I don’t know about you, but I love the combination of something sweet and chocolatey with something crunchy and salty. It’s why we always add M&Ms to our homemade Chex Mix Snack Mix. It’s also why I usually find a way to add pretzels to our favorite chocolate desserts.
Over our Christmas staycation, we made decadent No Bake Peanut Butter Bars, and while the chocolate and peanut butter bars taste just like Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups and satisfy every craving had by peanut butter and chocolate lovers, I wanted something more. I wanted something salty.
I wanted some crunchy salty goodness paired with my Peanut Butter Bars and I was going to use pretzel sticks to do make it happen. Extra chocolate and salty pretzels completely transform traditional Peanut Butter Bars into a salty, crunchy, chocolately delight that you won’t want to share.
Now, if I’ve learned anything from my transition into being the official family cook, I’ve learned that I hate doing dishes and cleaning up my mess. Usually it’s no big deal. If It’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner, Brian always cleans up and does the dishes. It’s wonderful. But when it’s baking, I have to do my own dishes and clean up.
I actually think it’s a weapon, he uses to try to deter me from baking, but I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve. For example, I stopped greasing my baking dishes, rubbing them down with butter, or using baking sprays. I now simply line my baking dishes with foil.
- The foil let’s me lift the entire pan of dessert bars right out of the dish and transfer it to a cutting board.
- This in turn helps me make clean, even cuts, so every bar looks beautiful.
- And, as a bonus, my baking dish is still clean and it can go right back in the cabinet.
Making No Bake Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars
With lots of peanut butter, broken pretzel sticks, crushed Nilla Wafer cookies, and milk chocolate chips, these No Bake Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars give you all the deliciousness of Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups and all the salty, crunch of pretzels in one easy to make, no bake, dessert bar.
Here’s how you make them:
After lining a 13×9 inch baking dish with foil, break up pretzel sticks into small pieces until you have about 1 cup pretzel sticks.
Mix the ingredients — butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, crushed Nilla Wafers, 1/3 cup pretzels, and 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips — together in a large bowl until fully combined. Then spread the chocolate, pretzel, peanut butter mixture evenly across the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the remaining pretzel pieces. This becomes the chocolate pretzel peanut butter crust or base of the dessert bar.
Next, melt the remaining milk chocolate chips and a little bit of peanut butter in a double boiler (or in the microwave), stirring occasionally until any lumps are gone. Pour the milk chocolate mixture evenly over the crust until it is covered completely and sprinkle with remaining pretzel pieces. Refrigerate for 60-90 minutes.
When the bars have set, simply take them out of the refrigerator, lift the entire block of Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars out of the dish and transfer it to large a cutting board. Remove the foil, cut the block into individual bars, and serve.
No Bake Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars
Extra chocolate and salty pretzels transform traditional Peanut Butter Bars into a salty, crunchy, chocolately delight.
Prep Time
Total Time
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, melted
- 2 cups Nilla Wafers, crushed
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 cup + 4 tbsp peanut butter
- 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 12 oz. milk chocolate chips
- 1 cup pretzels sticks, broken in pieces
Instructions
- Line a 13x9" baking pan with foil. In a medium bowl, mix together butter, Nilla Wafer crumbs, confectioners sugar, 1 cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup pretzels, and 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips.
- Spread the chocolate, pretzel, peanut butter mixture evenly into the 13x9" pan, covering the bottom of the pan evenly. Sprinkle with half of the remaining pretzel pieces.
- Melt the milk chocolate chips and remaining 4 tablespoons peanut butter in a double boiler, stirring occasionally until smooth.
- Spread chocolate mixture over the chocolate, pretzel, peanut butter layer in the 13x9" pan. Sprinkle all remaining pretzel pieces over the top of the chocolate. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Cut into squares.
Notes:
As you break up the pretzel sticks into small pieces, add them to your measuring cup.
