and omit the salt. You'll need enough to cover the entire sheet pan.
- Note: It's a good idea to toast the nuts for maximum flavor but, truth be told, I never bother.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The toffee can be frozen for up to 3 months: Place the toffee in an airtight container. It can be eaten directly from the freezer or, if you’d like, remove the toffee from the container and let it come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (17 servings)
- Serving size: 2 squares
- Calories: 166
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Sugar: 14 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Sodium: 36 mg
- Cholesterol: 14 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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My godchild has made this recipe for years and I never have. Tonight was the first time I made it and it came out perfect. Love it! Five star rating for me!
Amazing. I love it. I can’t stop eating. Thanks for this great recipe.
I made this recipe and it was delicious! Easy prep and cleanup. A complete winner.
Can this recipe be doubled or tripled? Doing a Zoom Seder and want everyone to enjoy at the same time.
Sure, but you’ll need to use 3 different baking sheets. Also, when you pour the caramel over the matzo, you’ll need to spread it quickly while it’s still really spreadable. Hope you enjoy!
Do you think it would work well if I added some liquid smoke to the toffee? If so, how much do you think would be suitable?
Hi Ann, that sounds like an interesting addition but I’m not sure if Liquid Smoke would create any sort of chemical reaction and impact the toffee. To be safe, instead of using that, you could use smoked salt for the sprinkle that goes on top of the toffee. Hope that helps!
Good Morning. I have eaten this delightfulness over the years with my friends and family. I made it reently and brought to work and it was extremely well received. My work friend wants to make it and she plans to use artisan crackers. I told her she should follow the recipe. I believe that it will not taste right and perhaps not even bake right using regular crackers. Please advise. Thank you,
Hi Dot, glad your coworkers enjoyed it! I’m not sure exactly what crackers she’s thinking of using so it’s hard to say for sure. I do know that some people make this with saltine crackers, so if she wants to use crackers, she may want to go that route.
Made this for friends at Hospice Retail shop and received rave reviews. Omitted salt and used milk chocolate chips but it turned out great. Easy, peasy to make but, even better to eat.
Four stars.
Teresa Nelson
Made this as described with one variation – my son has a tree nut allergy so pecans (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts…) are off limits. I split the recipe in half and made half with pecans and half with a mixture of dried sour cherries and dried cranberries, so that he could enjoy some of the goodness. I also skipped the salt topping on a portion of the them. Everyone who ate any of this loved it – but the overall consensus, from those who could eat all versions, was that the fruit topped version, with the added salt, was the best. In the future I will stick with a mixture of chopped dried sour cherries and chopped dried cranberries, with a bit of extra salt, as the topping. Also: salted matzoh! Where has that been all these years?
Delicious, but they kind of fell apart when I cut them. I chilled for exactly 45 minutes per the recipe but it seems like that must have been either too short or too long?
Hi Seth, They do break a bit even when you cut them; that’s normal. Did the layers separate or were they more like bark than squares?
because i’m a perfectionist, the matzoh matching was a little stressful. i used a disposable pan so skipped the parchment. added vanilla near the end of toffee cooking. overall came out super yummy and looking forward to sharing at seder tonight.
Five Stars! I’ve been making this for years and it was always such a mess to deal with. Your recipe and tips made it great – quick clean up and not mushy at all. Usually the “toffee” would not get hard enough but I think boiling it the way you suggested made it work much better. So: Thank you!!!!
toffee made with parve margarine didnt thicken
can parve margarine be used to make toffee
must use butter. this is a dairy recipe
It was delicious. I cooked the toffee part a few minutes longer and mixed a combo of semi sweet and dark chocolate. Next time I would use all dark chocolate because it is VERY sweet!
THese are amazing all year round!! My Family LOVEs these! I don’t use the salt, however.
The best thing that ever happened to Matzo! I make it every year for our seder, but have to hide it from my husband until that night or it would mysteriously disappear!
Does this freeze well?
Yes, it freezes nicely!
Excellent and easy! I make another snack similar to this that uses saltines -it’s really good so I had to try this recipe too. I love Matzo and figured if you put chocolate on it what could be better? They are wonderful! So easy to make, great to take to luncheons at work, give as gifts, or eat all by yourself. This has become one of our favorites for sure!
Hi Jenn,
Can I use margarine instead of butter? Would it still taste the same? Could I also use dairy free soy free chocolate chips instead? My youngest has a dairy and soy allergy but loves chocolate and matzah so would love to be able to make these and have her be able to enjoy them as well.
Hi Shira, I wouldn’t recommend margarine here – I’m sorry! And I haven’t tried this with dairy-free chocolate chips, so I can’t say for sure. If they melt okay, they should work. Hope that helps!
I’ve made it pareve. Must use Fleischmans unsalted margarine (Earth Balance was a disaster ) and even with that the toffee is thinner than if made with butter. And I use Scharffman’s semi-sweet chunks and chop them up a bit. Much superior to pareve choc. chips. All in all, still very good and it gets gobbled up. And I like the small amount of sea salt – and it must be sea salt – on the top.
I made this tonight as a practice run for a weekend potluck and it was excellent! I took it to my husband’s work and all the employees liked it too. I’ve already put half in the freezer and am hoping it holds up well until Saturday.
The only modifications I made were: i. not using foil (because I didn’t have any) and ii. using half a bag of chocolate chips. It was plenty sweet with the half bag; I think I’ll stick with using half in the future as well. I had the matzos in my pantry for 2 weeks but everywhere I went pecans were so expensive. Even at Walmart they only had the giant $10 bags of pecans. Surprisingly, at Whole Foods, I found the best deal, which was in the trail mix bulk bin section! I got a scoop of pecans for $2 which is all that I needed for this recipe.
[Cost:
Streit’s Matzo $3 for 11 pieces, Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips $3 for 1 bag, Butter $3 for 4 sticks, Brown Sugar $1, Pecans $2 for 1/4 lb. These quantities were enough for 2 batches, so it is approximately $6/batch. ]
I would definitely make this again; thanks for your detailed recipe.
Hi! I made this today for a friends birthday this weekend. He mentioned a few days ago that he could eat his weight in this dessert! I’m going to surprise him with it. It’s in the fridge now. I cant wait to try it!! It really was super easy. I couldn’t find the Streits salted or lightly salted….just unsalted….so I used salted butter and just a little kosher sea salt on top!
I made it! Very good.
Delicious! Easy to make. A real crowd pleaser. Take it to the next pot luck. I cannot stop eating this wildly delicious combination. (That’s why I take it to the pot luck.)
Goof proof. Addictive. I will definitely make again.
Good Proof. Thank you! I love to make candy, but testing it to see if it’s at the soft crack or hard crack stage is so messy and tedious. This recipe got the toffee to the perfect stage without thermometers or water testing.
chocolate toffee matzo crack was as amazing as you said. FABULOUS!!!!
Jennifer a friend brought this for passover and it was a hit! We have a lot of people with nut allergies. I’ve been using sunflower or pumpkin seeds in place. Do you think these would work as substitutes and if so, does it change any of the cooking times or temps? please let me know.
thanks
Sure, Deborah, I think either pumpkin or sunflower seeds will work. Just make sure they’re unsalted. Glad you liked it!
How should I store the matzah crack if I’d like to serve it 2-4 days after making it?
Hi Ally, I’d suggest storing it in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy!
After its been hardened in the refrigerator and cut up i store it in the freezer, where it keeps FOREVER, and can be served directly from there because the chocolate softens very quickly.
amazing
I would like to know how many days in advance can the Chocolate Toffee Matzo Crack be made before you intend to serve it. Than You….
This will last nicely in the fridge for several days (if you can avoid eating all of it)! 😉
Can I make these in advance and freeze or will the matzoh get mushy?
That’s fine Ellen – it freezes nicely. Enjoy!
Made this wonderful Toffee Matzo Crack over the holidays. It was outstanding and dangerous. I served it with other Christmas cookies, made it exactly as stated and wouldn’t change a thing. Just fabulous…..Thank You Jennifer, love your recipes and want that mixer👍
xo
Geri
This looks fabulous. Cant wait to make it!
Question: Have you tried Whole wheat matzo as a substitute?
Hi Chanah, I think regular matzo is probably best for this, but that you could get away with using whole wheat (I haven’t tried it this way).
Matzoh Crack is delicious and was delicious—cut it with a pizza cutter and that worked very well.
This recipe is so addictive it should be served with a warning label! My family and I refer to it as the HOLY GRAIL! Need I say more.
Thanks for posting this! I had a box of matzos noone was eating/going to waste. Great way to get them eaten! 🙂
I made this just is written and it was absolutely perfect. I have never used pecans nor sea salt and that was the element that took it to the next level. I have a made this every year but it never came out this well. The recipe was clearly written beautifully photographed and as I said the pecans and the sea salt really added another dimension to the depth of flavors. I will definitely use this recipe over all of the other ones I have for this. And by the way there is a good reason they call it crack! You can’t stop eating it!
Every time I make this I get requests for the recipe. So easy and perfect every time.
This worked great with Gluten Free Matzah! Made 1 1/2 times the amount of toffee to cover the 5 matzah b/c thats my favorite part. Cooled it overnight on countertop rather than in fridge. Worked Perfect. Thank you so much for the photos, esp, of how the toffee should look (bubbly) when it is done baking. Mine took an extra 3 minutes, but your photos saved mine from being a disaster! Thanks so much!
Big Bust. Your photos are not accurate. When I waited for the sugar and butter to get syrupy, it was burnt. Total bummer
hi, in response to “bummer” there is no “waiting”. it’s an interactive process. you are stirring the toffee with a whisk from start to finish. impossible to burn unless the heat is too high and you leave the stove.
Does this keep well for a few days? or will the matzo get soggy?
Hi Emily, yes this will keep nicely for a few days in the fridge. Enjoy!
Can I use toasted almonds instead of pecans? I want to make it for Passover?
Definitely!
Should these be stored in the refrigerator? Thanks for all the great recipes!
Yes, I think it’s best if stored in the fridge and served cold. Glad you enjoy the recipes!
My daughter and I love making this at Christmas time. It is simple and addictive!! Thank you for sharing.
I just made a trial run for Passover and it really is dangerous! I have to get it out of my house ASAP
wow – so good I had to call someone to come and take it away so I would not eat every bite!
I dislike both matzoh and toffee and still ate an entire baking sheet of these!
All set to make this and realize I only have wax paper, not parchment. Can I cook it right in the foil?
Hi Krisstel, Don’t use the wax paper, but you probably can get away with just using the foil (assuming it’s heavy duty). Hope you enjoy!
Can I substitute light brown sugar for the dark brown sugar?
Yes, Danielle, that’s fine. Enjoy!
We can not have any added salt due to hypertension. Can I omit the salt as it sounds wonderful.
Thanks
Definitely Chris- it will still taste great!
This is a great recipe that I have made for years, and my gentile relatives LOVE it! So they always ask me to bring it for EASTER DINNER! I am wondering if I add 1 TB corn syrup it will be a little easier to work with.
Glad everyone enjoys it! I don’t think it’s really necessary to use the corn syrup, but it won’t hurt the recipe if you do.
Made this today for my son who loves toffee. Before my son could get home my husband started eating it. I had to hide it from him as otherwise I think he wouldn’t have been able to stop eating it. He said it is “dangerous”. The only problem I had was the chocolate didn’t seem to get very melty and was difficult to spread. The end result was still delicious.
Hi Kathy, Glad you and your family enjoyed. Make sure you add the chocolate right when it comes out of the oven, otherwise it won’t melt well.
Excellent! Even after Pesach it remains a hit! 😀 Love your clear directions. Especially sometimes why something should(n’t) be done. Thank you!
My toffee part came out somewhat gritty. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Susanna, Happy to help troubleshoot…did you make any substitutions?
Help! The toffee layer is struck to the parchment paper. They look and smell so yummy! I want to eat them but don’t want a mouthful of paper. What did I do wrong?
Hi Mary Ann, Did you pour the toffee over the matzo?