Ultimate Pretzel Crusted Sugar Cookie Heath Brownie Bars
This weekend when family was over, I didn’t just make one dessert but two! The first dessert was the wildly popular Ultimate Pretzel Crusted Peanut Butter Cookie Candy Brownie Bars that exploded on Pinterest! It had every right to light up on Pinterest because that recipe is freakin’ awesome!!
That being said, I made another dessert that day that I have to share. One of my family members isn’t fond of peanut butter. Shocking, right?!? Who’s not a fan of peanut butter and chocolate unless you are allergic to chocolate at which time you get a pass – but this family member is NOT allergic. Just not fond of it. Crazy, right?!?
I had to come up with something equally awesome but without the peanut butter. So, I scratched all the peanut butter out of the recipe, kept the pretzel crust, of course, (it is my BFF!) and added sugar cookies and Heath Bits. This peanut butter-free gift from heaven is called ” Ultimate Pretzel Crusted Sugar Cookie Heath Brownie Bars”. While it doesn’t beat the peanut butter version in my book (it’s #2), it still will rock your world! And if you don’t like or can’t have peanut butter, it will definitely rock your world!
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups crushed butter pretzels
- 1 cup melted butter
- 5 tbsp sugar
- Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix and all the ingredients the mix calls for or do like I did and make it from scratch with these ingredients:
- 1- 1/2 cups butter, softened
- 2 cups white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup Heath Bits
- Brownie Mix (13×9 family size box + all the ingredients the mix calls for)
DIRECTIONS
1. Crush the pretzels in a food processor or however you like to crush pretzels. Any kind of pretzels will do but I recommend using crushed butter pretzels for the recipe (you find them next to the regular pretzels and they are literally called “Synder Butter Pretzels”). I also recommend not crushing the pretzels to dust but keep some small pieces to keep the crust crunchy. Mix the melted butter (melt in microwave), sugar and pretzel crumbs. Press into lightly greased 13×9 pan. Set aside pretzel crust and make the cookie dough. (*Note: I have a 8×8 pan in the photos because I split the recipe into two different pans. I recommend putting it all in one 13×9 pan!)
2. Make the sugar cookie dough according to the package. If you want to make the sugar cookies from scratch, here’s how: Cream together 1 1/2 cups butter and 2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in 4 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir in the 5 cups of flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt. There you have it – sugar cookie dough! Add 1 cup Heath Bits and mix thoroughly.
Lightly press the cookie dough evenly on top of the pretzel crust. The easiest way I found to add the sugar cookie layer is to literally roll the dough out like you would with cut out cookies.
Set the pan on top and cut out a large rectangle so the dough fits into the pan. Lightly press the dough to the edges.
3. Whip up your brownie mix and pour evenly over the sugar cookie layer.
4. Evenly distribute brownie batter to the sides.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
6. Cool for 10 minutes and then enjoy!
Still think you’d like the peanut butter version better? No problem…you can find that recipe HERE.
Ultimate Pretzel Crusted Sugar Cookie Heath Brownie Bars
Ingredients
- • 2 ½ cups crushed butter pretzels
- • 1 cup melted butter
- • 5 tbsp sugar
- • Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix and all the ingredients the mix calls for or do like I did and make it from scratch with these ingredients:
- o 1- 1/2 cups butter softened
- o 2 cups white sugar
- o 4 eggs
- o 1 tsp vanilla extract
- o 5 cups flour
- o 2 tsp baking powder
- o 1 tsp salt
- • 1 cup Heath Bits
- • Brownie Mix 13×9 family size box + all the ingredients the mix calls for
Instructions
- Crush the pretzels in a food processor or however you like to crush pretzels. Any kind of pretzels will do but I recommend using crushed butter pretzels for the recipe (you find them next to the regular pretzels and they are literally called “Synder Butter Pretzels”). I also recommend not crushing the pretzels to dust but keep some small pieces to keep the crust crunchy. Mix the melted butter (melt in microwave), sugar and pretzel crumbs. Press into lightly greased 13×9 pan. Set aside pretzel crust and make the cookie dough. (*Note: I have a 8×8 pan in the photos because I split the recipe into two different pans. I recommend putting it all in one 13×9 pan!)
- Make the sugar cookie dough according to the package. If you want to make the sugar cookies from scratch, here’s how: Cream together 1 1/2 cups butter and 2 cups sugar until smooth. Beat in 4 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir in the 5 cups of flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt. There you have it – sugar cookie dough! Add 1 cup Heath Bits and mix thoroughly.
- Lightly press the cookie dough evenly on top of the pretzel crust. The easiest way I found to add the sugar cookie layer is to literally roll the dough out like you would with cut out cookies.
- Set the pan on top and cut out a large rectangle so the dough fits into the pan. Lightly press the dough to the edges.
- Whip up your brownie mix and pour evenly over the sugar cookie layer.
- Evenly distribute brownie batter to the sides.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
- Cool for 10 minutes and then enjoy!
Just an FYI. People that are allergic to nuts usualy cannot have toffee bits. I guess it is made with almonds or something like that. I however am not, and I can’t wait to tr this out!
These look wonderful, but if you have an allergy to peanuts you might need to stay away from these OR leave the Heath bar’s out, as they are made with almonds. My son is not only allergic to peanuts, but all tree nuts as well. Thanks for the great recipe ideas!
ty for this recipe I am the only one in my house allergic to peanuts and Im always looking for a great peanut free treat that the whole famliy loves and we all love everything you put in this lol
Actually, toffee is made from butter and sugar. The almonds are added after the chocolate is put on top of the candy. I suppose some manufacturers might add almonds to the candy before its cooled but it’s not typical. Heath bar candy does not have almonds, though the label will warn you that it is produced in a factory that contains peanuts. If you were concerned about the almond/toffee thing, you can easily make it yoursf. 2 cups of butter, 2 cups of sugar, a dash of salt and some time spent cooking on the stove. It’s pretty easy. Google the Alton Brown recipe if you’re interested. 🙂
This recipe is wild, currently have my second batch in the oven now! However I went a little extreme and put Oreo cookies on top of the sugar cookie layer and THEN top it with brownie. The first time I only put half the tray with Oreos and it was such a hit that this time I layered that entire bad boy up!
Oh my… Great recipe!!!!
Does the bottom stay in tact? It almost looks like it may be a little crumbly. Thanks!!