Peanut Butter Fudge Pretzel Brownies.
Dear Monday.
Why must you ruin lives?
You do things like fling entire pots of coffee on the floor while leaving ugly droplets on that pretty white dress and don’t even apologize. Then you take a certain someone’s keys and lock them inside while that person is outside… and the oven is on with a big fat chicken roasting in pan way too small. Not cool.
I also hear that you silence alarm clocks and blow out flat irons and hide the toothpaste. And this morning you made my bed feel eight million times warmer and more comfortable than it already is and you made me hit snooze and you made me eat that piece of coffee cake while standing over the sink in my workout clothes. Then you made me lay on the couch with a second piece of coffee cake while I searched for Nick and Vanessa’s Dream Wedding and you even threw that cashmere blanket from Restoration Hardware on top of me and made me take a nap… even with my shoes still on.
And really… was it you that made Ari Gold run to Dana Gordon?? Probably. You’re a life ruiner. You and Regina George.
So now here I sit covered in cake crumbs with my eyes half shut and no sweat or remnant of a workout to speak of. Which you know… doesn’t really matter because I ate SO MUCH HEALTHY STUFF WHILE ON VACATION. Lots of salads and grilled chicken and steamed fish and tons of broccoli. That sort of stuff I eat everyday.
Or not.
But seriously Monday… what really ruffles my feathers is that you just couldn’t make that stupid wedding appear on TV one more time for me. Whatever. I even scrolled through the guide until August 12th and that took a whopping 13 minutes and guess what? No sign of it. Not that I want to see that mess but really… I do.
Even with the coffee cake and skipped exercise, this other thing you made me do is far worse. I wanted to talk about a healthy dinner recipe today but you made me post these pretzel brownie thingies that I made last week. Yeah. Those ones. The ones that are the perfect mix of sweet and salty. The ones that are easily reversible. The ones I planned to take on our trip but then… ate. All of them.
You probably made me do that too. You’re such a bad influence.
Peanut Butter Fudge Pretzel Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2/3 cups chocolate chips, optional
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 powdered sugar
- 1 3/4 cups crushed pretzel pieces
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8×8 baking dish and set aside.
- Combine melted butter and pretzel crumbs in a bowl until moistened. With the back of a spoon, press pretzels into the 8×8 pan making a crust. If pretzels seem loose, drizzle some additional melted butter over top of hit with a quick shot of non-stick spray.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. With the mixer on medium speed, add in cocoa, flour and salt, mixing until combined – about 2 to 3 minutes. Fold in chocolate chips. Using a spatula sprayed with non-stick spray, evenly spread brownies on top of pretzel crust. Set pan on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until brownies are baked through.
- When brownies have about 3 minutes left baking, melt peanut butter (I melted mine in the microwave in 30 second increments then stirring) in a bowl. Once melted, stir in 1/3 cup powdered sugar and mix until no lumps remain. Pour over warm brownies and spread evenly. Refrigerate brownies for 1-2 hours, then cut into bars and serve.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to follow @howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to our facebook page.
I appreciate you so much!
Bye Monday. Go back from where ever you came from. [/donotprint]
279 Comments on “Peanut Butter Fudge Pretzel Brownies.”
bahhh! I haven’t watched Entourage yet! Now I must catch up ! I’m so intrigued. I want these bars- stat. Sweet & salty? Heaven!
These look absolutely amazing! Love the combo of peanut butter, pretzels, and chocolate…yummy! :)
What a funny post! Can’t wait to try this recipe. I might even make time tonight!
There are no words for how genius this dish is. You seriously just took my 3 favorite things to snack on (peanut butter, chocolate, pretzels) and made it into a ridiculously good brownie!
I was very mad at Monday this morning when my alarm went off. Thank you for posting!! :D
Thank you for loving the peanut butter/chocolate combo as much as I do!
I had all the intentions of working out this morning, in fact I’m still in my workout clothes… Then as I got on the elliptical opened up zine and saw this… well, I think I only burned 10 calories. Thanks Monday!
LOL ~ You are hilarious!!
These brownies look sinful – I don’t think they’d have a chance to get out our door before we managed to demolish an entire pan!
i always feel naughty coming to your blog! your food porn is amazin! :) and your brownies scare me! I would loose all control around them for sure!
Nick and V’s wedding CANNOT be any better than Nick and Jess’s wedding anyways.
On another note, I love texture in brownies and these look perfect. AND DANG YOU for making them so easy that anyone could whip these bad boys up!!
These look fantastical! I recently made pretzel-crusted brownies with buttercream {http://www.theavidappetite.com/home/2011/7/4/pretzel-crusted-brownies-with-fluffy-buttercream-frosting.html} and they were a huge party hit. Love the idea of also incorporating pb!!
Those look delish!!
SERIOUSLY.
that’s all I got.
I am going to make these for my peanut butter loving mama when she comes to visit next month. Thanks!
Mondays may be bad but these brownies look devilishly good!
You are seriously the greatest and most hilarious online writer I have ever come across :) What a talent you got there, Jess. For both baking AND writing, of course! I have made tons of your luscious treats already, but you a-l-w-a-y-s make me want to bake more!!! Sigh…. Bye bye “no-sugar-week”, once again. Isn’t life way too short for that crap, anyhow….
Love, Maria
You are so sweet – thanks a bunch!
These look insanely decadent! Love it!
I wouldn’t throw these out of bed. Nuff said.
another great post! you have such a wonderful writing style….and such wonderful recipes! thanks for another dessert to try:)
Thank you!
**jaw dropped**
Oh my.
You really went there, didn’t you? These sound HEAVENLY! Love the salty/sweet combo!
mmm those fudgey pretzely things look delish!
i missed the wedding too, but i searched the shit out of on demand and got it dvr’d for last friday at 11am. i’m planning to watch tonight! it’s no nick and jessica, but i’m still interested!
Yumm. This makes Monday happy. Thank you!
Yum!! I need one now! Maybe I should just bake all day today since the weather outside is disgusting!
These look too amazing for words.
Mondays are not my friend. If I could, I would give them a high calorie protein bar and pretend it was a weight loss bar just to get back at them.
The end.
Ha! Love.
Seriously. Sometimes I think my thighs grow just by reading this site. BTW – I am currently eating fruit, yogurt, and granola… why am I not eating a pretzel brownie (w yogurt to make it healthy) for breakfast while watching last night’s Entourage. Turtle has lost some serious weight. Obviously no pretzel brownies for him.
Mondays are mean. Your brownies are amazing.
The end.
Mondays have no right being a day of the week. NO right at all.
But these brownies are firmly cemented in my mind for future Tuesdays.
Dear Monday, you taunt me with photos of a delicious dessert that I neither have the time nor energy, to bake and if I did, I might eat for breakfast, but that’s beside the point. Sure you saved me hundreds, if not thousands of calories, but we all know that at butter isn’t a carb, according to Regina George, so I would have forgiven you about that one.
The only way you can redeem yourself is if these bars showed up magically at my doorstep. Then you and I might be friends. That is all.
I’m thinkin’ this recipe officially makes you my new bff!
These look delicious!
how soon can you get to Seattle? I have the wedding on my DVR. Still haven’t watched it!
oh..and bring brownies.
I’m in!
How do you make all of this food and still stay in shape?? Granted, I hardly work out, but I try not to eat any desserts. You lucky lady!
I would die if I didn’t get to eat any desserts. There is more on this in my FAQs!
Mondays are the pits! But this brownie is like the opposite… Like Friday nights. You always want more of them!
Hahaha I love that!
These are naughty. :)
I really need one of these! And soon!
these look amazing!! one thing, though- the “remaining teaspoon of vanilla” goes in with the eggs, but where did the first teaspoon go? lol
Oops sorry – fixed it!
yay! thanks :)
My waistline hates this post.
But my tummy’s wondering if I can make these tonight…
Love the salt, sweet and chocolate together. looks delish.
Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.
Emily http://www.mywordsinterestslife.blogspot.com
I am so out of the loop since I unsubscribed from Perez Hilton that I had no idea Nick and Vanessa got married. I’m ashamed of myself. Must drown my sorrows in a pan of these brownies, I think. Forget the fact that I JUST rejoined Weight Watchers this morning.
Wow Jessica!! These look incredible!
I swear, I gain weight when I read your blog. My mouth salivates and my thighs expand. I just know it. And I like it. :-)
These look perfect! I can almost taste them through my computer screen.
These look amazing. Plus, cloudy conditions make it a perfect baking day! Thanks!!
This looks like heaven!
whoa those look deadly… in a good way of course!
These remind me of the trader joe’s chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels, my boyfriend adores them.. I just might have to try making these.
pb + pretzels + chocolate cannot be beat (and ironically, I posted a recipe with those 3 today as well :))…these are next on my list!
Maybe this will make my Monday better! Actually…I don’t even care if it does or doesn’t, I just want one!!
This reminds me of the chocolate covered PB pretzels from Trader Joe’s, which I LOVE, so I need to make these!