Most families have their holiday recipe. They make it every year and bring it to every holiday party and everyone looks forward to it. For my family, that recipe is sinfuls. I don’t know who came up with them, if they are an original recipe or one ripped off from a cookbook decades ago, but either way we’ve been making them forever. Part of their appeal is just how simple they are. They require few ingredients, and you have to actively try to mess them up for them to come out wrong. So if you’re looking for something sweet and salty to put on your cookie platter this winter, give sinfuls a try! Be careful, because they’re super addicting.

Here is what you’ll need:

2 sticks of margarine or butter
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
12 oz. of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 sleeve of saltines (salted or unsalted)

Here is what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 400º F

2. Line a cookie sheet with tinfoil, with a little bit of excess on each end.

3. Place one layer of saltines on tinfoil covered cookie sheet, lined side by side, covering the cookie sheet completely.

4. Melt margarine/butter and brown sugar in a medium sized pot over medium heat on the stove. Bring to boil for exactly three minutes

5. Pour the margarine/sugar mixture over the saltines and bake in the oven for five minutes.

6. Remove pan from oven, and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top while the saltines are still hot. As the chocolate chips begin to melt, use a knife to spread the chocolate evenly over the entire thing. Keep spreading chocolate around until all the chocolate is melted and no chunks remain.

7. Refrigerate for about three hours or until hardened.

8. Take out of the refrigerator and use the excess tinfoil you left at the ends of the cookie sheet to lift sinfuls off the cookie sheet.

9. Peel the tinfoil off the back of the sinfuls breaking them up into big uneven chunks as you go, and they’re ready to eat!

I personally prefer the plain chocolate original, but if you are looking to get a bit more festive you can add toppings like crushed candy canes or flaked coconut before you put them in the refrigerator. Walnuts add an extra crunch, and white chocolate gives a snowy look! Enjoy and happy holidays!

Samantha Gillis can be reached for comment at [email protected].