A University Student Friendly Thanksgiving Recipe: Caramel Crack

By: Maria Garcia Manzano

This year Thanksgiving will look very different compared to previous Thanksgivings. With Covid-19 precautions still in place, many families will not be able to visit other extended family members and as a result perhaps less variety of food will be present in your home. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it will give you an excuse to show off your cooking skills in front of your family if you are stuck at home with them. However, if you are not stuck at home with family and are instead living with a roommate / roommates, not too fear as this will be a good way to show off your cooking skills to them.

While university students may not be known for their cooking whole (partly due to the cost that goes into preparing nice meals and the amount of time needed) here I present you with a cheap and easy dessert that at least shows your family /roommate /roommates that you’re trying.

Ingredients:

One cup of butter (equivalent to 2 full sized sticks)
One cup of brown sugar (packed or loose, dealer’s choice)
As many saltines it takes to fill a baking sheet with a slight lip along the sides
Two bags of your favourite kind of chocolate chips
Cooking spray

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (that way you do not need to do dishes later) and spray with a healthy amount of cooking spray. With foil in a nice coating of cooking spray all around, line up the saltines in rows, salt side up. Break a few in half if needed to fill the space along the sides.
Put the cup of butter and a cup of brown sugar into a saucepan over medium to medium high heat. Let the butter melt and sugar dissolve into the butter. Scrape across the bottom of the pan to avoid the sugar burning. Stir occasionally until it comes together in an easy version of a caramel sauce.
Pour the hot sugar/butter sauce over the crackers carefully so you do not disturb the lovely pattern you probably spent too long making look pretty.
Put that in the oven for five minutes to get the sauce bubbly.
Sprinkle over the bag of chocolate chips over the top and spread with the back of a spoon. It should not take too long for the chocolate to melt and become easier to spread. If it gets to a point that the chocolate is not melting anymore, put the pan back into the oven for a few minutes, take it back out and finish spreading the chocolate over the top until it is completely covered. If you have extra chocolate chips left, well, darn.
Put the whole thing in the freezer for roughly 30 minutes or until it hardens completely.
Take it out of the sheet (this is where the aluminum foil comes in handy) and break it apart into whatever size pieces you want.
Enjoy!