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Last Christmas I made something similar to this bark except I used Saltine crackers instead of pretzels. I thought it was the most delicious snack ever–it tasted like toffee. When Kara suggested we try this recipe I was excited because I already knew I’d love it.
Whether it’s saltines or pretzels, this bark is delicious. Like the Saltines, the pretzels give it a salty base, the caramel layer is sweet and crunchy, and the chocolate…well chocolate’s chocolate. ‘Nuff said.
I don’t know if this is considered toffee. I’ve never made actual toffee before. Does hardened caramel = toffee? I don’t know. But toffee makes an excellent gift to pass out around Christmas time. And so does this bark! Just break it into small pieces and put it in a decorative bag or a Christmas tin. Or go to The Container Store and get those cute chinese take out boxes in red or green. Those are too cute! I know it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet…but I don’t care, I’m talking Christmas.
I mentioned earlier that Kara and I were starting Christmas recipes early (cookies, cookies, cookies & cookies), I was totally serious. This is the best time of year for sweets lovers and we’re taking full advantage. 
Here's what you'll need
Arrange pretzels in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet
Once the butter has melted add the brown sugar
Make sure it's incorporated then allow it to simmer and slightly bubble until caramelized
Quickly and evenly pour the caramel sauce over the pretzels, strafing back and forth
Bake for 5-7 minutes
Melt the chocolate then pour over the caramel layer
Spread the chocolate layer evenly. We could not find our offset spatula so we improvised with a spoon
Sprinkle evenly with sea salt. Fleur de sel would also be good.
Once it's hardened you can break it into pieces
I think it tastes like toffee--it's really good!
Yield: 1 sheet of bark
Ingredients
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 pound bag of mini pretzels (you probably won’t use the whole bag)
12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
sea salt, for sprinkling on top
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cover an 11×17 baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set aside.
Melt 2 sticks of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. While the butter is melting, place enough pretzels on the prepared baking sheet to form a single, even layer.
Once the butter has melted, add the brown sugar and stir well to incorporate. Allow the brown sugar and butter to simmer and bubble, but do not let it boil. You may need to adjust the temperature to low. Stir the butter-sugar mixture occasionally. It should take about 3 minutes for the butter and sugar to caramelize, but keep a close eye on it because it will burn quickly.
When the sugar and butter have caramelized, pour the mixture evenly over the pretzels, strafing it back and forth down the length of the sheet. The caramel hardens quickly so it’s important to pour it as evenly and quickly as possible. If there are any clumps, use an offset spatula to spread the caramel as best you can. Bake for 5-7 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
Use a microwave safe bowl to make the chocolate layer. Microwave chocolate chips in intervals of 30 seconds, stirring after each interval, until smooth. The chocolate should melt in only a couple of minutes.
By this time the pretzel-caramel mixture should be out of the oven. Pour the chocolate over the pretzel-caramel mixture, strafing it down the length of the baking sheet just as you did for with the caramel layer. Again, move evenly and quickly. Use an offset spatula to smooth out any clumps or thick spots. Sprinkle sea salt evenly over chocolate before it starts to harden. Allow the baking sheet to harden in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
When the bark has cooled and hardened, remove from the fridge and carefully pull the aluminum foil off the back. Break the bark into pieces and serve. Best stored in the refrigerator.
**Edited on 12/17/11: Some readers have mentioned the caramel being too soft to spread the chocolate over top. If you’re experiencing the same problem you can put the caramel pretzel layer in the freezer to help the hardening process.
Source: adapted from Legume Loyalist
This looks so delicious!! Love bark for the holidays.
Me too!
Try substituting Chex cereal for the pretzels for a gluten-free option!
I make the bark with Saltines and I have wondered in the past how it would work with pretzels! Glad to see it works. I bet it’s even better with the pretzels
I made this for Christmas 2 years ago…and I forgot how amazing it is! Thanks for the reminder, I definitely will be making it again soon!
This is a wonderful idea!! A while ago I had a large bag of salted pretzel and I wish I have seen this post that time. This is the best chocolate bark I`ve seen so far
) Thank you for sharing!
Cool idea. Pinned! http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756329716145/
Thanks so much for posting the picture by picture recipe! I love those. It makes it so easy to follow! Can’t wait to try this one out! yummmmmy!
I wish you would have specified the size of the baking sheet. I used a 10×15, and it was too big. The caramel and chocolate didn’t cover all the pretzels.
I agree with the post that there needed to be a baking sheet size because mine was too big and I ended up having to make another round of caramel. Also, I’ve never cooked candy before so I was following the directions very closely and it definitely takes more than 3 min for it to carmelize.
I made these last night while family was over. They are all begging me to make more today! Simple and very addictive! So thankful to have found this since I’m just starting to get into cooking and am not too confident in the kitchen. Thank you so much!
Glad your family all enjoyed!
I made these and they are yummy!!!! No problem making them and the directions were perfect. I used a 70% dark cooking chocolate and it was great!!
Glad they turned out good. Thanks for the comment
I had some trouble with the pretzels moving around when trying to get the chocolate spread on top…any suggestions?
Once the caramel is baked with the pretzels it should have been pretty solidified. Did they come loose from the caramel?
From the instructions, I didn’t allow the pretzels/caramel to cool much, so they did come loose. Should the pretzels cool a bit before you spread the chocolate layer?
We didn’t cool ours either but the caramel should have been hard by then. How long did you have it on the stove top?
I had the same problem with the movement on the pretzels. Did I not bake it long enough?
Well, these look super yummy, but I don’t know how they taste because when I tried making them today I burnt the caramel.
The butter just wouldn’t incorporate, and so I ended up cooking it much longer than 3 minutes. Do you have any ideas about what might’ve gone wrong?
Do you have a heavy bottomed sauce pan? That helps to keep the caramel from burning. Caramel can be very tricky!
Or as it’s been dubbed in my family- “Christmas Crack”. I’ve made it twice this month and had to FORCE myself to package it into gifts for people so I wouldn’t sit and eat the entire thing myself. I even gave some to my personal trainer as a christmas gift and he ate the entire box while I was on the elliptical. I was calling it “Chocolate Toffee Pretzel Bark”, which was shortened to CTP Bark, which we established sounded like a drug. Thus, “Christmas Crack” was born.
I wound up using mini pretzel squares as opposed to twists. It allowed me to pack them in flat on my 9×11 baking sheet, and helped control the movement once the hot toffee mixture was added. They did move around a little bit when I pulled it out of the oven, but I was able to use a wooden spoon to flatten them out again before the mixture hardened. I will say that the first batch I made wasn’t as good as the one I made this afternoon, though that was my fault entirely. The one cup of brown sugar just didn’t LOOK like enough when added to the two sticks of melted butter. I wound up adding another half cup of brown sugar, which changed the texture of the toffee. It still solidified, and it was still delicious, though I did it correctly today and the toffee was perfect. I happened to have half a bag of heath toffee pieces left from the Snickerdoodle cupcakes I made for Christmas, so I added them to the top of the pretzel/toffee mixture before popping it into the oven. I have to say- TOTALLY added to the fantastic toffee flavor <3
Your blog has been the source of COUNTLESS successful recipes for me this year. I tell EVERYONE that they need to come here daily. You guys are wonderful! Thank you so much & have a terrific New Year!