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Salted Chocolate Pretzel Toffee – mini pretzels covered in my homemade toffee sauce made with butter, brown sugar, and a small touch of cream and vanilla to make this even more special for the holidays. Each piece of toffee has a salty chocolate bite with just the right amount of crunch – a holiday classic! Make this toffee to both eat and gift this holiday season!
I didn’t know I could love a recipe so much, but this simple toffee is addicting. I can’t stop making it!
Originally, I had the idea of sharing a basic chocolate-covered pretzel. In fact, I may still share the recipe for those because, in our family, no Christmas is complete without a tin of homemade chocolate pretzels. And if they’re not homemade, then they’re the chocolate-covered pretzels from Malley’s Chocolates in Cleveland. Our friends, the Harveys, send us a yummy box each year.
Mom’s Chex mix, chocolate-covered pretzels, lots of cookies, cinnamon rolls, Death by Chocolate, and beef tenderloin. We have to have all of our family favorites at Christmastime!
But I love to add new recipes to the mix too! This season, it’s salty-sweet chocolate toffee!
When I was a kid, my mom and I were always baking cookies or putting gift baskets together for teachers. But we never made anything like toffee. So when I discovered how easy a toffee bar is to make, I knew immediately I wanted to share the recipe!
However, I wanted my toffee to have a softer texture instead of something that cracks down hard when you bite into it. This is kind of like a toffee, but also like my praline sauce from last week.
We are ALL loving these Praline Cookies right now, so you might like this recipe even more!
Ok, these are the details
The Ingredients
- salted butter
- dark brown sugar
- heavy cream
- vanilla extract
- mini salted pretzel twists
- semi-sweet chocolate chips
- flaky sea salt
Special Tools
Nothing new here, just some parchment paper, a 9×13 inch baking pan (or something similar in size), and a pot to make the toffee in.
Step 1: make the toffee sauce
The sauce is a mix of salted butter, dark brown sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla.
Everything but the vanilla simmers on the stove until the sauce bubbles and thickens. Then, remove from the heat and mix in the vanilla.
Most toffee recipes do not have cream, but as I mentioned I wanted more of a soft, chewy toffee. It turned out so great! And you can’t mess it up!
Step 2: bake the pretzels
Arrange the pretzels inside of a parchment-lined baking pan. Pour the toffee over the pretzels and bake until the toffee is bubbling again.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the toffee and return them to the oven for another minute, but no longer! You just want to give the chocolate a head start on melting. If you bake too long, the chocolate could get scorched.
Step 3: spread the chocolate on and chill
Now, spread the chocolate over the toffee. Then top with peanuts, or whatever nut you enjoy, and add some flaky sea salt.
Next, place these in either the fridge or freezer to set. Once set, break the toffee into pieces and EAT. This chocolate toffee is yummy both cold, right from the fridge, and at room temperature.
Make these for gifting
This is the time of year we’re all looking for desserts to bake and gifts to give; a homemade toffee is perfect for both. I’ve always loved gifting more personal gifts, especially for things like a hostess gift or as a gift for any family members who may be missing the holidays this year. Or even just to bake and bring along with you to your next holiday party.
Find a cute holiday tin. Target has cute options (1, 2, 3, 4) or head over to Amazon and order their Christmas tins. Zara has some cute oven paper to fit inside. I’d suggest doubling the recipe and gifting this toffee. Everyone will love it! Plus, it’s so cute!
Looking for other holiday cookies? Here are my favorites:
Easy Vanilla Bean Christmas Lights Cookies
Easy Hot Chocolate Lace Cookies
Lastly, if you make this Chocolate Pretzel Toffee, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Chocolate Pretzel Toffee
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 556 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, cubed
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup salted mini pretzel twist
- 2-3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts (or any other nut, optional)
- sea salt
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Arrange the pretzels in an even layer in the pan.2. Melt together the butter, brown sugar, and cream in a pot set over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture is bubbling, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla. Pour the sauce over the pretzels. Bake for 5 minutes, until the sauce is baked onto the pretzels. 3. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and bake for another 1 minute to melt. Spread the chocolate evenly, top with peanuts, and then sea salt. 4. Freeze or chill for 1 hour or until set. Break into small pieces for serving.
This post was originally published on December 13, 2024
So easy and fun to make. I didn’t have any issues with it being too soft or sticky like comments described below. Absolutely delicious 😋
Hi Alexa,
Wonderful! I’m so glad this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it! Merry Christmas!!🎄🎁☃️
Toffee did not set. Was a sticky mess. This recipe is for caramel not toffee.
Hi Briar,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. I do talk all about the recipe in the blog, I like my toffee soft, so it is a little bit of a combo of toffee/caramel. For a harder toffee, you can reduce the cream to 1T and then cook for 1-2 minutes longer. I hope this helps! xx
Delicious!! Made a double batch and it is so yummy! I mixed semi sweet & dark chocolate chips. I think I should have cooked the toffee longer but I was afraid I would burn it. Thank you!
Hi Sheri,
Happy Holidays!! Thanks a lot for making this recipe and your comment, so glad it turned out well! xx
This is so easy and SO GOOD!
I think I may have needed to cook the toffee just a bit longer, it was still somewhat soft after baking and freezing- but still amazingly yummy!
Thanks so much Nancy! xT
These were absolutely amazing!!How long will it keep in fridge? Does it travel well?
Thanks so much!! I would just store this covered on the counter top, it should be good up to a week 🙂 xT
After reading the comments, I used 1 TB of heavy cream for a crispier toffee. These are DELICIOUS!!! Almost sorry that I made them. lol I keep sneaking them but need to save for Christmas! I also used pretzels that were small squares instead of the knots and they fit perfectly in the 9 x 13 pan. Saving this recipe to my favorites! Thank you Tieghan for a simple delicious treat recipe!
Hey Deborah,
Awesome! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I’m so glad to hear it turned out well! Happy Holidays!🎄 xx
HELP!!! THE TOFFEE IS STUCK IN MY TEETH!!!
Tastes good but it is not toffee, it is pretty much a caramel. I was expecting it to actually break apart.
Hi Joanie,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! Yes, this is how I intended it to be:) For a hard toffee, you can just use 1 tablespoon of cream and cook for 1-2 minutes longer. I hope this helps! xx
Then please don’t call it toffee. This is insane.
Insane is an incredibly harsh term. It’s not the end of the world that she calls it toffee. Relax
Did someone already ask this, but do you start a 4 minute timer when the toffee is bubbly? Or is it 4 minutes total on the stove? Thanks!
Hi Cat,
You are going to start the 4 minute timer once the toffee is bubbly. I hope this helps! xT
Thank you! I can’t wait to try this 🙂
Good question. I was wondering the same thing the directions and blog isn’t real specific on this.
Hello,
Was going to try to make these in advance, how long will the keep for? Thank you!
Hi Melissa,
These are good for 1 week in an airtight container. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Hi Tieghan:)
I tried the recipe and loved it. It’s softer than my normal recipe and a bit messy to eat but other than that very tasty and easier to make.
Can I leave out the cream for a firmer toffee bottom? Or would it compromise the recipe?
Happy Holiday’s
Hey Diane,
Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback! You bet, you could reduce the cream to 1 tablespoon and cook for 1-2 minutes longer for a harder toffee. I hope this helps. Merry Christmas!! xT
Can you substitute bitter chocolate?
Hi Ann,
Totally, you can use any chocolate that you enjoy:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
It doesn’t harden, the flavor is great but it never gets to a break part, it’s gooey?
Hi Colleen,
This recipe is meant to be soft, I talk all about it in the body of the post:) If you want a harder toffee, you can reduce the cream and boil longer. I hope this helps! xx
Plenty of people use the “jump to recipe” feature. Calling something toffee that isn’t toffee is bound to be confusing if you don’t read the blog post, which is why it’s important to properly name things.
And please get a candy thermometer. You live in the mountains, things boil differently at altitude than sea level and its more precise for directions than 4 minutes.
Made it just as you directed and it’s amazing!
Thanks so much, Tiffany:) I love to hear this recipe turned out well for you! Have a nice week! xxT
Sooo yummy!! It’s more like a thick caramel so it would not break for me but so good to keep in the fridge. I’m also so sorry for these arrogant comments you get. People are cruel.
I also could noʻt get these to break. Otherwise I loved them. Any hints toʻ help with the breaking?
Hi Lynn,
You can cut with scissors. Or if you want a harder toffee just use 1 tablespoon of cream and cook for 1-2 minutes longer. I hope this helps! xx
Hey Emily,
Fantastic!! I’m so glad to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks a bunch for making it! Have the best week!🎄☃️ xT