Turn Ritz Crackers Into An Easy Sweet Treat With Just 2 Ingredients

Ritz crackers have been delighting Americans since 1934, right in the middle of the Great Depression. There is so much to love about these crispy, buttery little bites, from their craveable flavor that makes it easy to polish off a sleeve in record time to them being the perfect vehicle for a variety of toppings. There is also a simple treat you can make with Ritz crackers that involves just two other ingredients: chocolate and peanut butter.

For a quick, sweet dessert, party treat, or holiday gift, smear some peanut butter inside two Ritz crackers and dunk the whole sandwich in melted chocolate. Once cooled and hardened, you'll have chocolate-covered peanut butter sandwich bites that are equal parts sweet and salty. Even Ritz itself believes in the goodness of sweetening up its signature cracker; the company released seasonal fudge-covered crackers that are basically just Ritz crackers coated in chocolate. 

To garnish and decorate, you can choose from a whole array of ideas, like sprinkling the top with sea salt, chopped nuts, sprinkles, or crushed peppermint candies, or drizzling each sandwich with a different chocolate than what you've used for coating. If you've dunked the crackers in dark chocolate, consider a pretty drizzle of white chocolate. If you're good at decorating, you can even get intricate and decorate the tops like you would a sugar cookie.

For this peanut butter cracker treat, the kind of peanut butter you use makes all the difference. The best choice is a creamy, well-emulsified peanut butter that doesn't need to be stirred, like JIF or Skippy. Some of the natural peanut butter brands that have a layer of oil on top may be too runny for this dessert, even after you've mixed them up. A homogenized peanut butter is less likely to ooze out of the sides of the crackers. If you prefer a natural product, you should assemble your crackers and let them sit in the fridge or freezer until the peanut butter stiffens up a bit before you dunk them in chocolate. You can also switch up the filling by using hazelnut cocoa spread, almond butter, or pistachio cream.

As for your chocolate coating, you'll find that many recipes call for melting chocolate chips or wafers with vegetable shortening or even paraffin wax (the same food-grade stuff that buckeyes and wax candy are made of). This is what gives the chocolate an attractive, shiny finish and a snappy texture. Another option is to use store-bought almond bark, which contains ingredients to do the same things and can be melted easily just by microwaving.

While not technically cookies, these chocolate-covered peanut butter sandwich crackers are a fun and delicious addition to any dessert platter or cookie exchange. Plus, they're easy enough to put together as a midweek treat for the family.