This Throwback 2-Ingredient Dessert Sandwich Is the Easiest Salty-Sweet Treat

Robin Shreeves
·3 min read
4

Of course, it’s from the 1970s.

<p>Garrett Aitken/Getty Images</p>

Garrett Aitken/Getty Images

We have so many sources for recipes these days. Family recipes, cooking websites, food blogs, cooking shows, social media, podcasts, cookbooks, food magazines, and more. In the 1970s, many of those options were not around. Home cooks mostly took inspiration from family recipes, cookbooks, a few food magazines, and brand-sponsored recipes in lifestyle magazines and on food packaging.

I can remember my great-aunt proudly serving us mock apple pie, a Depression-era pie that contained no apples. Sure, the pie had been around long before the 1970s, but I didn’t know that as a little kid. I was just in awe of an apple pie with no apples, and in the 1970s the recipe was still on the back of the box of its main ingredient, Ritz Crackers. (Bakers also used soda crackers or saltines for the filling, but the pie is now squarely associated with the famous buttery round crackers.)

In the '70s, Andy Griffith was one of Ritz’s celebrity spokespeople, and he was known for this line: “Everything tastes great when it sits on a Ritz.”

Everything? Really? Even chocolate? The answer is definitely “Yes!” Ritz and chocolate create a salty-sweet combo that’s so satisfying. You can use Ritz to make no-bake Thin Mint knockoffs. You can sub them for graham crackers in s’mores.

TikTok sensation B. Dylan Thomas, whose specialty is baking vintage recipes, recently found a Ritz recipe in a 1979 cooking magazine that’s so simple and adds caramel to the mix of crackers and chocolate.

The Rolo-Ritz Sandwiches

Calling it “peak snack invention” in a short 47-second video, Thomas shows us how to make the Rolo-Ritz, a 2-ingredient snack sandwich. He holds up a 1979 edition of "Home Cooking" magazine and introduces viewers to Rolo-Ritz sandwiches.

How to Make a Rolo-Ritz Sandwich

The hardest part of this recipe is unwrapping each individual chocolate caramel Rolo candy.

  1. Place Ritz crackers face down on a baking sheet.

  2. Place an unwrapped Rolo on top of each cookie.

  3. Bake at 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) for about 3 minutes, just until the candy is soft.

  4. Place another Ritz cracker on top of each Rolo and gently press to smash the soft Rolo.

That’s it. Thomas claims “they’re perfect” and while they may not be gourmet, they’re “a really good idea.”

Reminiscent of Another Candy Treat

These remind me of the chocolate pretzel treats that I used to have my kids make for their teachers during the holidays. Super simple to make, these treats were just slightly baked mini-pretzels topped with Hershey Kisses and finished with an M&M pushed into the center.

It reminded some of Thomas’ viewers of the same, and many of them suggested using pretzels instead of Ritz crackers with the Rolo candy. “My grandma makes these with pretzel squares," commented Megan, describing them with three fire emojis. And Kyr says, “ooo I make this at Christmas time! Except we do pretzels, rolos, and a pecan or walnut on top and they are HEAVENLY.” Other commenters suggested substituting the Rolos for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

I could go for any of those combinations.