Description
Delight in these Christmas Crack Cookies featuring browned butter, crunchy saltine crackers, and luscious toffee bits topped with melted chocolate and festive sprinkles. These large, buttery cookies deliver a perfect balance of sweet, salty, and nutty flavors, making them an irresistible holiday treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (270g)
- 2 tablespoons powdered milk (12g)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Butter & Sugars
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter (196g), sliced into tablespoons and divided
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar (150g), packed
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Wet Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
Mix-ins & Toppings
- 10 Saltine crackers, crushed
- 1 cup bits o brickle toffee bits, plus more for topping
- ½ cup pecan pieces (optional topping)
- 12 ounces chocolate chips
- Holiday sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare: Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. For best results, use two baking sheets and rotate them between batches to maintain even baking.
- Brown the Butter: Remove butter from the refrigerator 15 minutes prior to melting. Place 10 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently for 2 to 3 minutes, until brown bits appear and it develops a nutty aroma. Remove from heat, add remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, stirring until melted, then transfer to a large heat-safe bowl or stand mixer bowl.
- Mix Sugars and Flavorings: Add granulated sugar, light brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla extract to the browned butter and mix until combined.
- Add Eggs: Mix in the egg and egg yolk for 30 seconds. Let the batter rest for 3 minutes, then whisk again for 30 seconds. Repeat the rest and whisk cycle two more times until smooth, thick, and shiny like caramel sauce.
- Combine Dry and Wet Ingredients: Use a rubber spatula or paddle attachment to mix the flour, powdered milk, salt, and baking soda into the wet ingredients for 1 minute. The dough will be soft; chilling is not necessary.
- Fold in Mix-ins: Gently fold in most of the toffee bits and crushed saltine crackers into the dough.
- Shape and Bake: Portion dough with a large (¼ cup) cookie scoop and place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing 3 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating halfway, until cookies look slightly cracked and edges are just beginning to brown.
- Cool Cookies: Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Toast Pecans: While cookies cool, microwave pecan pieces for 1 minute, stir, then microwave again for 30 seconds to slightly toast.
- Melt Chocolate: Melt chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl at 30-second intervals, stirring between each until fully melted.
- Decorate Cookies: Spoon melted chocolate over cooled cookies, spreading to cover most of the surface. Sprinkle toasted pecans, extra toffee bits, and holiday sprinkles over the chocolate.
- Set Chocolate and Serve: Let the chocolate set completely before serving and enjoying your festive Christmas Crack Cookies.
Notes
- Use a kitchen scale for precise measurement of ingredients to ensure perfect cookies every time.
- Do not brown all butter; only 10 tablespoons are browned, the remaining 4 tablespoons are melted but not browned to maintain recipe integrity.
- Slicing butter before melting promotes faster, even melting.
- Cookies are large (4 to 5 inches); for smaller cookies, use a medium scoop and reduce baking time to 9 minutes.
- Chopped chocolate can be used instead of chocolate chips for a richer texture with chocolate pools.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Feel free to add your choice of chopped nuts for variation.
- Cookie dough freezes well; portion dough on a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour, then store in airtight bag up to 3 months. Add 1-2 minutes extra baking time when baking from frozen.
- If using salted butter, omit the added salt in the recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 250 kcal
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 14 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 45 mg
