Homemade Sweet Treats – 3 Favorite Recipes

I want to share the 3 recipes I used on my Rustic Christmas dessert table. These sweet treats are so delicious and make great gifts to give, or keep for your own holiday entertaining. Two are similar – the Cracker Candy & Graham Cracker Toffee – but one combines sweet & salty {my favorite combo}.

The Brownie Button Surprise bites are a classic brownie with a twist. Maybe you can make these recipes this weekend. Enjoy!

These Graham Cracker Toffee bars are divine! I first had them when I was 10 years old and they were so delicious that I literally remember the day vividly! A friend made them for us but didn’t give us the recipe & I longed for more of these bars all the way up to adulthood. I finally found the recipe in an old cookbook and happily share it with you.

Graham Cracker Toffee bars

• 24 cinnamon graham crackers broken into squares {you could also use regular flavored grahams}
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans {I use the small packets of pecan “chips”}

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and place the graham squared inside to fill the pan, in a single layer. In a sauce pan, melt butter and sugar together over medium heat. Once melted, increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil; Cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly. The consistency will be like caramel.

Pour the sauce mixture over the graham crackers and spread with a knive to cover them. Sprinkle with pecans and bake for 12 minutes.

Let cool and separate the squares to serve.

This Cracker candy is the perfect blend of sweet and salty – I could eat the whole batch! Although they are made similarly to the graham toffee above, the taste is quite different.

Cracker Candy

• 1 to 2 sleeves of Ritz crackers {or similar brand}
• 1 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans {I use the small packs of pecan “chips”}
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and place crackers in a single layer to fill the pan.

In a sauce pan melt butter and brown sugar together over medium-low heat. Once melted, increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over crackers.

Bake for 5 minutes and remove. Turn oven off. Sprinkle crackers with chocolate chips & return to oven for 3 minutes until they melt. Spread the chocolate over crackers and top with pecans and peanut butter or white chocolate chips.

Cool completely and break crackers apart to serve.

Everyone loves brownies and these brownie buttons have a surprise inside! Made in a mini muffin pan, they are the perfect size to enjoy!

Brownie Button Surprise

• 1 box brownie mix + ingredients to make brownies {or your favorite homemade recipe}
• Mini Reese’s cups
• Rolos

Line a mini muffin pan with paper liners and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare your brownie mix according to directions and spoon into muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes; Unwrap candies while waiting.

Remove brownies & let cool in pan for about 2 minutes. Press a peanut butter cup or caramel candy into the center of each brownie until the top is even with the top of the brownie. Let cool in pan for 10 more minutes then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

See the entire Rustic Christmas Entertaining Series here.

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