Advent | Day 18 | Chocolate Saltine Bark {Recipe}

We've made it to day 18. It's officially time for questioning why did I ever commit to 25 days of activities and posts!? It's been mostly fun doing this Advent calendar/Christmas countdown but I'm feeling a wee bit like a South Pole elf as I'm taking food photos in the 7 am hour...

Regardless, here we are! Day 18 included making chocolate saltine bark. I'm too impatient to bake so this recipe for melting things is a winner. I made two pans: one with mint chips and chocolate chips, another with butterscotch and chocolate chips. The mint chocolate bark turned out great, while the butterscotch chocolate bark was a total bust! You'll see that we still picked at the butterscotch mess, despite it being a wreck. 

Chocolate Saltine Bark
Makes 2 large trays, serves 20+ 

Ingredients:
96 saltine crackers (about 3 sleeves which is 3/4 of the 16 oz box)
4 cups of chocolate chips (see notes on varities below) 
3 sticks of butter
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar

Also needed:
2 large baking sheets
Foil
Non-stick spray (or olive oil in a misto)
A small saucepan

Prep:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Farenheit
Line both pans will foil, then spray the foil with non-stick spray (or olive oil from a misto)
Line the pans with saltine crackers, ours were 6x8 crackers per pan
Divvy up your chocolate chips, using 2 cups per pan

Chocolate and Other Chip Notes:

• Each pan needs 2 cups of chips
• We used 3/4 cup of mint chips to 1 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, which worked great
• Butterscotch chips do NOT MELT, don't use them!

On the Stove Top:
In the saucepan, melt the 3 sticks of butter, then add the brown sugar and bring to a boil
When the mixture turns a caramel color, remove from heat and ladle it evenly over the crackers - be careful!

In the Oven:
Put the pans into the oven - carefully, they're already hot!
This will only take between 3 - 5 minutes, until the butter/brown sugar mixture is bubbly

Remove the pans from the oven, promptly sprinkling the candy chips over the crackers
Wait just a few minutes until you see the chips starting to melt
Then smooth the chocolaty mixture, with a spatula, across the crackers to coat them
Wait for them to cool before cutting or breaking
Finally, eat them all yourself and/or share them with friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, etc.