Chocolate Bark (Christmukkah Crack)

In 1985, Marcy Goldman created Matzoh Buttercrunch, a Passover confection that took the country by storm, and it remains the most popular holiday recipe. Marcy was inspired by a recipe much like this Chocolate Bark, though this recipe -- from the collection of Olive Facey -- is even simpler (and less caloric) than the modern day incarnation. But is just as easy and delicious. And infinitely more convenient, i.e., not everyone has matzoh year-round.

Chocolate Bark is simply a sugar-butter mixture poured over Saltine crackers, topped with chocolate and baked. Adding toasted nuts is optional. It takes just a few minutes to make.

Marcy substituted matzoh for the Saltines, as they can't be eaten on Passover. But following Olive's card, I used old-fashioned saltines.

To begin, line a cookie sheet with foil and then Saltines. You will probably need to break some to fill in all the spaces.

Next, melt a stick of butter over a low flame.

Add the sugar and cook until the sugar dissolves and it looks like this. 

Pour it over the crackers covering them as best you can.

Take the back of a spoon, knife or offset spatula to evenly spread, trying to cover every cracker.

Sprinkle chocolate chips atop the mixture. The amount is up to you. Place in a preheated 350F oven.

Bake for ten to 15 minutes. The chocolate chips won't be completely melted, so spread them with the same tool used to spread the sugar mixture. I even added more chocolate at this point, as I thought the layer was  bit too thin.  The chips will melt.

Sprinkle the top with chopped nuts. I used pecans, which I toasted in the oven while the bark was baking.

 Refrigerate until cold, then break up the pieces with your hands.

Unscientific observational differences between Chocolate Bark and Matzoh Buttercrunch: The buttercrunch has a much firmer base, as matzoh is not as soft as Saltines, but the salted crackers added a nice flavor note. Buttercrunch uses brown sugar, which adds a depth of flavor lacking in white sugar (but if you cook the mixture longer, that issue would be mitigated, as it would become more caramel-y), and it also uses double the butter, making it more caloric. Having said all that, upon sampling the bark this morning, the DH declared: This tastes exactly like matzoh buttercrunch!

Below is Olive's recipe card -- part of her collection generously given to me by her handsome son Stephen.  It appears to have been shared with her by Lorraine Allison.

Production notes: I followed this almost exactly, but I cooked the butter sugar mixture (which is not indicated on the card).  I used a 9 x 13 inch cookie sheet, and about 3/4 cups of chocolate chips. I baked it for 15 minutes.

Fabulous Passover Treats

Passover is all about freedom.  And, of course, food.  At the Cake Bakes household, we're having an Easter and Seder mash-up next weekend (due to scheduling conflicts poor planning on my part) but meantime, I'm delighted to share the best of our Passover baked goods, two of which I made tonight.

Matzoh Buttercrunch
Pictured at top is the amazing matzoh buttercrunch, an addicting treat sure to torpedo diets everywhere.  It actually is a derivative of a very old American dessert (caramel and chocolate atop soda crackers), but baker/writer Marcy Goldman updated it for the holiday.  Click here for the recipe.

Farfel Muffins
Farfel muffins are a favorite of my family of origin.  Unfortunately, I've never been able to create the same texture that my grandmother achieved year after year.  But they're still quite good and I'll keep on trying.  Click here for the recipe.

Matzos Cookies 
Next up are Matzos Cookies from The Way to a Man's Heart: The Settlement Cookbook, an unusual and delicious drop cookie.  Click here for the recipe.

Graham Cracker Cookies

Some people might consider a graham cracker a cookie.  After all, it's quite sweet all by itself.  But if you want to transform these old-fashioned crackers into an addicting confection, then by all means follow this vintage recipe by Dot, found on a recipe card in Olive Facey's vast collection.

I brought these graham cracker cookies to a breakfast meeting with my agent.  Yes, I have a book agent, a lovely, encouraging and exceedingly patient one. No, I have not yet written one word of the proposal because each time I begin, I suddenly am overtaken with the urge to bake and abandon the computer for the oven.  Luckily he has many other clients who actually write proposals that he can sell.  (Zach -- I will write it, promise!)

These graham cracker cookies are a variation of another recipe in Olive's collection called chocolate bark, in which a caramel mixture is poured over soda crackers (and then topped with chocolate).  The famous matzoh butter crunch recipe is a derivative of that, as I suspect are these graham cracker cookies, leading one to ask, Is there nothing new under the sun?

But whatever the genesis, these are delicious and very easy to make. First line a pan (I used a 9 x 12, but next time I'd do a 9 x 9) with aluminum foil. Place the graham crackers on top.

Place the butter (even though the recipe calls for Oleo, use butter) and brown sugar in a saucepan and heat (while ignoring the dirty stove top).

Pour the hot liquid mixture over the crackers and top with finely chopped nuts.  I forgot to photograph this step, but you can see from the photo below (taken after baking), there wasn't quite enough topping to cover the crackers.  No matter, just use the "good" parts and you can still eat the naked grahams.

After removing the pan from the oven, let the cookies cool for a while in the pan until they stiffen up a bit.
Cut into serving pieces and enjoy.

The Amazing Matzoh Buttercrunch

Matzoh Buttercrunch is simply the best, most addictive Passover dessert ever.  And unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years, chances are you've made it or eaten it.  But just in case you somehow missed this hyper-delicious treat, I'm posting it here -- even though it's a modern recipe.  (You know if I break my vintage rule, it's gotta be great.)

It was invented by Marcy Goldman, a wonderful baker, recipe inventor and writer, worth checking out at Betterbaking.com.

Lay the matzoh boards out on a baking pan, lined with both aluminum foil
and a sheet of parchment paper.

Heat the sugar and butter in a saucepan and within moments,
it will transform into the mixture below.

After the mixture starts to boil, let it cook three minutes.

Carefully pour the sugar syrup over the matzoh boards.  I used an offset spatula
to spread it evenly over the boards.

The cooked caramel does not look this orange in real life.  Here, the chocolate chips are
melting from the heat of the caramel.

No need to gild the lily, but some toasted nuts make for a lovely presentation.

Waiting for the chocolate to cool, before breaking the candy into smaller pieces.

Breaking the candy into pieces is somehow very satisfying.

Marcy's recipe and the story behind it are on Arthur Schwartz's blog, Foodmaven.com.  I've just pasted the recipe below, but do check out the story on Arthur's site.


4 to 6 unsalted matzoh boards or sheets
1 cup unsalted butter or unsalted Passover margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet completely with foil. Cover bottom of pan with baking parchment - on top of foil. This is very important as mixture becomes sticky during baking. Line bottom of pan evenly with matzoh boards, cutting extra pieces of matzoh, as required, to fit any spaces on the cookie sheet as evenly as possible. 

Combine margarine or butter and brown sugar in a 3 quart, heavy-bottomed, saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue cooking 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour over matzoh. 

Place in oven and immediately reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake 15 minutes, checking every few minutes to make sure mixture is not burning. If it seems to be browning too quickly, remove from oven, lower heat to 325 degrees and replace. 

Remove from oven and sprinkle matzoh boards immediately with chopped chocolate or chips. Let stand 5 minutes then spread melted chocolate over matzoh. While still warm cut into squares or odd shapes. Chill in refrigerator until set. This makes a good gift. You can also serve it in confectioners' paper cups as a candy.