Warm Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies

My Warm Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies are decadent double chocolate brownies, studded with chewy caramel bits and salty pretzels making them the perfect, chocolatey indulgence.

These Warm Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies are my new favorite treat! They combine the classic brownie recipe from my childhood with a few pantry staples to become a truly maddening, delicious dessert.

Each bite is loaded with pretzels, caramel bits, and chocolate chips! You can see each ingredient packed into the brownies which why these are O-M-G delicious!

My base brownie recipe for these Warm Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies is no ordinary brownie recipe and I highly recommend NOT subbing a boxed brownie mix in place of homemade brownies just to ‘save some time.’

I promise, once you taste my brownie recipe,  you’ll never go back to your old one nor will you ever purchase boxed brownie mix again. If you’re worried about dirtying too many dishes, fear not, these brownies are a 1-pot dish so there’s no excuse for not making these brownies from scratch.

Also, unlike most brownie recipes or boxed brownie mixes, this recipe doesn’t make just a small 8×8 pan of brownies.

This recipe makes a whopping 9×13 pan of brownies!

I’ve never understood why anyone would want to make a small pan of brownies. I mean, what am I going to do with a mere 9 brownies? That’s hardly enough to share. My brownie recipe is made for sharing. My recipe is the delicious, shareable, big girl ‘I made it from scratch’ brownie recipe.

Now, this brownie recipe is seriously simple but there are a few important notes regarding ingredients and technique that you should follow —

1. This recipe calls for shortening — Butter-Flavored Shortening. Specifically, I use Crisco’s Butter-Flavored Shortening. You’ll know you have the right shortening because it’s the one in the yellow packaging and the shortening itself is actually the color of butter. I beg you, do not use plain old shortening. That white stuff is simply adding fat to your brownies whereas you want fat + flavor and that comes with the butter flavored shortening.
2. For the proper chocolate flavor, you need to start with Unsweetened Baking Chocolate. This is important because if you start with dark chocolate, bittersweet or semi-sweet, the brownies will be too sweet once baked. Unsweetened baking chocolate is basically a brick of cocoa nibs and cocoa butter that when heated, will melt into a liquid with a consistency a tad thicker than water. If you taste the chocolate it should taste pretty bitter as it has yet to have any sweetener added to it. I prefer Baker’s brand baking chocolate but there are others you can definitely use, as long as it says unsweetened.
3. Whisk Until Glossy. Now, this is an important step in all brownie making. Once you add the chocolate and sugar together, you begin whisking in the eggs. When adding the eggs, you should add them individually, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Once the last egg is combined, keep whisking, vigorously until the brownie batter becomes glossy and almost shiny. That’s when you know it’s time to add the dry ingredients.

For my Warm Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies, once you complete the batter, you mix in all the goodies — dark chocolate chips, caramel bits, and crushed pretzel pieces and bake them for 30 minutes. I suggest waiting about 10-15 minutes before cutting them then serve them immediately. They’re perfect warm just by themselves or à la mode — topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

If you choose to store these brownies for a few days, I recommend warming them up for 20-30 seconds in the microwave to soften the caramel that has been mixed into them. When I ate these brownies at room temperature, the caramel had stiffened a bit too much for my personal enjoyment but I found a quick trip to the microwave quickly returned these Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies back to their glorious original state!

Hope you enjoy this rich, salty, caramel brownie as much as I do and please, let me know how you enjoy this classic brownie recipe!

Warm Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies

These Warm Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies are decadent double chocolate brownies, studded with chewy caramel bits and salty pretzels making them the perfect chocolatey indulgence.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Servings: 24 brownies

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 2/3 cup butter flavored shortening
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup crushed pretzel pieces
• 1 cup caramel bits

Method

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350* and lightly grease a 9x13 pan and set aside
2. Place the baking chocolate and shortening into a medium size saucepan and melt the two together, stirring continuously over medium-low heat
3. Remove the saucepan from the stovetop and quickly stir in the sugar and vanilla extract with a wooden spoon
4. One at a time, add the eggs to the mixture, vigorously whisking each egg before adding the next Continue whisking until the batter is glossy
5. Add in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine
6. Gently fold in the chocolate chips, pretzels, and caramel bits
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes
8. Let the brownies cool 10-15 minutes before slicing
9. Serve warm. Store remaining brownies in a closed container at room temperature.
10. If serving later, reheat single brownies for 20-30 seconds in a microwave before serving