If you are on Pinterest, I’m sure you have seen this recipe floating around. The second I saw it, I knew it would have to be featured here for the Christmas Tray series!
What is more perfect than pretzels, chocolate and salted caramel for Christmas? Nothing. That’s what.
Down with peppermint. Long live salted caramel.
I know this is the second salted caramel recipe I have shared for Christmas this year but it’s a huge favorite in our family (as well as pretzels) so I knew it would be a big hit.
My parents watched Noah recently so I whipped this up for them as a thank you. I sampled it before giving it all to them. I had to be able to tell you all what it tasted like. Oh, the sacrifices I make for you guys.
This is another simple and quick recipe to whip up at Christmastime. It seriously only took about 15 minutes from start to finish (not counting the freezing time).
Throw a big handful in a cute cellophane bag, tie it up with a ribbon and hand out the happiness.Â
- ½ bag of mini pretzel twists
- 2 sticks of butter
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 bag of chocolate chips
- Sea salt or table salt (I used coarse sea salt)
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then line a large jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and lay a single layer of pretzels down.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and the brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil gently just until it starts to stick to the bottom and it forms a nice smooth caramel. You’ll want to let it bubble a little and get really thick. Remove from heat and pour evenly over the top of the pretzels (don’t worry if every single pretzel isn’t covered).
- Place in the oven at 350 degrees for five minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. You can let the caramel melt the chips, but I prefer to put it back in the oven for one minute. Spread the chocolate chips around with a spatula until mostly melted. Sprinkle generously with salt.
- Let cool on the counter top for a few minutes and then pop in the freezer for at least two to three hours. When it comes out of the freezer, break it up into uneven chunks with your hands and serve.
November 25, 2012 at 7:53 am
So what did it taste like?? You didn’t tell us and I am dying to know if it was good!
November 25, 2012 at 8:24 am
The caramel was chewy with a deep, rich flavor. The pretzels added some salt and a nice crunchy texture while the chocolate added the sweet factor. I sprinkled mine generously with the sea salt because I really love the sweet and salty combo and I felt like the pretzels alone weren’t salty enough. I took a bunch home to my family and they loved it (especially my caramel obsessed dad).
December 1, 2012 at 9:37 am
when these are at room temperature, are they crunchy or chewy? more like a hard toffee texture or chewy caramel? they look fantastic!
December 1, 2012 at 4:38 pm
The caramel was a bit hard but still had some chewyness to it. When it was refrigerated it was pretty hard like a toffee texture. I preferred it at room temp.
December 9, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Is there a temperature the caramel mixture should reach?
December 9, 2012 at 7:33 pm
I didn’t do it by tempurature but let it gently boil for about 3-5 minutes. But, the caramel stage is between 320-350 degrees so you could use a candy thermometer until it gets to that range.
December 31, 2012 at 7:02 am
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May 9, 2013 at 8:39 am
In case you’re anxious to get a taste and don’t want to wait the 3 hours, I don’t think you need to chill it for that long. We tested it after 20 minutes in the freezer, and it was plenty firm. To be safe I put it back in the freezer overnight, and there really wasn’t a difference between the texture in the morning vs. after 20 min!
May 9, 2013 at 11:19 am
This is dangerous information! Now it can be inhaled even quicker! Thanks for letting us know!
December 9, 2014 at 3:57 pm
Help! We made this and LOVE it, but… had to throw more than half away because it stuck to the foil so much. Even after freezing, we just couldn’t get the foil off. I want to try again, do you think parchment paper or wax paper may help? Anyone else have this problem?
December 9, 2014 at 4:59 pm
Bummer! I haven’t had a problem with it but I can see how it could happen with all the sticky caramel goodness! I would either try spraying the foil lightly with nonstick spray or try parchment (which you could also spray to be extra safe). Wax paper will smoke if you put it in the oven so I don’t recommend trying that. I’m glad you liked it so much and let me know how the next attempt goes! Happy Holidays!
December 16, 2014 at 6:31 pm
I used parchment paper without spraying and it worked great.
August 1, 2017 at 4:00 pm
We make this fairly often, and then have to give out the recipe. We warn people that it is dangerously easy to make! 🙂
August 3, 2017 at 2:10 pm
So glad you all love this so much! And thanks for reminding me of this one, I haven’t made it in forever.