A Life, Lived: Caramelized Matzoh Crunch with Chocolate

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I don't know about you but since I became an adult (I think it finally hit me a few months back) Christmas has become a lot of work. The past few weeks have been a blurr of shopping, cleaning, decorating, baking, and planning. I am always amazed at how much gets packed into such a short period of time!

It is at times like this that I look for recipes like this one, simple, readily accessible ingredients, and destined to wow anyone lucky enough to try a sample. In fact, the most complex part for a non-Jewish guy like me was to find the Matzoh! I am so glad I got in touch with Judaism enough to find it in the kosher food section of the store.

This recipe was posted by the chef, author, food blogger, and all around nice guy David Lebovitz. Now before you go all over me about copyright you should know that I asked for permission to post this recipe and he gave it (hence the all around nice guy comment).

This is the story of how to turn 6 simple ingredients

into a fabulous treat.

4 to 6 sheets of matzoh
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted or salted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup (firmly-packed) light brown sugar
optional: fleur de sel, or coarse sea salt
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, or coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 cup sliced almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Line a 11" x 17" baking sheet completely with foil (making sure it goes up the sides) and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line the bottom of the sheet completely with matzoh, breaking extra pieces as necessary to fill in any spaces.

In a medium-sized heavy duty saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar and cook over medium heat until the butter begins to boil. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and pour over matzoh, spreading with a heatproof utensil.

Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the syrup darkens and gets thick. (While it's baking, make sure it's not burning. If so, reduce the heat to 325 degrees.)

Remove from oven and immediately cover with chocolate chips or chunks. Let stand 5 minutes, then spread smooth with an offset spatula.

Sprinkle withfleur de sel or coarse salt, then scatter the toasted almonds over the top and press them into the chocolate.

Let cool completely (you may need to chill it in the refrigerator), then break into pieces and store in an airtight container until ready to hand out to anyone you feel is truly deserving of an extra special treat.