Pretzel Shortbread Bars

Back in July, I ordered a huge tub of pretzels from a warehouse club, and I finally used the remaining pretzels up to make these Pretzel Shortbread Bars.  The original recipe called for a 4 1/4 by 13 1/2 in fluted tart pan, but I ended up using a 9x6 baking pan, and the bars turned out fine.

I ended up drizzling some chocolate on the bars, because why not?

I love the sweet & salty combo!

Pretzel Shortbread Bars

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 c salted miniature twist pretzels
• 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 egg 
• 1/2 c chocolate chips

Directions:

• Pulse 1 3/4 c pretzels in a food processor until you get fine crumbs. 
• Pour crumbs into a bowl, and combine with flour and baking powder. 
• Crush remaining 1 1/2 c pretzels and set aside.
• In a separate medium bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. 
• Beat in egg.
• Stir in flour mixture. 
• Mix in 3/4 c crushed pretzels. 
• Press dough evenly into parchment-lined 9x6 pan. 
• Top dough with remaining crushed pretzels. 
• Bake in a 325-degree Fahrenheit preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. 
• Cool for at least 1 hour before cutting into bars.  

The original can be found here on Martha Stewart. 

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No-Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars Recipe

My favorite combo after peanut butter and chocolate is pretzels and chocolate.  I love the sweet and salty combo!  

I recently bought an enormous jar of pretzels, so I decided to make some Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars.  They are a cinch to make!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
• 2 c pretzels twists, crushed
• 1 1/2 c confectioners' sugar
• 1 c + 1/4 c smooth peanut butter
• 1 1/2 c milk chocolate chips
• broken pretzels, for topping (optional)

Directions:

• In a medium bowl, combine melted butter, pretzel crumbs, confectioners' sugar and 1 c peanut butter. 
• Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a parchment-lined 9x13 pan.  
• Heat on high for 1 minute the chocolate chips and remaining 1/4 c peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until smooth.
• Spread over peanut butter layer.
• Refrigerate at least 1 hour before cutting into bars.  

You can find the original recipe here on Food Network.

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Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites

I love chocolate-covered pretzels, so when I saw a photo online of cookie dough sandwiched in between two pretzels and then dipped in chocolate, I knew I had to make some myself.

I used the eggless cookie dough recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction, and used Butter Snaps instead of Pretzel Twists. The end result was bite-size bits of bliss!

And the best part - no baking required!

Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites (recipe credit Sally's Baking Addiction):

Ingredients

• 1/2 c softened butter
• 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• 1/4 c sugar
• 2 T milk
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 c flour
• 1/8 t salt
• 1/2 c mini chocolate chips
• 1 12 oz bag of Butter Snaps
• Melting chocolate (I used 1 c chocolate chips + 1 T shortening microwaved on high for 1 minute)

Directions

• In a large bowl combine the butter and sugars until creamy.  
• Mix in the milk and vanilla extract.
• Add the flour and salt. 
• Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
• Roll the dough into balls (about 2 teaspoons worth of dough).  
• Sandwich balls between two pretzels and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. 
• Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
• Dip pretzel sandwiches halfway in melted chocolate.
• Refrigerate for another 15 minutes.

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