Gingerbread Hazelnut Toffee

A year or so ago, I tried making toffee cookies/candy, made with saltines. It sounded interesting but let's just say, I wasn't jumping up and down, ready to try it again! I'm not sure if I did something wrong during the process or what, but it was terrible, we didn't like it and I threw the whole pan away. Actually, I just remembered that I had to chisel them out of the pan before throwing them away! Not fun!

Not too long ago, during a recent recipe hunt, I saw several recipes for chocolate toffee graham treats and I marked them as a "possibility." The recipe looked very easy to put together and it used graham crackers. A few weeks ago, I had graham crackers on my list and as we were doing our Thanksgiving grocery shopping, I noticed these:

Limited Edition Gingerbread Graham Crackers

I bought a box of them and thinking there must be some great way of using them. Possibly in a graham cracker crust, dunking in milk with the grandsons, making little gingerbread houses like the one in the picture or something like that. They even have a recipe on the side of the box for Mini "Gingerbread" Loaves, so that was a possibility too. 

Then the light bulb went off! Use them in place of regular graham crackers for a version of the recipe I had found earlier! Now all I needed was a window of time to make them. Well, that was today! 

They could not be easier. First, I lined a cookie sheet with graham crackers that were broken in half. I would suggest placing them on silicone mats if you have them or at least parchment paper. 

Next, I melted the butter and brown sugar, brought it to a boil, stirring constantly. I let it boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly and then poured it over the graham crackers. I immediately spread it around with a spatula until all the graham crackers were covered. I put it into a 350 degree oven and baked it for 15 minutes. While it was in the oven, I prepared the chocolate.

I used Trader Joe's Belgium Dark Chocolate

I shaved the chocolate with a sharp knife so that it melted very quickly. You can also use a bag of chocolate chips. Have the chocolate ready to pour over when it comes out of the oven. I let it sit for a couple of minutes and then spread it around with a knife or spatula until all of the toffee was covered. If you want nuts on top, now would be the time to sprinkle them on. 

I covered half of the pan with hazelnuts

I let them cool in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes when the chocolate had set. I used a metal spatula to get them off of the pan and then I broke off pieces and set them on wax paper until they were totally cool.

Next, I broke them into pieces

The gingerbread flavor was really enhanced by the whole process, not too spicy, just right. Actually, they are really good. No, I mean they are really, really good! The gingerbread graham crackers won't be available indefinitely, so I hope that you can find them in your nearest store. You will want to make these during this holiday season.

Now they are all packed up and ready to be sent to a new home!

Enjoy!