Country Cleaver Chocolate Chip Bars with a Salty Pretzel Crust

Monday, August 20, 2012

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

Posted by Megan / 14 comments » / Baking, Cookies, Dessert, Guest Post, Recipes

Ohhh, happy day! Today one of my very best and most cherished blogging buddies is taking the helm to give you every hormonal girls’ dream cookie bar – Chocolate Chip Bars with Salty Pretzel Crust. Like, woah people! I don’t know about you, but my kyptonite is chocolate covered pretzels. Sweet, salty, crunchy, chocolatey – hello fat pants!

Laurie’s blog was one of the very first I started reading when I got into blogging myself, devouring it with my eyes and licking my computer screen to somehow taste the things she made through osmosis. But really all I got was a streaked screen and a wicked case of the hungries. She’s been a wonderful resource, source of inspiration and friend to me from the beginning and I couldn’t have picked someone better to share with you today.

–

Hey there! I’m Laurie from Simply Scratch. For those who I haven’t met yet I have this little ol’ blog where I take step-by-step pictures for yummy, tried and true “from scratch” recipes. Every once and again I throw in a little un-scratchyness but hey I’m human and I work full time and have two children. Feeling sorry for me yet?

I just adore Megan and while she’s off getting hitched, I wanted to help my friend out and share with you one of my favorite recipes of all time. Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars with a Salty Pretzel Crust!

It’s a recipe that you can curl up with and nibble on while reading a good book. It’s a recipe that you can bust out for your boyfriend {or girlfriend} and expect an engagement ring and or, err-um get lots of hugs and kisses from… or you could even bring to a family gathering and get high-fived all night long. See you really can’t go wrong here.

This recipe begins with pretzels and ends with cookie bars. Oh yeahhhh this is for real, it’s a delicious carb-ingesting-coma-inducing dessert! And after a long 17 year love affair with the whole salty-sweet-chocolate-pretzel thing, I decided to whip it up, throw it in a pan and see what happened. I think you can guess what happened… whole pan GONE.

Now I think in honor of Megan and Ben tying the knot, I find it only necessary that everyone should whip up a batch of these babies and grab a couple forks and maybe some glasses of icy cold milk to celebrate!

Thanks Megan for letting me stop by your blog today! I hope you have a wonderful wedding and even MORE wonderful honeymoon!

Laurie

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Chocolate Chip Bars with a Salty Pretzel Crust

Yield: 15

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 Minutes

Total Time: 35-40 Minutes

Ingredients:

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
1-1/2 teaspoons Real Vanilla Extract
2-1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 bag Milk Chocolate Chips {like Ghirardelli}
FOR THE PRETZEL CRUST
3-1/2 cups Pretzel Sticks
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13x2 baking pan with parchment paper {for easy removal}.

Beat butter and sugars at medium speed until creamy. Add eggs and the vanilla, beating until just blended.

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. Scrape down the sides and add in the chocolate chips, Mix one last time for a second then set aside.

Place pretzels in a large baggie or food-processor. Once the pretzels are crushed, combine them with the melted butter and stir. Spread pretzel mixture over the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for 8 minutes.

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. 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.
When bars have cooled, remove {by using the parchment paper} and cut into 15 bars. Enjoy!

*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

Posted by Megan on August 20, 2012

14 Comments »

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14 Responses to “Chocolate Chip Bars with a Salty Pretzel Crust – from Simply Scratch”

1

Averie @ Averie Cooks — August 22, 2012 @ 10:17 am

This is crazy but my post tomorrow is salty ‘ n sweet pretzel bars and boy, love the combo and can’t get enough of the salty ‘n sweet lately and these look awesome!
2

Tara @ Chip Chip Hooray — August 22, 2012 @ 11:14 am

Heck YES. I love the salty ‘n’ sweet combo, especially when it involves chocolate chip cookies!
3

Mal @ The Chic Geek — August 22, 2012 @ 11:19 am

Yum! I love pretzels with chocolate, these sound so amazingly good!
4

Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie — August 22, 2012 @ 11:53 am

Why do pretzel crusts make everything better?
5

Angela @ AnotherBitePlease — August 22, 2012 @ 12:45 pm

Thank goodness I still have some pretzels left from another pretzel and chocolate chip recipe I made…can not get enough of the sweet & salty.
6

sally @ sallys baking addiction — August 23, 2012 @ 3:20 am

i love love love salty and sweet! leave it to you Laurie to post something that is probably one of my most favorite combos – choc chip cookies and PRETZELS!

Hope you are enjoying your HM Megan!
7

Laurie {Simply Scratch} — August 23, 2012 @ 6:45 am

THANK YOU Megan for letting me share one of my MOST FAVORITE dessert recipes while you’re away on your honeymoon!! Xo
8

Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies — August 23, 2012 @ 6:47 am

Kryptonite, indeed! These look AH-mazing!! I love that salty-sweet combination.
9

Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) — August 23, 2012 @ 8:28 am

How freakin delicious! Great recipe, too. I have most all of it on hand, just missing those chocolate chips — darn!
10

Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts — August 23, 2012 @ 12:27 pm

Sweet and Salty combo is my husbands favorite, this is one dessert he would eat the whole pan of!
11

Julia {The Roasted Root} — August 23, 2012 @ 12:31 pm

Another tasty looking treat from Laurie – gotta love her! I’m wondering if the pretzels stay crunchy? I’d bake and love these bad boys either way and love the idea of a nice salty crunch on the bottom. Great guest post!
12

Shut Up & Cook — August 23, 2012 @ 8:29 pm

Oh.
Hell.
Yeah.

Can I say that again?!
13

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14

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