Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

turtle pretzel bark

Recipe by
Fran Miller
Parkersburg, WV

I am always on the lookout for easy, but impressive, treats. This recipe pulled from different ideas is so adaptable to whatever you have on hand in your pantry. Besides stirring the caramel for 12 or so minutes, the rest is just deciding what to use in your bark. The basic ingredients in the list are for Turtle Bark, but feel free to make up your own combos. Caramel NEEDS salt, but I held off adding more because the pretzels and the butter I used were all salted. But if you’re using unsalted crackers as the base, a pinch or so of large grain sea salt might be perfect. =^..^=

yield serving(s)
prep time 5 Min
cook time 15 Min
method Stove Top

Ingredients For turtle pretzel bark

  • some
    thin pretzels; wheels or rounds work well
  • some
    pecans, optional
  • 2 stick
    butter
  • 1 c
    brown sugar, packed
  • up to 3/4 bag
    chocolate chips
  • some
    candy sprinkles, optional
  • OTHER OPTIONS—ADD IN STEP #8.
  • some
    m & m’s
  • some
    heath bits or other chips
  • some
    coconut
  • some
    peanut butter chips
  • some
    crushed candy canes
  • some
    mini marshmallows
  • some
    crushed potato chips
  • some
    crackers instead of pretzels in step #3
  • other
    nuts or mixed nuts, added in step #3

How To Make turtle pretzel bark

  • 1
    Cover a pizza pan or smaller rimmed cookie sheet*** with aluminum foil. Leave foil “handles” on the ends for easy bark removal later. Mist foil with cooking spray. *** I think a slightly bigger pan with a few more pretzels and nuts would also work, if you don’t want the caramel to come out so thick. I’m thinking I might prefer that myself next time. See photo in Step #9 to see what you think.
  • 2
    Preheat oven to 325°F.
  • 3
    Cover the bottom of the foil-covered pan with a single layer of pretzels and nuts. Set aside for now.
  • 4
    In a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat, melt the 2 sticks of butter. Add the packed brown sugar and start stirring continuously. (Music or conversation helps pass the time.) Once the brown sugar mixture starts to thicken into caramel and the caramel comes to a ROLLING BOIL, continue stirring for 2 more minutes.
  • 5
    Pour caramel over pretzels and nuts. Don’t worry about spreading it to all pretzels at this time.
  • 6
    Pop the pan of caramel, pretzels, and nuts into the preheated 325°F oven. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven carefully. The caramel is LAVA HOT,
  • 7
    Sprinkle chocolate chips QUICKLY over the caramel, pretzels, and nuts. Return the pan to the oven for ONE MORE MINUTE.
  • Sprinkles added to the Turtle Pretzel Bark.
    8
    Remove the pan from the oven and place on a heat-safe surface. Use a spatula to spread out the melting chocolate chips, if you want, and make sure all pretzels have caramel. Add sprinkles to the warm chocolate, if desired. This is also the step to add any of the options listed in the ingredients list before the bark cools.
  • Finished Turtle Pretzel Bark
    9
    Cool the bark in the fridge until totally cold & safe to touch. Remove the bark from the pan using the foil “handles” and then peel off the foil totally. Break the bark into bite-size pieces. Store in an airtight container in a cool place or in the fridge. Enjoy! =^..^=

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