whew…..the name of this sweet treat is certainly a mouthful, and let me tell you it’s quite a delicious mouthful! I was sitting home the other night and just had this craving for something sweet, and remembered seeing a recipe for a pretzel blondie in a copy of Southern Living (another great magazine, but being a southern boy, what would you expect me to say). Those blondies aka cookie bars were just screaming to me, bites of crisp pretzels baked into that lovely cookie base, with pieces of semi sweet chocolate and those lovely peanut butter chips…..sigh
Thankfully I don’t get into these moods often, but this one was raging, I opened up my pantry and pulled out ever bag of chips and nuts that were in their……luckily I stopped myself just in time, with the perfect combination of flavors. Now they were just a tad bit sweet and just a little bit rich, so they were to be eaten in moderation, or consumed with a glass of milk, or a hearty cup of espresso…sigh…..they were a beautiful thing…….perhaps almost legendary.
You can see from the picture that I left them a little on the gooey side, I would like to tell you I did this on purpose, but alas in my excited state, my mouth deemed that they were ready as my brain said “no you fool they need another 10 minutes”!!! Of course as unfortunate as it may be (just ask Lisa) my mouth usually wins over my brain.
But mistake or (perhaps) not, those ooey gooey blondies were decadent and worth every calorie! If you do make them, feel free to cut back on the chips or even (gasp) eliminate the peanut butter chips, they will be every bit as good without them.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240 g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda 5 g
- teaspoon ½ salt 2.5 g
- 6 oz unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, 180 g, softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar 180 g
- cup ½ granulated sugar 100 g
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 15ml
- 6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips 110 g
- 6 oz peanut butter chips 110 g
- 1 cups ½ pretzels broken into small pieces 210 g
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Prepare a 9×13 pan by lining it with either foil or parchment paper, leaving an overhang on each side so you can lift out the blondies
- In a bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt.
- In your mixer, beat the butter and sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes)
- Beat in the eggs one at a time then add the vanilla extract.
- On low speed, beat in the dry ingredients just until incorporated, do not overmix!
- Stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and pretzels.
- Spread the batter evenly in the pan and press it down evenly with a spatula.
- Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown.
- Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 10 minutes, then lift out of the pan and continue cooling on wire rack.
- Slice into small bars and enjoy!
I have been thinking about removing my Ask Chef Dennis series from my normal food post, and have it be a post just by itself. I think sometimes the information gets lost when it comes along with a recipe. What are your thoughts on that?
My school is out for Easter Break, but unfortunately I have to work the rest of the week, so my Easter Break doesn’t officially start until Saturday.
As always thank you so much for stopping by, see you soon!
Hi, Chef Dennis! I think a separate “Ask Chef Dennis” series (all by it’s lonesome) is a great idea. Ooey goeey, goodies like these tend to distract my attention. (Of course, pretty much ALL food tends to distract my attention.) 🙂 Thank you for all of your helpful hints for bloggers, with or without recipes. Hope you have a wonderful Easter break once it starts!
Hi Chef Dennis! I agree with Kimby- I would like to see “Ask Chef Dennis” as a separate post. They contain so much useful information, that I think would be better served as a stand alone post. Just my opinion though! I’ll keep reading regardless!
What is it about pretzels in desserts…can’t resist’em!!!
Yum…if you like these, you should check out Joy the Baker’s Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies. They’re awesome.
Eliminate the peanut butter chips??? I’m aghast! This bar has all my favorite flavor combinations and gooey is absolutely the way to go. And since you’re asking, I do like the idea of separating the series so the info doesn’t get lost. Thanks.
Love the ingredients in this one – especially those pretzels in there! Yum… And I the the Ask Chef Dennis would be great on it’s own… it is chock-full of valuable information and we wouldn’t want it to get lost… Thanks for sharing!
Okay you mouth is right, these are better left ooey and gooey. I was drooling over the photos so I can’t imagine staring at them in the oven and having to wait.
I think having the Ask Chef Dennis posts would be better on their own. That way we get the information and aren’t distracted by treats like this one. Regardless of what you decide I shall always read them.
Tempting…love recipe
You know I am a fan of your sweet /salty combos! This sounds heavenly. I love when random pantry bits come together. 🙂
All I can think about are the problems. If I bring some chocolate milk will you share/give me the tray 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Sorry sorry, stupid autocorrect – I meant blondies (though they could become a problem if I bake a tray ;))
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Yum, these look rich and delicious. Chocolate and pretzels are always a winning combination!
Brownies (or blondies) are always best slightly underbaked, warm & preferably with a scoop of ice cream 🙂
Either way you decide to go, I will still be interested in reading your “Ask Chef Dennis” posts – they have been very enlightening & super helpful.
Gooey is totally the way to go with these. I just want to reach through my screen and take one of those delicious blondies!
O…M…G…I can’t even tell you how much I want a plate of these right now.
Oh wow, these look almost molten! 🙂 I would looove these, but it would not be a good idea to keep a batch around me 😉
Pretzels in blondies?! That sounds like it is too good to be true. Their texture looks like something I would soooo love too!
Wow! Beyond that I’m at a loss for words… 🙂
Oh, they look amazing! Love salty and chocolate together. One of my favorites is just to dunk a piece of dark choc in the salt pig!
Sweet, salty, crunchy, with melty chocolate and peanut butter chips? YUM! This looks fantastic, Dennis!
About Ask Chef Dennis….I think a separate post for your great blogging advice would be great! 🙂
I love the sweet and salty combination. Oh, and peanut butter too! You can’t go wrong with these ingredients. 😀
these cookies look fabulous
Those blondies look sooo rich and delicious! What a great combination of flavor and texture. And my very humble opinion is your “Ask Chef Dennis” posts are very informative and strong enough to stand on their own without a recipe. Likewise about your recipes. But either way, I enjoy your posts 🙂
Sounds like a winning combination to me!
I absolutely adore blondes, and I, too, prefer the gooier side. 🙂 As always, they look incredible!!
me too, just don’t tell my brunette wife!
Ha! I meant to say “blondies!” Although, blondes are fine, too. 🙂
My kind of dessert! YUM! Do you deliver?? 🙂 Just kidding!
I love the “ask Dennis” serious. I don’t think it gets lost for me since I purposefully seek it out on Wednesday however it is a lot of information and would be fine as a stand alone post as well. These blondies are perfection. I have the same tendency to take out something a bit too soon when I just cannot wait any longer.
Holy cow how did I msis these?? I love blondies but I’ve never had pretzels in them before! way cool.