Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bark

I was watching The Chew the other day and Carla Hall, one of my favorite chefs, made Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bark (here is Carla’s original recipe). Now I do not have a very big sweet tooth but others in my family do. And, once you add peanut butter and peanuts to the mix they go crazy. So I decided to try and make this recipe.

The Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bark is not hard to make but it does take a little time. This would be perfect for a holiday gift to give others as well. Who doesn’t like salty and sweet?

PEANUT ALLERGY ALTERNATIVE

If you have someone in your home or that you might gift this to who has a peanut allergy you can totally adapt this recipe to make it without peanuts. Instead of using peanut butter in the recipe use something like almond butter or cashew butter. The same goes with the crushed peanuts, you can easily substitute the peanuts out for almonds, cashews, or any other nut you like.

Make Your Own Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bark

Use a double boiler to melt your dark chocolate. You do not have to have a store bought double boiler, you can easily make your own. Just use a deep pot and put a couple of inches of water in the bottom and bring to a simmer. Then take another heat safe bowl, glass bowls will work) that will sit into the pot of water without touching the water. Add your chocolate to the top bowl and stir regularly until the chocolate is melted.

Once the chocolate is melted pour onto the parchment paper lined rimmed baking sheet and spread out. If you have an offset spatula use that to spread it out. If you do not have one try a butter knife which is essentially the same thing as an offset spatula. If you don’t have that either, just use the back of a spoon to spread the chocolate out evenly. Put in the fridge to cool as you proceed to the next steps.

In a different top bowl add the white chocolate and peanut butter and melt together until smooth. You can add more white chocolate of more peanut butter in this step as it suits your tastes.

Okay, so I should have cooled the first layer of chocolate a little longer but I’m impatient. Drizzle the melted white chocolate and peanut butter mix on top of the first layer of chocolate and spread out over the top. Put this back in the fridge to cool as you continue with the other steps.

Melt the remainder of the dark chocolate in the same bowl as the first. Now drizzle that over the peanut butter layer and smooth out.

Put your pretzels in a zip lock bag and gently hit with meat tenderizer or rolling pin to break into pieces. Do the same in another bag with the peanuts.

While this chocolate layer is still warm sprinkle the roughly chopped pretzels over the top. I prefer Rold Gold brand pretzels for this. There are other brands but many of them are much more buttery tasting and I don’t think they match up as well.

After you sprinkle on the pretzels then add the chopped peanuts over the top.

Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of smooth peanut butter in the microwave. Use a spoon and drizzle over the top of everything. This will not completely cover everything, it is just a drizzle.

Now sprinkle a bit of salt over the top of everything. You can use flaked salt or fleur de sel, a finishing salt. This may seem like a small step but it adds a ton of flavor!

Allow the bark to completely cool and get firm. It should easily pull up as a whole piece once it is done. Then break and/or cut into pieces and shards. Pack into gift containers or just eat. Store in a sealed or covered container.

Is this something you would enjoy eating? What changes would you make? Would you make something like this as a gift for someone?

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bark

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup mini pretzel twists, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup shelled peanuts, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon flaked salt
• 6 cups bittersweet chocolate chips, divided in half (Look for the dark chocolate chips. Regular size bags are about 2 cups, so you will need 3 bags)
• 1 cup peanut butter, smooth, divided
• 1/2 cup white chocolate

Directions

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a double boiler melt 1/2 of the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spread out evenly with on offset spatula. Put in fridge to cool. Is the double boiler, with a different top bowl, add the white chocolate and 3/4 cup of the peanut butter. Melt until smooth and combined. Drizzle over the cooled first layer of dark chocolate and spread. Place sheet pan back in the refrigerator. Now add the remaining dark chocolate into the same bowl you used for the first layer and melt again. Pour over the cooled layers on the baking sheet and smooth out again. Sprinkle the warm third layer with the roughly chopped pretzels and then the chopped peanuts. Microwave the remaining 1/4 cup of peanut butter for about 30 seconds or until smooth. Use a spoon and drizzle the peanut butter over the top of the bark. While still warm, sprinkle the flake salt over the top. Cool thoroughly.  The bark should pull off the parchment paper easily once cooled. Break into pieces. Store in covered container in cool place.

Powered by GetMeCooking