Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

Source: *no longer available

Our Rating: Favorite* 5/5

So I was a little torn on if these qualified as cookies or not, but the poll results from my story says yes- we can count them!  I've been making this recipe every other year or so for the last few years and it is a hit. This is another recipe with a short ingredient list so it is nice and easy to pull together.  First, lay your pretzels out on a sheet in a single layer.  I made mine all pretty but you don't have to at all since you break it all up in the end anyway.

Ingredients:

1/2 bag mini pretzel twists

2 sticks butter, (1 cup total)

1 cup brown sugar

1 bag chocolate chips, (2 cups)

Sea salt, or table salt  

Holiday Sprinkles (Optional) 

 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Line a large jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and lay a single layer of pretzels down. 

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and the brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil gently just until it starts to stick to the bottom and it forms a nice smooth caramel. You’ll want to let it bubble a little and get really thick.

Remove from heat and pour evenly over the top of the pretzels (don’t worry if every single pretzel isn’t covered). Put in the oven at 350 degrees for five minutes.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Return to oven for one minute.

Spread the melted chocolate chips around with a spatula, covering as much as you can.

Sprinkle generously with salt and sprinkles if using.

Let cool on the counter top for a few minutes and then pop in the freezer for at least two to three hours.

When it comes out of the freezer, break it up into uneven chunks with your hands and serve.

Then the most complicated part of the recipe, make caramel.  It is just butter and brown sugar, but if watching baking shows all year has taught me anything, it is that people screw this up all the time, so I was super nervous about it this year. I cooked it, stirring regularly, until it bubbled and thickened and then immediately removed it from the heat.

Then you pour over the pretzels, mine didn't make it all the way to the ends but that's completely fine.  Stick this in the oven for a quick five minutes.  

Then add chocolate chips all over the top, pop back in the oven for a minute to melt, and spread that chocolate goodness all over.  As usual, I added sprinkles at this step because I wanted them to look more festive. Enter Fancy Sprinkles once again.

Once that is all done it goes into the freezer to harden.  Once set, break it into pieces to serve.  If not serving right away, put the pieces back into the freezer, it is great when they are nice and cold! 

I snuck a piece for myself and then stuck the rest back in the freezer in a big Ziplock.

 What's your vote: cookie or not cookie?