Barkers

Dairy-free/Egg-free/Nut-free

As in "Meet the..."? No. The full name of this recipe is Matzah Bark, and it's something that we make annually at Passover (it's a Jewish holiday in the spring and for eight days, everybody gives up flour, bread, yeast, and pretty much anything that rises or expands). 

We made this again this year, and ate almost all of it before the kids got anywhere close to having a nibble. Which made us think of a radical concept. Maybe you've heard of it? It's called PORTION CONTROL. 

For Passover, we make this on sheets of matzah, an unleavened bread resembling a really large cracker. But for year-round enjoyment, you could easily make this on Saltines. (No trademark offense intended, we just don't know what else to call those square salted crackers that you eat when you have morning sickness. If we called them Morning Sickness Crackers, that would just be gross.) The added bonus: built-in PORTION CONTROL.

Since you can make this on either matzah or crackers, we're not calling it Matzah Bark. From now on, it's just Barkers.

Ingredients

• Four to six sheets of matzah, or as many as needed to completely cover your baking sheet OR
  
• Enough Saltines to cover a baking sheet
  
• 1 cup butter or margarine (Earth Balance, natch!)
  
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed (one of us likes it as is, the other would prefer a little less sugar, like maybe as little as 3/4 cup)
  
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, or whatever sort of chocolate you like that suits your allergy situation
  
• Salt, to taste
  

Steps

• Line a cookie sheet completely with parchment or waxed paper.
  
• Fill the lined cookie sheet with matzah or Saltines.
  
• Combine the butter/margarine and brown sugar in a 3-quart, heavy bottomed sauce pan. 
  
• Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. 
  
• Continue cooking for three more minutes, stirring constantly. 
  
• Remove from heat and pour over matzah/crackers.
  
• If you're using matzah, this is a good time to put just a bit of salt over the sugar/butter. You don't want a lot, just a bit to offset the sweetness of the sugar/butter and chocolate.
  
• Meanwhile, melt chocolate in the microwave, in a double boiler, or just with direct heat (just make sure it doesn't burn!).
  
• Once the matzah/crackers have been coated with the sugar/butter combo, pour the melted chocolate on top and spread it around to cover all of the pieces as best as you can. This can get a little tricky if you're using crackers because they're small and may jump around a bit.
  
• Put the entire tray in the refrigerator until the chocolate sets up again.
  
• If you're using matzah, once the chocolate has hardened, break the matzahs up into bite sized pieces. Crackers shouldn't have to be broken up anymore as they're already somewhat small.
  

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Try to control yourself.