Layered Patriotic Pretzel Bars
Patriotic Pretzel Bars are an easy dessert, filled with gooey and crunchy sweet and salty layers, to celebrate the Fourth of July!
Servings: 24 bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups pretzel crumbs about 3 cups of pretzels
- 1/2 cup salted butter melted
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 8 Oreos broken into small pieces
- 1 cup M&Ms plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 cup salted peanuts roughly chopped
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Place pretzels in food processor fitted with steel blade. Process until the pretzels are fine crumbs. Pour in melted butter and pulse to combine.
- Press pretzel crumb mixture evenly into prepared pan.
- Sprinkle half of chocolate chips, M&M’s, peanuts and Oreos pieces over the top of the cookie layer.
- Pour sweetened condensed milk over the top, covering as evenly as possible. Don’t worry if not covered completely.
- Layer with the remaining chips, nuts, M&M's and Oreos.
- Press down on layers with back of spatula to help submerge.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until lightly brown. Allow bars to cool in pan completely. Optional, after cooling bars for 30 minutes, place pan in fridge to speed up cooling and allow to set.
- When completely cool, use parchment paper to remove from pan and cut into bars.
Notes
- Speed up cooling process by placing bars in refrigerator and for easier cutting.
- We like these bars chilled especially in the heat of summer, but they’re good at room temperature and will keep covered on the counter for up to 4 days…if they last that long. :)
- If you don’t have a food processor, crush pretzels with a rolling pin in a plastic zip top bag.
- Substitute nuts of choice for peanuts.
- Optional: Add some broken pretzel pieces to the layered mix if desired.
- Optional: Sprinkle more M&M’s on top of bars after they come out of oven, pressing down so they adhere and melt into warm bars.