Peanut Butter Fudge Pretzel Oat Bars

Name: Peanut Butter Fudge Pretzel Oat Bars
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 cup of butter, room temperature; 2 cups of brown sugar; 2 large eggs; 1/3 cup of milk; 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract; 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour; 1 teaspoon of salt; 3 cups of old fashioned oats; 14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk; 12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips; 1 1/2 cups of creamy peanut butter; 1/2 cup of pretzels, broken; flaky sea salt

July 5, 2023

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When it comes to desserts, we have so many options. Cakes, cupcakes, pies, brownies… all good stuff, but when it comes to the cookie, you have several different ways to enjoy them.

Typically, cookies come in delicious little round disks, but you can also enjoy them in cake form, baked into a skillet and today, we are making them into beautifully layered bars.

These bars have a chewy layer of oatmeal cookie for the base, a rich fudge layer in the middle and a creamy peanut butter, pretzel and sea salt topping. They…are… incredible. The trio of chocolate, peanut butter and pretzels is one of the best trios around and these bars are the perfect way to celebrate their greatness.

Let’s get started…

Begin by gathering your ingredients. The layers in these bars are all made separately, but baked together, so you will need to have everything ready to go at the same time.

For the base, you will need 1 cup of room temperature butter, 2 cups of brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1/3 cup of milk , 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of salt and 3 cups of old fashioned oats.

For the fudge layer, you will need 14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk and 12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Easy peasy.

For the top layer, you will need 1 1/2 cups of creamy peanut butter and about 1/2 cup of pretzels. I am using these adorable little mini pretzels, but any pretzel will work for these bars, because we are breaking them into pieces before adding them.

Now that you have gathered all of the ingredients, begin making the oat layer.

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of room temperature butter with 2 cups of brown sugar until creamy. You can do this by hand with a stiff whisk or using an electric hand mixer.

Once the butter and sugar are combined, add 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/3 cup of milk and mix until creamy and fully incorporated.

Now add 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 3 cups of oats and 1 teaspoon of salt and mix until just combined.

Spread about 2/3 of the oat mixture into a parchment lined 9″x13″ deep baking dish and set the other 1/3 of the mixture aside for now.

For the fudge layer, combine 14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk and 12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwave or heat safe bowl. Heat either in the microwave for 15 second increments on medium power or by placing the bowl over a pot of simmering water to create a double boiler.

As soon as the chocolate begins to soften, whisk until you get a thick, smooth, shiny chocolate fudge. Immediately transfer the chocolate fudge mixture over the oat layer and spread it out evenly over the entire dish.

Next, melt 1 1/2 cups of creamy peanut butter and drizzle all of it over the chocolate fudge.

Last, but definitely not least, crumble the remaining 1/3 of the oat mixture over the melted peanut butter and sprinkle the pretzel pieces over everything.

Bake the bars for 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven and then transfer the baking dish onto a cooling rack or cutting board and immediately sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt.

Allow the bars to fully come to room temperature before transferring them out of the baking dish.

Once cooled, use the parchment paper to carefully transfer the bars out of the baking dish and onto a cutting board. Use a long, sharp knife to slice the bars into squares…

Ok, so I should probably warn you that these bars are pretty delicious. I sliced myself a very thin, reasonably sized piece as my “testing portion” and I worked my way through that one pretty quickly and immediately started on my second piece.

The layers all work together perfectly. The oat base is soft and chewy, but firm enough to maintain their shape when picked up or taken on the go. The fudge layer is really wonderful and tastes way more developed and delicious than you’d think a simple combination of chocolate and sweetened condense milk would be.

Now the first two layers are fantastic, but the creamy peanut butter, the soft little chunks of oatmeal cookie and those salty, crunchy pretzels are my favorite part of this dessert. Even though the oatmeal cookie mixture is the same mixture for both the base and the topping, they bake up differently. The base is firm and chewy, but the crumbled bits over the top are soft and stay a little creamy.

If you are looking for a wonderful dessert to serve at your next backyard party or wrap up in your lunch bag then you should definitely give these peanut butter fudge pretzel oat bars a try.

They stay perfect at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days and travel really nicely. Just wrap your slices up in parchment paper or foil and be sure to bring an extra piece, because your friends will start begging as soon as they see you whip one of these bad boys out.

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