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These homemade Take Five Bars are salty, sweet, crunchy and chewy all in one bite. What more could you ask for in a bar cookie?
I love a good copycat recipe and when you can make one of your favorite candy bars at home, it doesn’t get much better than that. These Take Five Bars are the complete flavor and texture package in a bar cookie. You get your salty from the pretzels, sweet from the caramel, crunchy from the peanuts and chewy from the combination of it all!
You know when you have one of those days and you are craving something salty – these Take Five Bars will take care of it. They also work for the days you are craving something sweet! And when you need a chocolate fix. Bonus!! The base of the bars is a mixture of pretzels, peanut butter, sugar and cream. That is then topped with caramel, peanuts and a nice layer of chocolate on the top.
But don’t forget that sprinkle of coarse salt on the top – it is the crowning glory of these Take Five Bars! I link to my favorite coarse salt below. Satisfy just about any craving you can have with these babies!
Some of my other favorite sweet and salty treats include: Elvis Cookies – Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies – Salted Caramel Butter Bars
My favorite kitchen items:
COARSE SALT – I first found this salt on a trip to France and fell in love with it. Lucky for both of us you can also order it on Amazon.
8 x 8 GLASS PAN – I prefer baking in glass over metal and these are the glass pans I love. I have them all different sizes.
PARCHMENT PAPER SHEETS – These precut sheets of parchment paper are a total time saver in the kitchen.
CARAMEL BITS – these are the best. No unwrapping caramels!
Take 5 Bars Recipe
Take Five Bars
Ingredients
- 3 cups pretzels
- 1 cup peanut butter, creamy
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp water
- 14 oz caramel bits
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 3/4 cup peanuts coarsely choppeed
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp whipping cream
- sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, combine pretzels, peanut butter, sugar and water. Pulse to combine.
- Press firmly into prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes.
- In a saucepan or microwave, melt caramel bits with whipping cream. Stir to combine.
- Pour caramel over pretzel crust. Top with chopped peanuts
- In a bowl, in the microwave, combine chocolate chips and whipping cream. Melt until smooth and combined. Spread over peanut layer.
- Sprinkle with sea salt while chocolate is still warm. Cool and then chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve and cut into squares.
Nutrition Facts:
Lori says
What are caramel bits and where do you get them? Recipe looks fabulous! Thanks.
Leigh Anne says
Lori, here is a link to the ones I use -http://amzn.to/2sBeMVB I can find them at my grocery store next to the chocolate chips