Recipe:

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup Butter (margerine won't work)
1 bag of Chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
40 saltine crackers

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray well with PAM (easy clean-up). Line crackers side by side on cookie sheet until it covers the whole pan. Boil brown sugar and real butter over medium heat (stir often) until it reaches rolling boil. After reaching rolling boil, time for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour and spread over crackers. Place in oven for 8 minutes. Turn off Oven, remove from cookie sheet from oven. Let rest for 30 seconds. Press crackers back into place with wooden spoon as best you can. sprinkle choc. chips over top and place in TURNED OFF oven for 2 minutes. Take out and spread melted chocolate chips. Sprinkle with nuts (optional) Cool and break up (with hands or wood spoon) into pieces. DO NOT CUT with knife; you will get foil pieces in your bars.

For quick cooling, place on hot pads in freezer of fridge until hard. Store in airtight container in fridge or freezer. This recipe is a great make ahead of time, freeze and thaw later dessert! Will last up to 3 months if stored in airtight container with wax paper between layers of cookies. So yummy too! Blow your quests away with this inexpensive treat but tasty treat!

When I was growing up we lived In Las Vegas. At Christmas time all 10 of us would load up in the van and make the 1200 mile trip to Richey Montana to see my Mom's parents. Grandma Santa (yep, that is her real name, not a nickname) would be prepared with dozens of tupperware filled with our favorite Christmas treat: mystery bars! She would send some home with us every year, but they didn't make it back to Las Vegas...they were gone before we hit the Idaho border. We eventually moved to Montana for my Dad's work and this is one thing Grandma Santa made sure at least one of us perfected before she passed away. I love these bars and I love the time I got to spend with my Grandma in learning how to make them.