No-Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars
These No-Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars are the perfect sweet and salty dessert. You only need five ingredients to make these incredibly easy bars too!
It may be cold outside right now, but I feel like you can never go wrong with an easy no-bake dessert. In fact, I actually made these bars for Christmas last year and couldn’t get over how good they were so I had to share them with you. These are similar to other no-bake peanut butter bars, except they have crushed pretzels in them instead of graham crackers.
These bars really are the perfect combination of sweet, salty, and really hard to resist. Trust me on that one.
You’ll start by mixing together some melted butter, powdered sugar, peanut butter, and crushed pretzels. Just a little note on the pretzels, make sure to measure them after you’ve crushed them up. I prefer to use my food processor to crush the pretzels, but you can crush them in a plastic bag too. You should have mostly smaller pieces, but a few bigger pieces are fine in these bars. Once you mix up the filling it will seem soft at first, this is okay! Once the bars are refrigerated they will firm up and hold their shape well, even at room temperature.
The topping is just a simple mixture of chocolate chips and peanut butter. I just put them in a microwave safe bowl and pop it into the microwave for 20-30 seconds at a time. The peanut butter helps make the chocolate topping nice and smooth. And when you cut or bite into the bars the topping isn’t rock hard, just perfectly soft.
You will need to let the bars chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour, so you can easily slice into them. I think the hardest part of making these bars is not having any self control around them, I’m just speaking from experience over here.
These also freeze really well and I’ve included instructions for how to freeze them. You can easily prep these ahead of time and dessert is ready to go the next day. And the best part? You don’t even have to turn your oven on to make these!
No-Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars
Ingredients
For the peanut butter pretzel layer:
- 3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 cup (250 grams) creamy peanut butter
- 2 cups (200 grams) crushed pretzels (measured after crushing)
For the topping:
- 1 12-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup (65 grams) creamy peanut butter
Instructions
To make the peanut butter pretzel layer:
- Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment, making sure to leave some overhang for easy removal, and set aside.
- Add the melted butter, powdered sugar, peanut butter, and crushed pretzels to a large mixing bowl and mix until fully combined. Scoop the mixture into the prepared baking pan and press it down into one even layer.
To make the topping:
- Add the chocolate chips and peanut butter to a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 20-30 second increments, stirring well after each increment, until melted and smooth. Pour the mixture on top of the bars and spread it around into one even layer.
- Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, then remove from the pan, and slice into bars.
Notes
Recipe slightly adapted from Trisha Yearwood
Love no-bake desserts?
You can find all of my no-bake recipes here.
This Homemade Magic Shell is one of my favorites and just two ingredients!
Perfect (and delicious) way to use up a bag of broken pretzels!
Hi Danielle! Is there any other way to melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter without using a microwave?
You can melt them together in a saucepan or double boiler on the stove.
Hello Danielle, Thanks for all of your great recipes! Just wondering if creamy organic unpasteurized peanut butter will work well with this recipe… since the oil and butter need mixing first.
I think it would be okay as long as you stir the peanut butter really well before using it. The bars may be a bit softer, so just make sure to keep them refrigerated.
Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe! My family can’t get enough of these bars! Yummy!!
Hi Danielle,
I made these bars this past weekend and they were wonderful. My grandkids really liked them also. Going to make them again for Christmas Day..
Thanks Sue
So glad everyone enjoyed the bars, Sue!
Hi Danielle! I was wondering if I could use crunchy peanutbutter with the pretzel mixture. I would still use the creamy kind I the chocolate topping. Also, can I make these a few days ahead and just keep them refrigerated? Thanks for your input!
Hi Jeanne! Yes, you can use crunchy peanut butter for the pretzel mixture. They’ll keep for about 4 days in the refrigerator too, so you can make them ahead of time. These also freeze well, just thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Hi! How many servings would one recipe make? Sorry if I have overlooked this information somewhere! 🙂
Hi, Jen! It just depends on how large you cut them. It will make a 9×13 pan, I usually get 20-24 bars with that size pan. Hope that helps!
Hi Danielle! Just a brief note–I made your recipe twice this week–once as a test run and another time for a party tonight. THESE BARS ARE SO GOOD. I doubled the recipe, so each bar is two layers, and I garnished with a bit of extra salt. People came up to me at work (my test audience) to tell me that these bars are the best thing they’ve ever had. Someone called them candy royalty, the offspring of a Butterfinger and a Reece’s!
Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe!
That is so wonderful to hear, Jen! I love the Butterfinger and Reese’s thing too, that’s such a perfect description of these bars! 🙂
You are so right, there’s never a wrong time for no-bake desserts! These bars are so pretty, Danielle! I’ve made a similar version before, but never with pretzels. Love that addition in here! My dad would go crazy over this, as pb and pretzels are his favorite…I’ll have to remember for his birthday! 🙂
Thank you, Gayle! I think these would make a great birthday gift too 😉