Thursday, April 17, 2008

Passover Crunchies


Passover begins Saturday the 19th at sundown. Basically, the celebration of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, this is a time when families and friends come together to recant the history of this exodus with stories and foods symbolic of this time. Now that's a really rough explanation but for those of you who have seen the Ten Commandments - the epic Charlton Heston movie - you'll have a sense of the history. It's important to note that it's not only Jews in the world who celebrate this time of year. Catholics also celebrate The Passover, although the symbolism and tribute to events is varied.

As the Jews left Egypt they were unable to leven bread and created an unleaven flatbread called matza (matzo, matzoh -everone spells it differently) To this day, during the period of Passover, it is forbidden to consume foods that contain leavening agents. It's kind of like a Jewish lent if you will. Matzoh is a pretty bland, tasteless cracker type of bread that takes on interesting appeal when mixed with large quantities of butter, eggs, jams etc. For those who have never seen it, here's a package of matzoh.




My good friend shared a confectionary recipe with me that's super simple, perfect for Passover and has kind of an almond roca kind of flavour to it (well, maybe that's a bit of a stretch - but it's good anyways).

Matzoh crunchies are so easy to make, and even easier to eat and you'd never know it was made of matzoh. We're entering this recipe for:



Lori Lynn at Taste With The Eyes sets the most beautiful table for her guests to celebrate Passover. Do make a point of checking out her blog - easy on the eyes and beautiful recipes too.

Ingredients:

3-4 (more or less) unsalted matzohs, enough to fit on to and completely fill your rimmed cookie sheet
1 cup unsalted butter (1 cup = 1/2 lb or 2 sticks)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup (or more) chocolate chips
toasted almond slivers or slices

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Line a large cookie sheet with foil over the top edges and fold under; then cover the tinfoil with parchment paper



3. Place the matzohs onto the baking sheet, breaking as necessary to fit. It's okay if they overlap a little.



4. In a saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar and cook over medium heat (stirring constantly)



5. Remove the butter/sugar mix from the heat and pour it all over the matzoh, covering completely



6. Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350 F
7. Bake 5-15 minutes checking every few minutes to make sure the mixture is not burning. If it's browning too quickly, reduce oven temperature or open the oven door for a minute. It should be bubbling all over and starting to turn colour.
8. Remove baking sheet from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate chips all over the bubbly mixture matzohs. Let stand for a few minutes until chips start melting. If you're impatient like I am, turn heat off oven and just put pan back in for a couple of minutes to melt the chocolate chips.



9. While chocolate is still soft and melted, spread with spatula for even coverage and sprinkle with toasted almond slivers/slices






10. Put into the fridge to cool and harden (about 10 minutes) and then break into pieces. You have matzoh brittle!!

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20 comments:

Unknown said...

YUM! i almost forgot about these this year. thanks for the reminder on one of my FAVORITE passover desserts. i prefer them cold - straight from the freezer. now i know why i bought so many boxes of matzah (i just remembered that we went through several boxes, but couldn't remember on what!)

Peter M said...

Giz, Psych and the rest of the family, have a most spiritual Passover and you're cool in my books...I like people who keep traditions.

Elle said...

How good do those look? Excuse my drooling...

That Girl said...

Passover for me is always about snack food, since ever since I moved from home I snack during the day on potato chips and matzah, and then eat a regular dinner (chicken and veggies)

Larissa said...

My friend makes these on a regular basis, and holy cow they are ADDICTING.

Neen said...

Ah ha! So THIS is how Do and I are going to survive Passover! Thanks for introducing me to my new favorite recipe :) Hate Matzah...er, I'm working on appreciating it. Smittenkitchen.com also has a bunch of great passover deserts that I've been eyeing.

Susan @ SGCC said...

Oh boy, do those look good! My mother makes a cookie at Xmas time that is similar. She uses saltine crackers. I like the matzah better. You can get bigger pieces! ;

Pixie said...

Any idea how to make Matzoh's? I doubt we can find them here and enjoy them tremendously. Once I have the Matzoh's I can think about your lush dessert.

Lore said...

Matzoh is new to me but I like anything with a crunch :). Those look delish.

Cakelaw said...

These look delicious- caramel, almonds and choc chips make my day!

Rosie said...

Don't they look SO good!! Nice to read that traditions are being kept :D

Rosie x

Anonymous said...

Looks wonderful and what a nice treat during Passover. Have a wonderful Holiday with your family.

giz said...

Pixie - I'm glad you found matzoh -just be careful - I warn you - highly addictive - very very highly addictive. Then make the pecan muffins and when you put on 5pounds (and I don't mean sterling) please don't hate me. I'm right there with you.

test it comm said...

Those look so good! Butter and sugar, nuts and chocolate...mmm...

Anonymous said...

What an AWESOME idea! These look delicious!

eatme_delicious said...

Oh yum I've only had those matzo crackers once and used them in a kugel. I wish I'd had this recipe back before they became stale because this looks so good!

Rhyleysgranny said...

All your things look so lovely. I really enjoyed the lesson about the passover. I was not sure about it and was about to google. Thak you. It was soooo interesting
xxx

Lori Lynn said...

Hi Giz and Psychgrad!

Well I just returned from a week in Chicago, celebrating Passover with my family. I have a lot to catch up on in the blog world. Your Matzoh Brittle looks fabulous.

Thanks for posting the icon, your matzoh brittle photo, and for the kind words about Taste With The Eyes. It will post after 4.27.

Hope you had a nice holiday!

Patsyk said...

I love how you took pictures of each step! This is one of my most favorite recipes. I wish my kitchen had better lighting so I could do step-by-step pictures... so much more fun to read along.

Penny Wantuck Eisenberg said...

Looks like a fun recipe

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