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Whether you call it matzo toffee, matzo bark, or matzo crunch, you’ve likely seen this caramel-and-chocolate-coated matzo on the Passover table. I grew up snacking on this confection during Pesach, the one week each year when my family traded leavened bread for brittle matzo. Though my siblings and I never kept kosher in earnest (as a child, I was fully addicted to Annie’s white cheddar mac and cheese), we ate matzo brei for breakfast, matzo pizza for lunch, and—the highlight of my day—matzo toffee for dessert.
For its many names, the dessert itself is mercifully simple: Matzo planks coated in a quick, beginner-friendly caramel, baked until bubbling, and spread with melted chocolate. As it cools, the coated matzo hardens into a crunchy bark that’s guaranteed to outshine the compulsory coconut macaroons. Once I started making my own matzo toffee, I began to experiment with toppings, sprinkling shredded coconut and mini marshmallows over the hot caramelized candy. I’ve since found endless ways to riff on this Passover favorite—some of them sticking to the holiday’s dietary guidelines, others not so much. More on that below, but first, let’s get into the surprisingly short history of this classic treat:
The history of matzo toffee
For those born before the ’90s, matzo toffee is unlikely to induce a pang of nostalgia. That’s because the signature Passover dessert wasn’t invented until 1985 when recipe developer and pastry chef Marcy Goldman sought to create a kosher for Passover sweet that Seder guests would actually enjoy. Rebelling against stodgy flourless cakes and saccharine fruit jellies, Goldman published her recipe for the caramel-and-chocolate-coated matzo (which she called “matzo buttercrunch”) in the Montreal Gazette in 1986. The recipe spread like wildfire.
Goldman’s instantly popular recipe has earned its position in the Passover dessert canon—though, as Leah Koenig reported for Tablet, many of the adapted recipes fail to credit Goldman as its original source. In 2004, Epicurious excerpted a recipe for Goldman’s “Trademark, Most Requested, Absolutely Magnificent Caramel Matzoh Crunch” from her cookbook, A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking. Among the many appeals of this recipe is its simplicity: Drench planks of matzo in brown sugar caramel, bake until burbling and golden, and then sprinkle dark chocolate on top, which melts and, with a swoop of a spatula, spreads smoothly over the hot sugar. If you’re a purist, stop there. But if you want to get creative, read on.
How to customize your matzo toffee
One of the many beauties of matzo toffee is that one large batch can make any number of flavors. I like to divide a sheet of matzo toffee into quadrants, adding a different topping to each section. Be sure to have the toppings prepared ahead of time, as they’ll only stick while the chocolate layer is still warm. Once the toffee cools and hardens, break the matzo into large shards; serve on a large plate or pack the pieces into bags to give as gifts.
In addition to sharing my own twists, I spoke to a few Jewish food writers and pastry chefs about their favorite ways to top their matzo toffee. Note that not all of these preparations are kosher for Passover, so adjust according to your observance. Here are five ways to mix it up:
No matter how creative I get with the toppings, I always keep at least a section of the batch plain, topped simply with dark chocolate and flaky salt. Koenig also loves the toffee just as it was first created: “There’s truly something magical about the crunch of the matzo, the sticky, buttery toffee, and the gooey chocolate,” she says. If you’re new to matzo toffee, start with the basic formula before you branch out.
Traditional matzo toffee is made with only one type of chocolate, but using multiple chocolate varieties results in a pretty marbled look. Melt dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate separately, then pour them over the warm toffee and use a toothpick to swirl the colors together.
For an even more dramatic swirl, make like pastry chef Caroline Schiff and use colorful flavored chocolate. “I love using the Valrhona chocolate inspiration series, and swirl through lots of colorful, flavored chocolate for a gorgeous marbled look,” she says. Valrhona’s chocolate inspiration fèves come in flavors like strawberry, passion fruit, yuzu, and raspberry. Melt the various flavors separately, then drizzle and feather them over a base layer of dark chocolate for the most striking effect.
For added texture and granola vibes, top your matzo toffee with an assortment of toasted, chopped nuts, seeds, and dried fruits if you’re not strictly avoiding kitniyot. “I like sprinkling sliced almonds, pecans, or finely chopped pistachios on top,” says Koenig. “Sometimes I add chopped up dried cherries, apricots, or cranberries, or drizzle the top with white chocolate.”
I top my matzo toffee with toasted pepitas and cayenne pepper. Schiff likes to add chopped toasted hazelnuts or roasted salted peanuts. “Always a sprinkle of flaky sea salt to finish,” she says. Epicurious contributor Rebecca Firkser always starts with a base of dark chocolate (“at least 60% semisweet is a must for my matzo toffee,” she says), then adds toasted nuts and seeds, like chopped pistachios and sesame. She’ll also add a tahini drizzle or chopped candied citrus peel.
Passover comes right around the start of spring. Lean into floral flavors by topping your toffee with chopped toasted pistachios and crushed rose petals (my most recent batch featured Damask rose petal powder from Burlap & Barrel) or pairing culinary-grade lavender with white chocolate. You can also sprinkle on ground freeze-dried fruit, like raspberries or strawberries.
Find more topping inspiration in the grocery store’s snack aisle. Load your matzo toffee with chopped candies, mini marshmallows, or crushed potato chips.
Cookbook author Jessie Sheehan tops her matzo toffee with chopped Easter candies, like pastel M&M’s or Peeps, in homage to her interfaith family’s celebration of both Easter and Passover. “My husband is Catholic and our kids, therefore, are lucky enough to attend seders that finish with matzo toffee, as well as receive Easter baskets filled with all manner of candy (sometimes all in the same weekend),” she says. “The hybrid toffee is really everyone’s idea of a good time.” (Peeps and many other marshmallows are out of bounds for those observing strictly, but this combination is also delightful once the holiday has ended.)
The salty potato chips that Firkser likes to use (seek out a kosher for Passover brand) play a similar role that flaky salt might, but bring extra crunch. If you’re not keeping leavened bread out of your diet this week, try crushed pretzels or Oreos on top.
