Wait, what? Can it be possible? Oh yeah…this low carb Cracker Toffee is destined to be a favourite holiday treat. Dig in, because it’s sugar-free! This post is sponsored by Lily’s Sweets.
What’s that sound? That thumping, bumping sound? Oh, ouch! That’s the sound of jaws hitting the floor. And that, my friends, is the sound you will hear when you serve your friends this Keto Cracker Toffee and then you tell them it’s low carb and sugar-free. You’ll may also hear a few gasps and possibly a disbelieving snort or two. Really, you’re going to hear a cacophony of startled and surprised sounds. And you are going to feel that warm inner glow of knowing you just totally crushed it. And that’s a pretty great feeling, I must admit.
Cracker Toffee is a holiday classic and I love nothing more than re-creating holiday classics in a healthier form. It makes me giddy with excitement, really. But you are going to hate me when you hear that I actually made this treat LAST YEAR and I didn’t share it with you. It happens every year. I start creating low carb holiday cookies and the like so early in the season, because I love them so much. And inevitably, by the time the holidays roll around, I don’t manage to get them all published in time. So I held onto this one. I held onto it for a long time, holding it close to my chest, just waiting until the right time to bring it out again. I held it like a precious object, like Frodo with The Ring, carrying it carefully, always conscious of its existence.
Overly dramatic, much? Yeah, maybe a bit. I don’t apologize for it. I mean, we are talking about low carb cracker toffee.
Now, here’s the thing about low carb cracker toffee. Unlike our friends who consume flour and sugar, we can’t go out and pick up some crackers and whip up the toffee and throw it all together. We have to be industrious and make our own crackers. But it’s worth it, believe me. Now if you are a fan of my homemade graham crackers, you can use those here. But I whipped up some Basic Almond Flour crackers as the base for these. The recipe is actually in my cookbook, The Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen, but I am sharing it here with you today as well. Because I know you want to make this keto treat and I am not the sort of person to hold out on you!
Here’s the other thing I learned when making this: low carb toffee doesn’t work the way sugar-based toffee does. So don’t just go throwing your chocolate chips or chopped chocolate on top here because it will sink right in. I found it best to cool the the toffee/cracker combo first, and then melt my favourite Lily’s Dark Chocolate separately and spread it over. That way, I got a lovely proper toffee layer and a lovely proper chocolate layer, instead of some crazy mixed up layer.
Once again, thank goodness for Lily’s chocolate. I already have to make the crackers from scratch, and I have to make the toffee from scratch. It’s a huge relief not to make the chocolate from scratch!
Low Carb Cracker Toffee
Ingredients
Almond Flour Crackers
- 2 cups almond flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoon salted butter melted
Topping
- ¾ cup Swerve Sweetener
- ½ cup butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 2 tablespoon powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 4 ounces Lily's Dark Chocolate chopped
- 2 teaspoon coconut oil or avocado oil
- ¾ cup chopped toasted pecans
Instructions
To make the crackers:
- Preheat the oven to 300F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir in the egg and the melted butter until the dough comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto a large piece of parchment paper and pat into a rough rectangle. Top with another piece of parchment paper and roll out to a ⅛ inch thickness, as evenly as you can. Remove the top piece of parchment paper.
- Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, score the dough into 2-inch squares. Transfer the parchment to a large cookie sheet and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the crackers are firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before breaking apart into individual crackers.
To make the cracker toffee:
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a rimmed baking sheet, about 11x17 inches, with foil and spray lightly with coconut oil spray. Arrange the crackers in a single layer so that they are touching, covering as much of the sheet as you can (break them to fit, if necessary, and you may have some leftover crackers).
- In a medium heavy-duty saucepan over medium heat, combine Swerve and butter and stir until Swerve is dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook without stirring until mixture darkens to amber, about 5 to 7 minutes (time may vary depending on the quality of your cookware).
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and salt. If the mixture appears to be separating, stir in 2 tablespoon of powdered Swerve Sweetener until it comes back together.
- Pour the hot toffee immediately over the crackers as evenly as possible to cover. Bake for 5 to 6 minutes, until bubbling. Let cool while melting the chocolate.
- Combine the chopped chocolate and oil in a microwave safe bowl and melt on high in 30 second increments, stirring in between. Alternatively, you can melt them together double boiler style.
- Drizzle the chocolate over the cooled toffee and spread evenly. Sprinkle immediately with the chopped pecans. Let set until the chocolate is firm and then break apart into pieces (it will typically break up along the lines of the crackers).
Notes
Many thanks to Lily’s Sweets for partnering with me to bring you this recipe.
Kathleen says
Delicious!!! Love these during the holidays every year!
Jodi says
My toffee did not thicken
Carolyn says
What sweetener did you use? Do you mean it didn’t harden?
Barb says
I wanted to post my results today with using Swerve Brown…delicious!! Set up beautifully and had that rich, caramely (is that a word) flavor. Thanks for this fantastic recipe to help keep us on track through the holidays!!
Carolyn says
Fantastic!
Sheri Gartman says
I am laughing so hard!!!! I love your introduction to the candy!!!!! I can just see the jaws dropping in disbelief!!!!!! Too funny….I can’t wait to try these delicious candys and deserts!!!!!
Zina Miller says
Hi Caroline
What is your opinion on using Splenda instead of Swerve or other sweetness? I don’t like any of the other ones. I want to use it for this recipe. I use it for your brownie brittle and it turns out great.
Carolyn says
it won’t work in this recipe because it doesn’t caramelize and harden.
Sharma Dutton says
Can I use BochaSweet or Allulose (or some combination of them) instead of Swerve? I am not a fan of Swerve and usually use alternative sweeteners with your recipes (though your recipes are fantastic!!).
Carolyn says
Sorry but it won’t harden properly and you will have gooey mess on your hands.
Sharma Dutton says
Bummer, but thanks for replying! I really love your recipes!
Carolyn says
I know, it’s frustrating the limitations all of these sweeteners have! I do plan on playing more with allulose to see if I can get it to the “hard crack” stage. But I’ve tried before and ended up with caramelized goo. And I was afraid of burning it!
Angela says
Would brown sugar swerve work or a mixture of regular swerve and brown sugar swerve?
Carolyn says
It should!