the palatable life

cookies, dessert, recipes, vegetarian ·

christmas crack cookies

jump to recipe print recipe

last updated on October 3, 2026

christmas crack cookies

For the next day of my 12 Days of Holiday Recipes, we are making Christmas crack cookies! If you’ve never heard of Christmas crack, it’s one of the best Christmas desserts out there — it’s a layer of saltine crackers, then a layer of toffee, topped with a layer of chocolate. It is delicious and wonderful, and the only way to make it better is to make it into a cookie!

I wanted the toffee’s flavor to really shine, so these cookies start with brown butter. Brown butter has a nutty flavor similar to toffee, so they really complement each other. And the saltines give the perfect amount of crunch and salt!

ingredients needed for christmas crack cookies

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 tbsp plain greek yogurt (or sour cream)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups flour (160 grams)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup saltine cracker chunks
  • 1/2 cup toffee bits
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chunks

how to make christmas crack cookies

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Make the brown butter. In a pan over medium heat, add butter and begin stirring. The butter will start to bubble up and after a few minutes, turn foamy. When the butter has turned an amber color and gives off a nutty smell, transfer it to a bowl to cool. If you are crunched for time, put the brown butter in the freezer or over a bowl of ice to speed up the cooling process.
  3. Cream the butter and sugar. When the butter has cooled down to room temperature, add it to a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar, then, using a stand mixer or hand mixer, stir until the mixture is fluffy.
  4. Mix in wet ingredients. Add in the greek yogurt (this is to add moisture to the cookie!), egg, and vanilla. Continue mixing until fully combined.
  5. Mix in dry ingredients. Next, add the flour (for the most accurate measurement, I use a scale), baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined.
  6. Add the mix-ins. Crush a handful of saltine crackers by hand and add them to the dough. Add the toffee bits (if you are using my recipe for toffee, use a rolling pin or the back of a spoon to break it into smaller pieces) and chocolate chips to the dough. Mix the dough on low until the mix-ins are evenly distributed.
  7. Shape the dough balls. Use a large cookie scoop (4 tbsp/1/4 cup) to scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. At this point, you can also top the cookies with an extra saltine chunk, toffee bit, or chocolate piece. This is optional, but I think it gives the cookies a polished look!
  8. Bake the cookies. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. When the edges of the cookies are set, remove them from the oven and let them sit for 10 minutes. The cookies might have become a funky shape in the oven from the toffee melting, so you can use a round cookie cutter to “cookie scoot,” which is just gently swirling the cookie with the cookie cutter until it forms a perfectly rounded shape.
  9. Cool. After the cookies have sat for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet, transfer them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

other recipes you will love

christmas crack cookies

christmas crack cookies

5 from 6 votes
print recipe pin recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 8 large cookies or 16 medium cookies

ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 tbsp plain greek yogurt or sour cream
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups flour 160 grams
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup saltine cracker chunks
  • 1/2 cup toffee bits*
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chunks

instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350F. Add the butter to a pan over medium heat. Stir as the butter melts, and continue stirring as it begins to bubble. After a few minutes, the butter will start to foam up. When the foam subsides, you'll be left with brown, nutty-smelling butter.
  • Transfer the butter to a bowl and let it cool off. If you are in a hurry, you can put the bowl in the freezer or place it over a bowl of ice and wait until the butter cools down.
  • When the butter has cooled down to the texture of room temp butter, add it to a mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar and white sugar. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, mix until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
  • Add the greek yogurt, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix until fully combined.
  • Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined.
  • For the mix-ins, crush a handful of saltine crackers into small chunks. Add just the chunks into the dough, leaving any fine crumbs from crushing them behind. Add the toffee bits and chocolate chunks. Mix the dough on low until the mix-ins are evenly distributed.
  • Use a large cookie scoop (about 1/4 cup) to scoop out the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Top each cookie with an extra piece of chocolate, saltine, and toffee (this step is optional).
  • Transfer to the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are just set. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Notes

* If you want to make your own toffee bits, here is the recipe I use: 
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • pinch of salt
Add the butter to a heavy-bottomed pan (this is very important so it doesn’t heat too quickly!) over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, add the brown sugar and salt. Stir vigorously for 8-10 minutes while the brown sugar melts. When the mixture reaches 300F (or a darker, “toffee color” if you don’t have a temperature probe), pour the mixture onto a lined baking sheet, spreading the toffee out so there is a thin layer. Let it cool completely, then use a rolling pin or the back of a spoon to carefully break it apart into small pieces. 
If the toffee separates on you, DON’T FEEL BAD. That still happens to me all the time — toffee is just a finicky thing. Using a heavy-bottom pan will help a lot, as will continually stirring. Also, making sure your heat isn’t too high is helpful! 

You’ll Also Love

broccoli chicken ricechicken broccoli rice
carrot cake cupcakescarrot cake cupcakes
strawberry coconut cakestrawberry coconut cake

Comments

  1. Emily says

    If I could rate these higher than 5 stars, I would. I literally just took the last round of these cookies out of the oven and I’m already obsessed. They absolutely give you Christmas crack vibes but somehow even better?? I’ll 100% be making these again!

    Reply

  3. Amanda says

    What’s the purpose of the Greek yogurt or sour cream and can you leave it out or replace it with another egg or something else?

    Reply

  13. Kayla says

    These are incredible! I had trouble finding plain toffee candy here in the US (even online) so I used the recommended amount but with chopped Heath Bars. They were a huge hit. The Greek yogurt kept them moist even with the saltines. I used a mesh strainer to get out excessively powdery crumbs from the crackers. Browning the butter adds a lovely nuttiness. I didn’t have chocolate bars to chunk but I used large semi sweet chips that I roughly chopped. I following all the measurements to a tee and it was lovely. I also doubled the recipe very easily. A-plus recipe.

    Reply

    • thepalatablelife says

      hi!! yes, you can definitely print it. the button isn’t currently showing up correctly (sorry!), but on the recipe card, there is a button that says “pin recipe.” if you click the plain white button just to the left of it, that is the print button and will take you to a printable version!

      Reply

  18. Amanda says

    I am in the middle of making these now (so excited)! I just finished making the brown butter. How long does it usually take to get to the texture of room temperature butter as you stated? Did you mean temperature of room temperature butter?

    Reply

    • thepalatablelife says

      either is fine! i always use salted, but they’re marginally different and don’t make a huge difference with the end result, so i don’t specify so people can use whatever they have on hand.

      Reply

  24. Lauren says

    5 stars
    I absolutely love these cookies! I have made them several times. I typically add a little bit more flour than the recipe calls because I prefer my cookies a little bit fluffier, but otherwise this cookie is delicious. I just swapped out the chocolate chunks for Cadbury eggs to make an Easter version and they are adorable!

    Reply

  25. Kristyn says

    Hi!

    I was just wondering if they recipe would double okay? I wanted to make it for a cookie swap, and I just wanted to make sure 🙂

    Reply

  28. Leah says

    So so delicious! I am putting these in my cookie box, how long do these stay good for? Should I refrigerate after baking until I’m ready to assemble the boxes?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




instagram

follow @thepalatablelife

Copyright © 2026 the palatable life · Theme by 17th Avenue

Harper on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in