Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Oyster Crackers is a twist on the ever popular Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Corn. Rather than using popcorn, I used Oyster Crackers. I tossed the crackers with toasted pecans, baked it in a dreamy caramel sauce, and finished it with a drizzle of melted chocolate. The combination of the saltiness of the Oyster Crackers and the sweetness of the Caramel is a match made in heaven! It will keep for several weeks when stored in an airtight container. Better yet, it makes awesome holiday gifts when packaged in decorative containers.
Ingredients for Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Oyster Crackers
I used the following ingredients for this yummy treat: Oyster Crackers, toasted pecans, light brown sugar, unsalted butter, light corn syrup, salt, vanilla extract, baking soda, and dark chocolate melting wafers. I could have easily used unsalted peanuts instead of the toasted pecans.
As you might imagine, through the years, the weight of a package of Oyster Crackers has pretty significantly declined. When I post the recipe below, I'll be sure to include that the two bags combined yielded a total of 10 cups!
Making The Caramel For The Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Oyster Crackers
I added the brown sugar, unsalted butter, corn syrup, and salt to a small saucepan and placed it over medium high heat. Because the Oyster Crackers are salted, you might want to decrease the amount of salt a bit. For me, the amount that I used was perfect. Had I used salted butter, however, I would have omitted adding any additional salt.
Once the butter had melted, I stirred everything together. When the mixture came to a boil, I lowered the heat to medium low. I let the caramel mixture continue to boil without stirring for five minutes. After five minutes, I removed the pan from the heat, and added the vanilla extract and baking soda. I stirred the caramel to ensure that the vanilla and baking soda were well incorporated, being careful not to burn myself as the caramel bubbled up!
Finishing The Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Oyster Crackers
When the caramel was ready, I poured it over the toasted pecans and Oyster Crackers. I quickly stirred the mixture with a wooden spoon to coat the pecans and crackers.
Then, I dumped it into a large disposable aluminum roasting pan (15-3/16 x 11-5/16 inches). I used the disposable pan to facilitate cleanup. That is, rather than worrying about trying to clean the hardened caramel, I just tossed the disposable pan in the trash!
After spreading the mixture out in the pan, I placed it into a preheated 250° F oven for an hour and 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes, I removed the aluminum pan from the oven, and stirred the Caramel Oyster Crackers to ensure that the pecans and crackers were well coated.
After an hour and 15 minutes, I gave the Caramel Oyster Crackers one last stir and dumped it onto a piece of parchment paper so that it could completely cool. As it was cooling, I drizzled it with melted dark chocolate.
I left it in 1-inch to 2-inch clumps, and ended up with between 12 and 13 cups of Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Oyster Crackers. It was amazing. I stored it in an air-tight container. Every bite was crunchy and totally addictive. The Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Oyster Crackers was still deliciously fresh after a week. Yum!
For a more savory use of Oyster Crackers, you should try my Parmesan Garlic Oyster Crackers.
Recipe
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, enjoy weekly doses of culinary inspiration as a bonus!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Pudge Factor.
Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Oyster Crackers
Ingredients
- 10 cups (2 9-ounce) packages Oyster Crackers
- 1 ½ cups toasted pecan pieces (See Notes 1 and 2)
- ¾ cup 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter (See Note 3)
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar (7.5 ounces)
- ½ cup corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt (See Note 4)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup dark chocolate melting wafer melted according to package directions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250° F.
- Place Oyster Crackers into a large heat-proof bowl; add pecans on the top.
- Heat the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until butter is melted. Reduce heat to medium low; boil, undisturbed and uncovered, for 5 minutes.
- Remove saucepan from heat and stir in vanilla extract and baking soda. (See Note 5)
- Pour the caramel over the pecans and Oyster Crackers; stir to coat.
- Spread the mixture onto an ungreased, large disposable aluminum roasting pan. Bake for one hour and 15 minutes, removing every 15 minutes to stir.
- Spread the mixture onto parchment paper to cool. It may seem sticky at first, but will dry as it cools.
- As the Caramel Oyster Crackers cool, drizzle with melted dark chocolate.
- Store in airtight container.
- Yield: 12 to 13 cups.
Tips/Notes
- To toast pecans, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° F for 8 to 10 minutes, watching carefully.
- May use unsalted peanuts in place of the pecans.
- Because the Oyster Crackers are already salted, it's best to use unsalted butter. Otherwise, the Caramel Oyster Crackers could be too salty.
- If you're concerned about salt level, you can reduce the amount of salt to ¼ teaspoon.
- When you add the vanilla and baking soda, the caramel will bubble up and could burn you if you're not careful.
Leave a Reply