Salted Pecan Bars With Pretzel Crust Recipes

PRETZEL CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, mix together margarine, sugar and pretzels. Press the mixture into a 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake in oven for 10 minutes; fill with desired pie filling.

PEANUT BUTTER PRETZEL BARS

Steps:

• Line a 13x9-in. baking pan with foil, letting ends extend up sides. Set aside 1-1/2 cups pretzels for topping. Pulse remaining pretzels in a food processor until fine crumbs form. In a large bowl, mix butter, peanut butter, confectioners' sugar and pretzel crumbs., Press into prepared pan. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Spread over peanut butter layer. Break reserved pretzels and sprinkle over top; press down gently. Refrigerate, covered, until set, about 1 hour. Lifting with foil, remove from pan. Cut into 48 bars.

MARY'S SALTED CARAMEL-PECAN BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 10x15-inch jelly roll pan with aluminum foil; spray with cooking spray.
• Arrange pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven, stirring halfway through, until pecans are toasted and fragrant, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Arrange graham crackers in a single layer on the prepared jelly roll pan.
• Combine brown sugar, butter, and cream in a heavy saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes.. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Fold in pecans. Pour pecan mixture over graham crackers, spreading to coat.
• Bake in the preheated oven until topping is bubbling, 10 to 11 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with salt. Transfer coated crackers and aluminum foil to a wire rack to cool, about 30 minutes. Break into bars.

SALTED PECAN BARS WITH PRETZEL CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375. Line bottom and sides of a 8 inch square pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2-3 inches to extend over sides. Coat foil with cooking spray.
• Stir together crushed pretzels, melted butter, sugar and egg white. Press mixture on bottom of pan. Bake for 11 minutes.
• While crust is baking, combine milk and caramels in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.
• Remove crust from oven. Pour caramel mixture over hot crust. Sprinkle with pecans and salt. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 m inutes. Chill at least 30 minutes.
• Left mixture from pan, using foil sides as handles. Cut into 20 bars. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week. Serves 20.

SALTED PRETZEL-MARSHMALLOW BARS

Steps:

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch-square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Lightly spray the foil with cooking spray.
• Pulse 1 cup pretzel pieces in a food processor until finely ground (you should have about 1/2 cup crumbs). Transfer to a bowl. Whisk in the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the brown sugar. Let cool slightly, then stir in the eggs and vanilla. Stir the pretzel crumb mixture into the butter mixture in two additions.
• Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup pretzel pieces on top. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with a few crumbs, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a rack, then lift the foil to remove the bars from the pan and transfer to a baking sheet.
• Preheat the broiler. Press the marshmallow halves, cut-side down, in even rows on top of the bars. Broil, rotating the baking sheet as needed, until the marshmallows are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes; let cool.
• Put the peanut butter chips and 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring, until melted and smooth. Repeat with the chocolate chips and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil in another bowl. Drizzle the melted peanut butter and chocolate mixtures over the bars. Let harden at room temperature or chill to set before cutting.

PRETZEL-PECAN PIE

Steps:

• For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray.
• In the bowl of a food processor, grind the pretzels to a fine powder. Add the flour, sugar and salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the dough starts to come together and clump, about 30 seconds. Dump the contents of the bowl into the pie plate and press it evenly along the sides and bottom.
• Bake until the crust starts to turn golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• For the filling: Meanwhile, mix together the corn syrup, sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl.
• Arrange the pecans in a concentric pattern in the warm crust. Place the pretzels in a ring on top of the pecan pieces. Gently pour the filling over the pecans and pretzels. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet and bake until the filling is completely set, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

SALTED PRETZEL BROWNIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter an 8-inch square metal baking pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving about 2 inches of excess on each side to help you lift the cooked brownies out of the pan.
• Make the crust: In a food processor, combine butter, graham cracker crumbs, crushed pretzels and egg white. Process until mixture is well blended. Transfer to prepared pan and press crumb mixture into an even layer on the bottom. Bake until deeply browned at the edges, about 14 to 17 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool.
• Make the brownies: Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees. Put butter and chocolate into a medium pot and place it over low heat. Melt the mixture, taking care not to let the chocolate burn and stirring constantly with a rubber spatula until smooth. Scrape chocolate mixture into a large bowl and mix in the sugar. Let mixture cool until it's just warm to the touch, about 5 minutes.
• Whisk eggs into cooled chocolate mixture. Whisk in flour, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt. Mix in chocolate chips, if using.
• Scrape batter into an even layer on top of the crust. Top with pretzels and bake until the top is set and firm to touch, especially in the center, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into 16 squares.