Toffee Buttercrunch Matzoh

Posted March 29, 2010

Find more about sweets , passover , matzoh

12 |

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

We are all nostalgic already, even though this was only yesterday.

You wouldn't want the kids involved with the hot caramel, but this is a fun recipe to help with. Arranging the matzohs was like a puzzle.

And they can unwrap the butter, measure the brown sugar, sprinkle and spread the chocolate.

At first, the butter-brown-sugar thing seems a bit dry and awkward, but it soon melts and smooths itself out.

Before baking.

After baking.

Before spreading.

After spreading.

Before cutting.

After cutting.

Strawberry got a taste too!

And so did this grown person who couldn't possibly be my baby son. Sigh.

It's time for another episode of Half-Jew Holidays! It feels like just five minutes ago I was all, "Here's my recipe for Gingerbread Brisket! My famous Candy-cane Latkes!" But already the peonies are reaching up out of the ground, Birdy's every exhalation tells a fragrant story of chives, and our dogwood is covered in fattening buds (you know, swelling, not caloric). Which means it's time for Matzoh Lamb Cake and Jelly Bean Tsimmes and my famous Kosher Ham Macaroons!

But don't you love how, really, Easter and Passover are both about spring and renewal? They're both about lamb and eggs and new greens and the celebration of hardship endured and left behind--whether that hardship was slavery and fleeing, or whether it was the death of a most beloved son. Freedom, rebirth, the warmth on our skin, the end of snot season--we are here to celebrate.

Now, about this buttercrunch matzoh: it really doesn't matter if you're Jewish or not, because it will be the most addictively delicious thing you have every had a hand in making; honestly, it could be one of the ten plagues, it's so dastardly. It's crunchy and buttery, golden-tasting and just a tiny bit salty, chocolaty and something like the best Heath Bar you ever tasted--if a Heath Bar suddenly showed up at your seder, with matzoh in its heart. It is even as good as Enstrom's Toffee, which is a crazy thing to say, but true. If you're not celebrating Passover, buy a box of matzoh and make this anyway, the same way you'd buy a package of corn tortillas if you're not Mexican. Or substitute communion wafers for the matzohs! I'm kidding. But I did see on epicurious.com that folks have substituted Saltines, and boy would that be good too. Although then I might use unsalted butter.

This is Marcy Goldman's recipe. She calls it "My Trademark, Most Requested, Absolutely Magnificent Caramel Matzoh Crunch," and this is really not an exaggeration. In the online comments, so many people refer to it as "crack matzoh," that we ended up calling it this too--and only when Ben sighed and said, "Daddy finished the crack matzoh," did I have second thoughts. But then again, you do crack into pieces when it's done, right? We took it to a dinner party, where the kids were literally shaking crumbs from the tin into each other's mouths. Online there are nearly 200 of praiseful comments:

"My beloved goyishe aunt brought the caramel matzoh crunch to the family seder. OMG! Surely this can't be pesadich! So much more than the chocolate-covered cardboard we all love. Make this at your own risk -- to your waistline!"

"Definitly not my grandmother's Passover dessert, but sponge cake can only take you so far. (sorry Saftale)"

"I've made two batches already, one was taken to a seder and everyone raved, and one I'm noshing on myself."

"This dessert is one of those 'to die for' recipes."

Amen. I love my people so desperately. I'm sure I'd feel the same way if I were reading comments on Easter ham glaze. I think it's just the spring. And whatever the opposite of misanthropy is.

Toffee Buttercrunch Matzoh
Serves fewer than it probably should
Active time: 10 minutes; total time: 30 minutes

Ah, the internet. Thanks to the comments on epicurious, I made this with salted butter, and added vanilla and almonds to the original recipe. The thing you won't have realized before you make it is the way all of the caramel is going to seep through the matzoh's holes and coat even the bottom with a layer of crunchy, delicious caramel. Oh, it is so, so good.

4-6 unsalted matzohs (we used 5)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (we used salted)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 cup slivered almonds toasted in a 350 oven until fragrant and golden (5-10 minutes)

Heat the oven to 375 and line a large cookie sheet completely with foil, then cover the bottom of the sheet with baking parchment (on top of the foil). Don't skip this step, since the caramel gets wildly sticky during baking.

Line the bottom of the cookie sheet evenly and completely with the matzohs, cutting or breaking extra pieces, as required, to fit.

In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the butter and the brown sugar, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil (about 2 to 4 minutes). Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly; it will get very thick and fluffy. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and pour it over the matzoh, using a heat-proof spatula to spread the caramel and completely cover the matzohs (or using a butter knife, which won't work very efficiently, but you forgot to get out the spatula and were panicking a little about the hot caramel).

Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350. Bake for 15 minutes, checking every few minutes to make sure the mixture is not burning (if it seems to be browning too quickly, remove the pan from the oven, lower the heat to 325, and replace the pan). Note: I read many comments about burning problems, and ended up reducing the oven heat after about 4 minutes. Also, I wasn't sure when it was done, but at a certain point it seemed to be quite brown and done bubbling and I took it out of the oven.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle immediately with the chocolate chips (it won't seem like enough, but it will be). Let stand for 5 minutes, then spread the melted chocolate over the matzoh and top immediately with the almonds. While still warm, break into squares or odd shapes (I wanted odd shapes, but opted instead to cut it up with a pizza cutter so that I wouldn't get chocolate all over my hands). Chill, still in the pan, in the freezer until set.

Get a printable version of this recipe.

Member Comments On...

Toffee Buttercrunch Matzoh

Family

Account Warning

Dalai Mama Dishes

by Catherine Newman

Catherine Newman cooks for the family

Dalai Mama Dishes

Catherine Newman cooks for the family

Toffee Buttercrunch Matzoh

Member Comments On...