Toffee

Pastry chef Nicole Plue, of Julia's Kitchen at Copia in Napa Valley, was intrigued by a recipe she discovered for matzo covered in toffee and chocolate. But she knew she could improve it by using crackers instead of matzo for a hit of salt. Now the saltines, slathered with buttery toffee and bittersweet chocolate, are a favorite on her petit four tray.

This fast, genius dessert uses store-bought matzo as the instant base for homemade toffee.

This toffee makes a great topping for Five-Spice Glazed Sweet Potatoes.

There is something otherworldly about the iconic chocolate chip cookie, so why not go big? These thick bakery-style chocolate chip cookies are studded with mini chocolate chips and bits of crushed toffee pieces throughout. They are golden and crispy on the outside, and the warm toffee bits make them super soft and chewy on the inside.

When pastry chef Lara Atkins was little, her mother made this cake for her bridge club; Atkins remembers how she and her brothers would have to wait (and wait and wait) for their slices until all the ladies of the club had served themselves. Atkins now makes the cake for her son, who never has to wait for his piece.

Enjoy this delicious crumb cake as a midday snack or as an after-dinner dessert.

This cake resembles sticky toffee pudding, but Kate Neumann says it's "a dried fruit or two away from my grandmother's plum pudding." The cake, subtly spiced with cinnamon and ginger, gets topped with toasted nuts and a caramelly toffee sauce.

Rich, buttery and deeply flavorful, this killer sticky toffee cake from Abigail Quinn at Proof Bakeshop in Atlanta is the ultimate holiday dessert.