Chocolate Chip Caramel Pretzel Blondies

16 bars
50 min

You will never need another blondie recipe. Ever.

Somehow this recipe had been sitting in my recipe collection and for some dumb reason, I had not made them.


Waaaaaiiiit. Whaaaaaattttt……whyyyyyy had I not made these.  Why.  Beyond me.  I am an idiot.  Because…because these will change the trajectory of your life.  


You have not lived until you have eaten these.


And you will not ever need any other blondie recipe ever.

So these are very easy to make.  And I heartily guarantee you, worth every last little bit of effort.  But truly, the only real effort exerted is in making the small amount of caramel.  Beyond that, you don’t need a mixer or any fancy pants tools for this. Mostly just a bowl, a spatula, and an 8x8 pan.


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Now, normally I destroy sugar and everything in its path any time I attempt caramel on the stove.  Like literally every single time.  Which is why our Microwave Caramel Sauce (come visit the blog!) is a lifesaver.


But, magically, somehow, I’m able to make the caramel for this.  So if I can do it, Destroyer of All Things Caramel Process, you can do this.


For more details, be sure to swing by the post here!

And in the end, you'll have these outstanding, unbelievable, so-good-they-should-be-illegal, ridiculously fantastic, gooey sticky chewy delicious Blondies.


Be sure to swing on by the blog The Bake Dept for more on this recipe and for all sorts of other tasty goodies!

Chocolate Chip Caramel Pretzel Blondies
Recipe details
  • 16  bars
  • Prep time: 20 Minutes Cook time: 30 Minutes Total time: 50 min
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Ingredients
Caramel:
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • pinch or two sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream, warmed slightly
Blondies:
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 cup; 1 stick)
  • 3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
  • 1/2 cup salted pretzels slightly broken
Instructions
Caramel:
Place a piece of parchment paper on a small tray that is both heat and freezer safe. Spray the paper lightly with cooking spray.
Sprinkle the granulated sugar evenly across the bottom of a saucepan and place the pan over medium heat on the stove. Let it sit untouched. Once the sugar starts to melt, the pan can be swirled a bit to melt any remaining sugar. This will take 4-8 minutes depending on pan size and type.
Once all the sugar has melted, it will be a dark copper color and might smoke (this is fine). Remove the pan from the stove.
Add the butter and whisk in. If it seizes up, that’s ok. Pour in the cream plus a pinch or two of the salt and stir.
Place the saucepan back on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Let this bubble for 3 minutes.
Remove the pan and pour the caramel onto the parchment paper lined tray. Place the tray in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes, until the caramel has completely set up.
Blondies:
Preheat the oven to 350° F (176° C) and spray an 8x8 baking pan with baking spray, butter it liberally, or line the pan with parchment.
Remove the now-set caramel from the freezer and break it up into smaller pieces.
In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the 1 stick of butter to 2/3 of the way melted, about 30-45 seconds on high. Remove the bowl then stir the butter with a spatula to melt it completely.
Add in the brown sugar and whisk.
Add in the egg, vanilla, and salt then whisk to combine.
Pour in the flour and with a spatula, gently stir it in until just barely combined.
Add the chocolate chips or chunks, the broken pretzel pieces, and about 3/4 of the broken caramel pieces then gently fold everything together.
Scoop the batter into the baking pan and spread it out level. Sprinkle the remaining caramel pieces atop and place the pan in the oven.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges are nicely browned and the remainder looks set and slightly dry.
Remove the pan from the oven, set atop a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Using a knife, loosen the edges away from the pan and remove the whole thing to a rack to cool completely.
Slice and serve.
Becky at The Bake Dept
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