Making candy for the holidays is a time-honored tradition, but that doesn’t mean you always have to pull out the candy thermometer to get started… There are so many candies out there that require little more than some melting and stirring, and still give you delicious results. Case in point, this Christmas Cornflake Crackle. It uses cornflakes — yes the cereal — for a toffee-esque and chocolate treat with indulgent flavor AND crunch. It doesn’t get much easier, or tastier!
What Ingredients Do You Need for Christmas Cornflake Crackle?
Only five things! I love that. You’ll need:
- Cornflake cereal.
- A stick of butter.
- Some brown sugar.
- Vanilla extract.
- Semisweet chocolate. (Chocolate chips work just fine!)
And a little sprinkling of salt. Not totally necessary, but it enhances the sweet flavors.
How Do You Make Christmas Cornflake Crackle?
Since this moves pretty quickly, you want to get your baking sheet prepared before you begin and all you have to do there is line it with parchment paper. (A rimmed baking sheet is a good plan here to avoid spilling.) Then, just go ahead and spread those cornflakes out on the sheet.
On the stovetop, simply melt together the butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Once it’s melted, just keep stirring for about two minutes. You’re going to bake this, so you don’t need to pay special attention to temperature or anything like that, you’re just bringing the ingredients together here.
Pour that butter/sugar mixture over the cornflakes and stir everything together until they’re nice and coated. Try to be gentle about it and not crush the cornflakes too much. Once everything is pretty evenly coated, spread the cornflakes out into a rectangle, pressing them together, especially around the edges.
Get it into a 350 degree oven and let it bake for five minutes. Take a spoon or spatula and press everything together again and then give it five minutes more. At this point, take it out of the oven and just let it sit at room temperature until it has set up and hardened. If you need to hurry that up, the fridge works well to speed up the process.
Once the toffee mixture has hardened, break the cornflakes apart into chunks and set them back on the baking sheet. Melt your chocolate in the microwave, and then simply dip the cornflake chunks into the melted chocolate, letting any extra drip off. Set them on some wax or parchment, give them a little sprinkle of salt, wait until the chocolate sets, and then gift or start snacking! (If you need to rush the setting process, the fridge can help you out again here!)
Christmas Cornflake Crackle
Allergens: Milk
Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 3 level cups cornflake cereal
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread out cornflakes evenly on prepared baking sheet.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar, stirring continuously. Once melted, continue stirring for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt.
- Pour mixture over the cornflakes, gently stirring to coat them evenly. Using a spoon or rubber spatula, spread the cornflakes out into a rectangle, pressing the cereal together.
- Bake 5 minutes. Using a spoon or spatula, press cornflakes together gently around edges and center. Bake 5 minutes more.
- Let cornflakes cool completely, then break apart into chunks.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate in 30-second increments, stirring in between.
- Dip cornflake chunks into chocolate, covering them completely and shaking off excess. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let rest until chocolate sets. If desired, sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Modern Honey.