Pretzel Crusted Brownies

I love the combination of salty and sweet, especially in the form of chocolate covered pretzels. I wanted to get that combination into a brownie format, so it was perfect when I found this recipe online. I decided to make these for some friends and they were a hit. 

They are a perfect combination of sweet and savory.

Ingredients:
Pretzel crust
1/2 cup butter
4 cups pretzels
½ cup sugar

Chewy Dark Chocolate Brownies
1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
1 cup, plus 2 Tbs boiling water
2oz unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups sugar
1 ¾ cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9×13 baking pan with a piece of parchment on the bottom of the pan. Spray the whole thing with baking spray.
2. Begin my making the pretzel crust. Melt 1/2 cup butter in a small microwaveable bowl, set aside.
4. Use a food processor or blender to pulse the pretzels to a fine crumb.

5. Pour the crumbs into a bowl, and mix the sugar in with the crumbs. Add the melted butter and combine well.

6. Press the pretzel mixture into the bottom of the baking dish. Set aside and begin making the brownie batter.

 

7. Melt 1/2 cup butter in a small microwaveable bowl.
8. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the boiling water and the cocoa powder until smooth. Stir in the chocolate pieces until melted. Add the melted butter and oil.

9. Attach the bowl to the stand mixer. Add the eggs/yolks one at a time with the mixer on, and beat until very smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla.

10. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Whisk well to combine.
11. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and combine. Stir in the chocolate chips.

12. Pour the batter into the baking dish on top of the pretzels. Bake the brownies at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

13. Let the brownies cool and then cut into squares. Serve upside down (pretzels up), Enjoy!

 

Recipe adapted from: Heather Christo Cooks