Chocolate 'Crack'

Ingredients

• 51 saltine crackers, approximately
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 oz high quality dark chocolate
• Flaky sea salt

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cover a 12 x 17 inch jelly roll pan with foil. Arrange the saltines in the pan with the salted sides facing up, fitting them snugly next to each other but not stacking them. Tuck broken cracker pieces into any empty spaces along the bottom of the pan, then put the pan aside. Chop the chocolate into pieces roughly like regular chocolate chips, and set that aside too.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, stirring often with a spatula. When the butter is fully melted, stir in the brown sugar and vanilla until everything is combined. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, until the mixture turns a uniform deep brown and starts bubbling. Take the pan off the heat and pour the mixture over the saltines, using the spatula to nudge it across the crackers.
3. Bake the crackers for 5 minutes, just until the buttery sugar layer starts to bubble. Take the pan out of the oven and scatter the chocolate evenly over the top, letting the residual heat soften it. Use the spatula to smooth the melted chocolate across the surface so every cracker is covered. Finish with sea salt. Chill until the chocolate is firm, then break into pieces and serve.