Friday Find - Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

I stumbled across the recipe for Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  WOW!  It has been my indulgence over the holiday.  I've made it five times and given some as gifts, packaged in holiday tins.  It is easy to make and really worth a try.

My own photo; clearly I am not a food stylist.

 

 

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

I cup brown sugar

Half of a large bag of small pretzel twists

12 oz bag chocolate chips

Sea salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a jelly roll pan (or other pan with a small lip) with foil.  (The pan needs to fit in your freezer.  If you have a narrow freezer, use two smaller pans.)  Spread pretzels in a single layer on the foil. 

Melt butter and sugar together in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.  Let mixture come to a boil and bubble for about one minute.  The butter and sugar will mix together and become a uniform color.  Pour over pretzels, then place pan in oven to bake for five minutes.  Remove from oven, turn oven off and sprinkle chocolate chips over top of caramel/pretzel layer.  Return pan to warm oven for about a minute to soften chips.  Remove from oven and use spatula to spread chocolate more evenly.  Sprinkle chocolate lightly with sea salt.  This is optional; don’t use too much or it will taste too salty because of the salt already on the pretzels.

Let pan cool on counter than place in freezer for at least three hours to harden.  Once it is hard, remove from foil and break into pieces with your hands.  This is best kept in the refrigerator or the caramel becomes too soft.

It has all the major food groups:  butter, sugar, salt, and chocolate, and the combination is truly yummy!