Nutty Cracker Delights - Salty & Sweet

Needed a treat for an office party, so I made Twila Jackson’s Nutty Cracker Delights. These crispy, sweet yet salty, crackers are more like cookies and it’s hard to stop with one or two. That’s why I never make them unless they are to be shared with others (and it would be quite noticeable if the cookie tray was nearly empty when I arrived)!

     Twila shared this unusual recipe when I interviewed her for my newspaper column (Abilene Reflector-Chronicle, 2/23/10). This and more of her recipes are included in the annual Dickinson County “Home Cooking” cookbook sold at the Heritage Center. All proceeds from the booklets go to educational projects at the society; booklets may be purchased at the Dickinson County Historical Society, 412 S. Campbell Abilene, Ks. 67410;  Phone: 785-263-2681;  heritagecenterdk@sbcglobal.net  All editions of the booklet sell for $4.95 + tax; mail-order deliveries sell for $8.50. 

Nutty Cracker Delights

44 Club® crackers—I used one sleeve of crackers (46 per sleeve; 3 sleeves per box of crackers) Also tried the new multi-grain Club® crackers & they worked very well in this recipe – delicious!

½ cup butter (1 stick)

½ cup granulated sugar                                                                      

½ to 1 cup sliced almonds                 

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Line jelly roll pan with foil. I used a “half” pan (13”x18”x1”); see layout below.

2. Place crackers on pan in a single layer with edges butted up against one another. 

3. Boil butter and sugar for 2 minutes. 

4. Stir butter, sugar, almonds and vanilla together and spread on crackers. (I used a large spoon to distribute dollops of the syrup mixture on  crackers; then spread it out with an offset spatula – seems kind of like a skimpy amount of syrup but just spread patiently! Not necessary to cover every piece of every cracker – the syrup spreads as it bakes)

5. Bake at 350° 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

6. Cut crackers apart if necessary. Cool.