Pretzel Brownies

I made brownies this weekend and they were everything a brownie should be. When I was in high school I brought my lunch every day, but once in a while I’d buy a brownie. Those lunchroom brownies were packaged, but they were delicious. We never had sweets at home, dessert was for birthdays and holidays, unless it was my father’s idea of dessert; fruit topped with sour cream. These days I’ve been doing insane things like buying cookies, and even more incomprehensible, managing to keep them around for a week or two. I am a particular fan of Tate’s cookies, and a few weeks ago found them on sale, so I got two bags. We finished the last of them last night.

When choosing a brownie recipe I’m often at a loss which one to choose. I like a dark, chewy brownie with a dry, crackly top, and of all places, I found my perfect brownie recipe on the back of the Baker’s Chocolate unsweetened chocolate bar. I rationalized making them by thinking they would cheer me up (a friend’s suggestion) and because Rachel loves all things chocolate and this weekend was Valentine’s Day. The recipe called for pecans, but I decided to add crushed pretzels instead. The pretzels were an OK idea, but didn’t add the salty crunch I was hoping for. But, no regrets.

The recipe is so easy your eight year old could make them, and though it seems like a lot of butter and chocolate the recipe makes a lot of brownies, they freeze well, and who doesn’t want homemade brownies in the freezer, in case of emergency? Now that I’ve found my ultimate brownie recipe I can start playing around with it, adding things like peanut butter, crushed peppermint candies, or even the suggested pecans (but I’ll toast them first). You can even upgrade your chocolate though I liked my Baker’s just fine.

Pretzel Brownies

Print recipe

• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves	24
Prep time	10 minutes
Cook time	30 minutes
Total time	40 minutes

Ingredients

• 4oz unsweetened chocolate (chopped into 1)
• 6oz unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 cube sugar
• 3 Large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cup pretzels (broken into small pieces)

Note

Recipe based on the recipe on the box of Baker's unsweetened choclate

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350F Line a 9"X13" glass baking dish with foil, letting the foil hang over the short ends. This will be what you use to remove the brownies from the baking pan Spray foil and sides of pan with cooking spray

Step 2

Put chocolate and butter into a microwave safe bowl and melt on high for 1-2 minutes Mix butter and chocolate together to combine

Step 3

Put sugar and eggs into another bowl and combine well Add vanilla Mix chocolate and butter mixture into sugar and eggs Add flour, and stir until just combined Add pretzels and mix in

Step 4

Bake for 30 minutes until the top looks dry Let cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then lift with foil and let brownies continue to cool for another 15-20 minutes Move to a flat surface to cut