3.30.2014

homemade take 5 bars

Confession: I could probably eat the entire pan of these amazing Take 5 bars. They're that good. 
The perfect combination of salty + sweet, these bars are packed with a few of my all-time favorite ingredients: pretzels, peanut butter, caramel and chocolate. And if you haven't had a store-bought Take 5 candy bar, rest assured you won't have to once you have this recipe in your arsenal.

Made up of 5 tasty layers, while the recipe takes a little bit of time, every bite is worth it! 
My Second Confession: The crust itself is so amazing I ate a spoonful of it plain! But could you blame me? It's made up of crushed pretzels, brown sugar and melted butter. 


INGREDIENTS

PRETZEL CRUST // Layer 1
2 cups crushed pretzels // I used Snyder's GF Pretzel Sticks
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar

PEANUT BUTTER FILLING // Layer 2
1/2 cup butter, room temperature (softened)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar

CARAMEL & PEANUT FILLING // Layers 3 & 4
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 TBSP light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 TBSP sour cream
1 cup Honey Roasted Peanuts, chopped
>> Candy Thermometer <<

CHOCOLATE LAYER // Layer 5
2 cups (1 bag) milk chocolate chips // Our favorite are Ghiradelli 


DIRECTIONS

CRUST
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Lightly coat a 9x13 pan with butter
3. In large bowl, combine crushed pretzels, melted butter and brown sugar. Stir until combined. 
(Be sure to taste a spoonful just to make sure it's just right!!)
4. Press into 9x13 pan, packing tightly
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden. Cool completely.

PEANUT BUTTER FILLING
1. In a large mixing bowl, beat peanut butter and butter together until smooth
2. Slowly add in powdered sugar, beating until incorporated
3. Spread on top of cooled pretzel crust.
4. Chill until ready to spread caramel and peanut layer.



CARAMEL & PEANUT FILLING
1. In a medium heavy saucepan, combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and water.
2. Bring mixture to a boil without stirring until temperature reaches 340 degrees on a candy thermometer (Takes about 10-15 minutes). Be careful to not burn caramel. I cooked ours on a low heat but high enough to keep it boiling. 
3. Once it has reached 340 degrees, remove from heat and immediately add heavy cream, butter and sour cream. Mixture will bubble up and will be VERY hot! 
4. Stir until combined and set aside to cool.
5. Once cooled, stir in chopped honey roasted peanuts and spread on top of peanut butter layer.

CHOCOLATE TOPPING
1. Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler. 
2. Spread over caramel layer.
3. Chill until ready to cut into squares. 

Enjoy! 
P.S. I dare you to eat just one!

3 comments:

  1. These look amazing I must try them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. How much butter do you add to the carmel mixture?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kay! Just add 1/3 cup of butter to the caramel. It's listed in the ingredients under "1/3 cup water" :) Hope this helps! Enjoy!

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