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Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars with a Salty Pretzel Crust

4.62 Mitt(s) 8 Rating(s)8 votes, average: 4.62 out of 58 votes, average: 4.62 out of 58 votes, average: 4.62 out of 58 votes, average: 4.62 out of 58 votes, average: 4.62 out of 5

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Level: Easy

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Description

Chocolate chip cookies meets salty pretzels. My favorite cookie bar recipe to date!

Ingredients

  • FOR THE COOKIE DOUGH:
  • ¾ cups Unsalted Butter, At Room Temperature
  • ¾ cups Granulated Sugar
  • ¾ cups Dark Brown Sugar
  • 2 whole Large Eggs
  • 1-½ teaspoon Real Vanilla Extract
  • 2-¼ cups All-purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • ¾ teaspoons Kosher Salt
  • 1 bag (11 Oz. Size) Milk Chocolate Chips (I Like Ghirardelli)
  • FOR THE CRUST:
  • 3-½ cups Pretzel Sticks, Crushed Into Tiny Pieces
  • ¾ cups Unsalted Butter, melted

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 350ºF. 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.

For the crust, combine the crushed pretzel pieces with the melted butter, stir to combine. 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 halfway through the cooking time. Remove when the bars are golden and a tester comes out clean.

When bars have cooled, remove (using the parchment paper) and cut into 15 bars. Enjoy!

5 Comments

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Amy Bleser on 12.18.2011

I made these today for my cookie exchange and they were amazing. It helped to go to Laurie’s site to see the step-by-step directions. Everyone raved and I shared the recipe with many. Thanks for sharing!

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catyo on 11.23.2011

It would be helpful to know the measurement of the crumbs, even if approximately, because pretzels come in so many shapes. 3.5C of pretzels twists or rounds or squares aren’t going to be the same as sticks.
Is the crushed pretzel crust meant to cover the bottom of the pan completely, or with lots of gaps?
Are the “tiny pieces” supposed to look like sand or potting soil or quarter-inch identifiably pretzel-like pieces? I had seven ounces of pretzel bits left over after I cut up the bars; that can’t be right. I used pretzel circles, and the 3.5C of them crushed down into . . . not enough to cover the bottom of the pan. So I crushed up two more handsful and stirred them in, but didn’t add any more butter. My mistakes, clearly! Tasty, nonetheless.
More butter, more squishing of batter next time. Our Thanksgiving hosts will be delighted with the results, no matter the crumbliness of the pretzels!

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Laurie - Simply Scratch on 11.20.2011

I’ve noticed that several people who’ve made this had a lot of pretzel crumb leftover. This will happen but 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 picture above I have a few pretzel crumb stragglers, it’s just the way this cookie. bar. crumbles?! :) Also it is 3 1/2 cups pretzel sticks… not pretzel crumbs. Hope this helps!

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Marilou on 11.20.2011

I just made these and I also had a hard time with the crust sticking together. We had to eat them out of a bowl. I gotta say that I was disappointed in the flavor too. The sweetness just didn’t come thru with the saltyness like I had anticipated.

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Amber Martin on 11.1.2011

Those look great! Thanks for sharing!

8 Reviews

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dixiequeen on 2.20.2012

These were really good…but noticed the texture changed after a couple days and also the pretzel crust can get a little messy while eating, it tends to fall apart.

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rachelhockey on 2.10.2012

So very good! I also had issues with the pretzels, but it can be attributed to the Trader Joe’s pretzel sticks I used, which are very thick and did not crush up well. Nonetheless, the cookies were so tasty and I will make this again!

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Feisty Eats on 1.22.2012

Delicious! I had no problems with the crust. I did cut it into more than 15 pieces but I’m not sure they will last long. Thanks for sharing!

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pattyhans on 12.7.2011

These were amazing! Made them last night and they’re already half gone! I forgot to bake the pretzel crust before adding the topping, but it doesn’t seem to matter to the taste. I sprayed Pam on my hands before spreading out the topping a bit and had no trouble at all. Will definitely make again!

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nbertucci on 12.5.2011

This was great to make for a family treat – we all really liked them.

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