Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

Remember the SRC post a few days ago when I told you about my delicious mistake?

Well, this is it!

I was already poking around and making a few minor changes with the original recipe (I used less salt and sprinkled it on top, and I used dark chocolate instead) when I made my big mistake.

I was melting my butter and sugar and things were looking…well…not quite right.  But not quite wrong either.  Then I poured it over the pretzels and my candy layer was so much thinner than the original recipe – it didn’t even cover all of the pretzels.  But I went ahead with the recipe and hoped for the best.

While the bark did its quick bake in the oven, I reread the ingredient list.  And there is was. “1 cup butter”.  Which I had interpreted as “1 stick butter.”  It was big time amateur hour over here boys and girls.  Someone who uses butter as much as I do knows that 1 stick of butter is ½ cup.  I think I’ve written that instruction approximately 12 zillion times, but to no avail, apparently.

I would have simply redone the recipe had we not been having guests over that night or had I not used the last of my pretzels to make the first batch!

Luckily, my mistake worked out deliciously!

Instead of a softer caramel texture, I ended up with something more like toffee.

While better (in my opinion) served cold from the refrigerator, it was by no means necessary as far as stickiness goes.

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

Adapted from Secrets from the Cookie Princess

8 oz small pretzel twists (or enough to fill a large cookie sheet)

½ cup (1 stick) salted butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 (12 oz) bag dark chocolate chips

Coarse sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with a silicone mat or tin foil.

Place the pretzels in a single layer, covering the baking sheet.

Meanwhile, place the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Once melted, add the brown sugar and stir until melted.

Continue cooking, watching constantly and stirring occasionally until the sugar mixture begins to thicken and bubble.

Immediately pour the sugar over the pretzels and bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.

Remove the bark from the oven and immediately pour the chocolate chips over the bark.  Place in the oven for about 30 seconds to melt the chocolate, then use a spatula to smooth the chocolate.  Immediately sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Cool the room temperature, them place in the refrigerator until set completely, 2-3 hours.

Break up the bark and serve, storing in the refrigerator when not being eaten.