Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Brownies

It’s no secret that the combination of chocolate and peanut butter could rule the world. I’m actually 100% convinced that a scoop of peanut butter studded with chocolate chips can solve any and all of life’s problems… but whatever. But what about the combination of peanut butter, chocolate, AND salty pretzels? This, my friends, takes things to a whole other unworldly level. Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites are what heaven is made of. Today I bring you yet another version of heaven. A chocolate-in-your-face, peanut-butter-stuck-in-your-teeth, salty-sweet-pretzely-fudge-brownie-insanity-of-sorts. Let’s take apart these bad boys layer-by-layer for a sec. I made the brownie layer from scratch. If I’m feeling lazy and short on time, my favorite boxed brownie mix is Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate boxed brownie mix. The chocolate flavor doesn’t necessary taste like “dark chocolate,” it is just very rich and fudgy. I find that these boxed brownies really do taste homemade, too! A brownies’ main ingredients are chocolate, flour, sugar, and eggs. They may be made with cocoa powder or solid chocolate. If using cocoa powder, you typically will need more fat in the batter because cocoa powder does not contain the cocoa butter that solid chocolate does. I’ve made brownies both ways and I truly don’t have a preference over cocoa powder or solid chocolate. It’s chocolate mixed with butter… and it’s good. My brownie recipe uses solid chocolate. Brownies may be cake-like, fudgy, chewy, moist, frosted, or plain. I prefer my brownies so chewy and so fudgy that they taste like a dense chocolate frosting you can eat with a fork. If I wanted a cake-like brownie, I would eat a piece of chocolate cake. The fudginess in my brownie recipe relates to the small amount of flour. More flour = a more cake-like brownie. The peanut butter frosting I used is thick. It’s made with only 3 ingredients: peanut butter, salted butter, and confectioners’/powdered sugar. There are no liquids to thin it out. Just a simple, thick frosting exploding with nothing but peanut butter flavor. A perfect accompaniment to my dense fudge-like brownies. Chocolate covered pretzels finish the brownies off with a nice salty/sweet crunch. You can make your own using small pretzel twists or you can buy them. I made the chocolate pretzels myself by melting 2 oz of a semi-sweet Bakers melting chocolate bar (which is the same chocolate I used in the brownies) in a medium bowl and throwing about 25 pretzel twists in. I stirred the pretzels around until they were mostly coated and let them chill while I made the brownies. The pretzels don’t have to be perfectly covered in chocolate because they will be crushed up for the topping. These brownies are the ultimate chocolate/peanut butter/pretzel dessert indulgence. Put your healthy eating to the side and spoil yourself! I kept the brownies in the fridge to avoid the chocolate pretzels melting in the 100 degree weather. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it’s the perfect way to cool down and beat this summer heat. A small piece is perfectly enough to satisfy even a monstrous peanut butter/chocolate craving.

1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) salted butter 8 ounces (226g) coarsely chopped semi-sweet chocolate (I used 1 8oz Baker’s melting chocolate bar) 1 and 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar 3 large eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 3/4 cup (94g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled) 1/4 teaspoon salt