Passover Matzo Crack, aka Matzo Toffee, Matzo Bark or Matzo Brittle, will become your favourite holiday snack. Rich in chocolate and homemade toffee flavors and topped with nuts, this is the easiest and most addictive Passover treat!
Chocolate covered Matzo
When I was a kid growing up in Israel, during my first Passover break, my downstairs neighbour invited me to her house. When we had our fill from playing with Barbie dolls and wanted a break for some sustenance, my neighbour nonchalantly walked into her kitchen, grabbed a stack of matzahs (as matzos are called in Hebrew), a container of Israeli chocolate Haschachar, and proceeded to combine the two together with a few long, deep smears.
When she plonked the chocolate-covered matzo in front of me, I really didn't know how to approach it. At first, I poked at it with a fork, and it cracked. Then I hesitantly looked at my friend, who poured herself a glass of milk, grabbed her chocolate matzo with both hands, and bit into it with a loud crunch. I took a deep breath, and followed suit.
Bits of matzah and chocolate rained everywhere - on my plate, in my lap, on the table. My face was smeared with chocolate, and matzo crumbs got stuck in between my teeth. And yet, my mouth filled with textures and sweet flavours, and I felt absolute joy at this new discovery.
At home, years later, I tried putting Nutella on my matzah and discovered that chocolate covered matzo can taste even better - in the form of Matzah Crack, or Chocolate Matzo Toffee.
The Perfect Passover Snack
This homemade matzo crack recipe, also known as chocolate matzo toffee, makes for an easy dessert or Passover snack.
I like this as a snack because it's fairly portable. It can stave off hunger when you're just craving something small and sweet, and it's a fancier version of eating matzo with chocolate.
And most importantly, it's totally kid friendly and little ones love getting their hands on it!
For more Passover snacks:
What is Matzo Crack or Matzo Toffee?
In simple terms, matzo crack is salted chocolate covered caramel matzah.
Matza Crack (also spelled Matzah Crack, Matzo Toffee, Matzo Brittle or even Matzo Bark or Matzo Crunch) is simply a sheet of kosher-for-Passover matzah, covered with a melted homemade caramel sauce that hardens into a delicious toffee.
The toffee is then sprinkled with chocolate chips, which melt from the heat and are spread out to create a crunchy chocolate layer above the toffee.
The whole thing is sprinkled with nuts can also use sprinkles, pretzels or even potato chips for a delicious sweet and salty matzo crack recipe!)
What is Matzo or Matzah?
But what is matzo, you ask? Sometimes spelled matzoh, matza or matzah, matzos are unleavened crackers that are eaten for the Jewish holiday of Passover. They are made out of strictly water and flour (though a bit of salt is also allowed) and are made very quickly, without time to rise at all, for fear of being made not kosher.
If you'd like to make your own matzos, try my easy last-minute homemade matzo recipe!
What kind of toppings can you put on matzo bark?
I like to divide my matzo crack sheet into 4-5 parts and spread a variety of toppings on the whole thing, segregating each topping to a certain part. That way, I get a variety of flavours from one chocolate matzo toffee sheet!
These are some of my favourite toppings and matza crack flavors:
- pistachio matzah crack - spread with ½ cup crushed pistachios
- almond matzo crack - spread with ½ cup slivered almonds
- coconut matza crack - - spread with ½ cup shredded sweetened coconut
- sweet and salty matzah crack - spread with ½ cup crushed potato chips OR kosher for Passover pretzels. This makes an amazing combo! Give it a try.
- matzo toffee with sprinkles - use ½ cup of multi-colored sprinkles to make any kid happy
- sea salt caramel matzo toffee - for the easiest matzo toffee, just sprinkle some nice Maldon or other flaky sea salt on top of the chocolate.
Ingredients
To make chocolate matzo toffee, or matzo brittle, you need:
- matzo sheets
- unsalted butter (can substitute coconut oil or non-dairy margarine)
- dark brown sugar
- chocolate chips
- vegetable oil (can substitute coconut oil)
- sea salt
- Toppings of your choice: multi-colored sprinkles, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, pretzels, sea salt or other toppings
How to make chocolate matzo toffee?
Preheat oven to 350F/125C. Set an oven rack in the middle of the oven, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a tinfoil.
Cover baking sheet with one layer of matzo sheets. You will need to break some matzah sheets into smaller pieces in order to completely cover the pan.
In a saucepan set to medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly. Once mixture comes to a boil, allow to cook for 3 more minutes, until foamy, thick and mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from stovetop.
Pour the butter and sugar mixture over the matzo sheets. Spread it with spatula to ensure it gets everywhere in an even layer.
Bake toffee-covered matzo in 350F oven and bake for 15 minutes, checking every so often to make sure it doesn’t burn. Reduce heat to 325 if it’s browning around the edges.
After 15 minutes, once the butter and sugar mixture have bubbled up and are golden brown, remove baking sheet from the oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips over toffee mixture immediately. Let sit for 5 minutes to melt. Once melted, spread chocolate chips evenly with a spatula over the toffee mixture.
Top with coloured sprinkles, nuts or toppings of your choice. Allow to cool and harden for about 2 hours. Break into pieces and enjoy.
Substitutions
Substitutions for Matzo
If you don't have store-bought matzo or time to make your own homemade matzo, you can use saltine crackers. Just spread them out on a baking sheet or in a casserole dish as you would matzos.
For gluten-free matzo crack, use gluten-free matzos.
Substitutions for chocolate chips
You can use high-quality dark chocolate as well, but it may need more help to melt fully.
Scaling the recipe, Make ahead and Storage
Depending on what size of pieces you break your chocolate matzo toffee into, you will get between 12 and 15 pieces of matzo crack from one recipe. You can easily scale it up. I do not recommend scaling it down.
The nice thing is that matzo crack will keep very well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. This portable snack can even be packaged and shipped as a Passover snack or homemade Passover gift to relatives who are far away!
Top Tips
- It doesn't matter what kind of chocolate chips you use. Even regular old semi-sweet chocolate chips will do just fine!
- If you don't have two hours to wait for your matzo crack to cool in the fridge, 20-30 minutes in the freezer should do the trick.
- Use gluten-free matzos to make this into gluten-free matzo crack.
Adaptations for Matzo Crack
You can use gluten-free matzos to make this into a gluten-free matzo crack. This is what I do for myself! Gluten-free matzos are more brittle, so you'll end working with more broken sheets to assemble your full sheet - that's totally fine!
Use vegan chocolate chips and coconut oil to make this vegan.
Omit the toffee and use natural chocolate chips for a version that's free of refined sugars.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to make this paleo or keto.
When to Serve
Matzo crack or matzo toffee makes for an amazing Passover snack anytime you want something sweet.
Try these other Passover dishes:
Tried and loved this recipe? Please leave a 5-star review below! Your reviews mean a lot to me, so if you've got any questions, please let me know in a comment.
Recipe
Matzo Crack with Caramel, Chocolate and Nuts
Ingredients
- 5 matzo sheets
- 1 cup 1 stick unsalted butter (can substitute non-dairy margarine)
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil can substitute coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt optional
- multi-colored sprinkles shredded coconut, chopped nuts, pretzels, sea salt or other toppings
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/125C. Set an oven rack in the middle of the oven, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a tinfoil.
- Cover baking sheet with one layer of matzo sheets. You will need to break some matzah sheets into smaller pieces in order to completely cover the pan.
- In a saucepan set to medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly. Once mixture comes to a boil, allow to cook for 3 more minutes, until foamy, thick and mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from stovetop.
- Pour the butter and sugar mixture over the matzo sheets. Spread it with spatula to ensure it gets everywhere in an even layer.
- Bake toffee-covered matzo in 350F oven and bake for 15 minutes, checking every so often to make sure it doesn’t burn. Reduce heat to 325 if it’s browning around the edges.
- After 15 minutes, once the butter and sugar mixture have bubbled up and are golden brown, remove baking sheet from the oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips over toffee mixture immediately. Let sit for 5 minutes to melt. Once melted, spread chocolate chips evenly with a spatula over the toffee mixture.
- Top with coloured sprinkles, nuts or toppings of your choice. Allow to cool and harden for about 2 hours. Break into pieces and enjoy.
Jael says
Yummy:) Still have half of my 1 kilo matzo package left, so maybe I will make something like this:)
kseniaprints says
I think that would be a great use, Yael!
Matt says
Hi, great recipe! We loved it!
I just want to mention that pretzels aren't kosher for Passover.
kseniaprints says
You are of course absolutely right! That's more of a year-round topping 😉
Gina says
This is such a delicious snack or treat, love all the topping options. So easy yet hits the spot when you have a sweet craving!
Giangi Townsend says
Thank you for all the tips ad suggestions. I have some matzo left over and I had no idea what to do with it. Chocolate is first on the list.
Shelby says
Ahh this brittle is crunchy perfection! Whipped it up but had SO much trouble sharing lol
Sharina says
We had this last week and everyone loves it! So rich in flavors and a new favorite! Kids even requested to bring it to school for snacks!
Rose says
Such a great treat! I'll be keeping this recipe for the holiday season! Love all the different toppings. My husband can't get enough!