Chocolate-Covered Matzo Recipe on Food52 (2024)

I am a Passover drama queen. For eight days, I wander around in a daze of carbohydrate deprivation and let my complaints flow like the Nile. I stare longingly at bagels, wishing I could slather them with smear. I daydream about cookies, pasta, and cake. I cringe at the thought of yet another plate of matzo kugel.

But for all of the things I love to hate about Passover—the boxed cake mix, the high toll on my digestive system, and the cardboard that masquerades as cereal—there are just as many things I genuinely look forward to. And at the top of that list is my mom’s chocolate-covered matzo.

This is a no-frills, 5-ingredient recipe for classic chocolate-covered matzo. Unlike the store-bought variety, this version does not skimp on the most delicious part: the chocolate. Matzo is, in my opinion, best when used as a vehicle for consuming amounts of chocolate, and this recipe allows for just that. A thin, crunchy layer of matzo is topped a golden layer of caramelized butter and slabs of sweet, smooth chocolate. This Passover-friendly treat is too good to enjoy for only eight days: I recommend keeping a batch in your freezer all-year round. —Sarah Jampel

This chocolate-covered matzo recipe from Sarah Jampel is an easy Passover dessert that can be prepped ahead of time (you'll need to freeze it overnight so that the chocolate sets). It's also much-loved by our community, and it's gathered many positive reviews from those who have tried and riffed on it (someone mentioned it's also delicious with the addition of toasted nuts).

You can use store-bought matzo, or you can make it from scratch. Emma Laperruque, a food writer, recipe developer, and our Big Little Recipes columnist, has a made-from scratch matzo recipe that gets topped with everything seasoning (if you don't have it on hand, you could use a blend of poppy and sesame seeds, dried onion and garlic, plus coarse salt). If you wanted to use that matzo for this chocolate-covered recipe, you could just omit the seasoning.

A few of her tips for making matzo: If a dough hasn't formed by the time you've added all the water in, try pulsing it in the food processor a few more times. If that doesn't do the trick, try adding a tablespoon of water and pulse again. The one thing you don't want to do is over-process the dough—it shouldn't be a big blob, but rather "a mealy mixture that holds together when poked or squeezed." —The Editors

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F and cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Layer the baking sheet with matzo. Put on as many whole matzo sheets as will fit, then fill in the gaps with smaller pieces.
3. Melt the butter and the sugar together in a small saucepan on the stovetop and bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Pour the butter mixture evenly over the matzo, then put the baking sheet in the oven for three minutes so that the butter gets nice and hot.
5. Evenly distribute the chocolate pieces over the matzo pieces and smooth it down with a wooden spoon. Have a little faith: if the Red Sea can part, the chocolate can melt.
6. Freeze the matzo overnight, or until the chocolate is smooth and set, and then break it into pieces. Try not to eat it all at once.