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Chocolate Chip Bars in a stack

Chocolate Chip Bars with a Salty Pretzel Crust – from Simply Scratch

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  • Author: Megan Keno
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 15 bars 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American

Description

These bars are a perfect mix of salty and sweet with chewy chocolate chip cookie bars atop a salty, crunchy pretzel crust.  They will disappear fast!


Ingredients

Units Scale

FOR THE COOKIE BAR DOUGH

  • 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar
  • 2 large Eggs
  • 11/2 teaspoons Real Vanilla Extract
  • 21/4 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 1 bag Milk Chocolate Chips {like Ghirardelli}

FOR THE PRETZEL CRUST

  • 31/2 cups Pretzel Sticks
  • 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, melted

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13x2 baking pan with parchment paper {for easy removal}.
  2. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed until creamy. Add eggs and the vanilla, beating until just blended.
  3. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk until airy and gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar/egg mixture, mixing well after each addition.
  4. Scrape down the sides and add in the chocolate chips, Mix one last time for a second then set aside.
  5. Place pretzels in a large baggie or food-processor. Once the pretzels are crushed, combine them with the melted butter and stir.
  6. Spread pretzel mixture over the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for 8 minutes.
  7. Drop large spoonfuls of the cookie dough and scatter it over the pretzel crust, carefully and evenly spread the batter over the warm pretzels. With your {clean} fingers, press the dough into the pretzels.
  8. Place the pan in your preheated oven and bake for 20-24 minutes, rotating the pan half-way through the cookie time. Remove when the bars are golden and a tester comes out clean.
  9. When bars have cooled, remove {by using the parchment paper} and cut into 15 bars. Enjoy!

Notes

*NOTE:* Several people who’ve made this notice a lot of pretzel crumb leftover, I HIGHLY recommend using enough butter, {if it looks too dry, just add a little more! After all more butter never hurt any one or bar for that matter}. Also, pressing the cookie dough into the crust helps it to become a crust to the bottom of the bars. As you can see in my pictures above I have a few pretzel crumb stragglers, it’s just the way this cookie. bar. crumbles?!  🙂

By Laurie McNamara – Simply Scratch