Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bars

Original recipe is at the bottom… wasn’t really a Pinterest fail, but lessons learned are below. 🙂

I used a large cookie sheet that is about 16″ x 17″ to make these. For the tin foil, I’d suggest using the size that is much wider than 12 inches.

If I made these again, I would use 2 bags of chocolate chips – not just one bag (2 cups = 1 bag FYI).

Ingredients:

1 bag of mini twisted pretzels (you won’t use the entire bag – maybe half)
1 cup of packed light brown sugar
2 sticks of butter – I used 1 stick of salted and 1 stick of unsalted (2 sticks = 1 cup of butter, which is what the recipe calls for
2 bags chocolate chips
(optional) Caramel Vodka

Directions:

In a small pot, add butter and brown sugar on a medium-high heat. Keep an eye on this so it does not boil over. Once it does start to boil, stir for 2-3 minutes. *Side note – if you do add the vodka, be prepared for the caramel to bubble up quite a bit. Do not do this while it. is still on the stove on the medium-high heat!
SLOWLY pour the caramel over the pretzels. I did not do this and the pretzels went everywhere… and I had quite a few gaps. The original recipe says that the caramel will spread out, but I was skeptic.

By this time, the oven should be preheated. Put in oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the caramel is bubbling on the entire sheet.

Take pan out of the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the caramel. This is where I wish I’d have had 2 bags of chocolate chips – not just one.

Put pan back in oven for another 2-3 minutes to soften the chocolate chips.
Once they are softened, take pan back out of the oven and use a spatula to spread the chocolate over the pretzels and caramel… as you can see, this is where I am thinking 2 bags were needed of chocolate chips – not just one.

Either use a knife or break apart. I put some of these in a tin, and others in little gift bags. I don’t think it is necessary to put them back in the freezer, as all they will do is stick together – whoops!