Chocolate Chip Bars with a Salty Pretzel Crust

These chocolate chip cookie bars have a salty pretzel crust! If you're a fan of the whole salty sweet thing, then these are your jam!

Course Desserts & Sweet Treats

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate chip, cookie bars, pretzels

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Servings bars

Calories 348

Author Laurie McNamara

Ingredients

FOR THE COOKIE BAR DOUGH

3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1½ teaspoons real vanilla extract
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 bag milk chocolate chips

FOR THE PRETZEL CRUST:

3½ cups pretzel sticks
3/4 cup unsalted butter melted

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°. Line a 9x13x2 baking pan with parchment paper..
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.
Place pretzels in a large baggie or food-processor. Once the pretzels are crushed, combine them with the melted butter and stir. 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 half-way through the cookie time. Remove when the bars are golden and a tester comes out clean.
When bars have cooled, remove {by using the parchment paper} and cut into 15 bars. Enjoy!

Notes

Several people who've made this notice a lot of pretzel crumb leftover, I HIGHLY recommend using enough butter. If it looks too dry, just add a little more!

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 pictures above I have a few pretzel crumb stragglers, it's just the way this cookie. bar. crumbles?! :)

Nutrition