White Chocolatey Peanut Butter Fudge Bars with Salted Pretzel Crust
With all the uncertainty this year has thrown us, I’ve been craving nostalgic foods that remind me of childhood. I’ve also been missing one of my favorite ways to connect with friends and family: sharing meals and cooking for one another! So this holiday season, I created a recipe that is nostalgic, “giftable" and travels really well. I was sure I wanted to come up with a recipe that involved peanut butter fudge (reminds me of growing up in New England) but I decided to make the fudge even more incredible than I remembered by using my favorite peanut butter, Peanut Butter & Co White Chocolatey Wonderful and adding a playful salty crust. The result was eat-every-last-crumb delicious: the crunchy, salty pretzel crust perfectly compliments the creamy, sweet white chocolate peanut butter fudge and dark chocolate. It is also so easy to make. The most time-consuming part of the recipe is allowing the fudge to set in the fridge. Hope you love these bars as much as I do!
Recipe created for Peanut Butter & Co. by Carina Zimmerman at @thebirdfeednyc
- Yield:18 bars
- Prep Time:35 minutes
- Cook Time:10 minutes
- Total Time:4 hours 55 minutes
Supplies
Parchment paper
9 x 13 baking pan or dish
Food processor or blender
Ingredients
Crust:
4 cups salted pretzels
4 tablespoons cane sugar
3/4 cup melted plant-based butter
White Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge:
1 1/2 cups Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolatey Wonderful
1 1/2 cups plant-based butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
Chocolate Layer:
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
White Chocolate Drizzle:
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 teaspoons coconut oil
* extra pretzels & sea salt for topping
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F and line your 9 x 13 baking pan or dish with a sheet of parchment paper.
In a food processor or high speed blender, add 4 cups salted pretzels and pulse to crush the pretzels. Don’t blend all the way until you have a powder! Leave some little pieces (not large) of pretzel and your crust will have the perfect texture.
In a mixing bowl, combine your crushed pretzels with melted butter and sugar. Mix well.
Transfer crust mixture to your lined baking pan and spread evenly and very firmly along the bottom of pan. Bake for 9-10 minutes and let cool while you prepare your fudge mixture.
To prepare the white chocolate fudge, in a sauce pan, over low heat, combine butter, Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolatey Wonderful and vanilla extract. Once melted, slowly incorporate your confectioner’s sugar. The resulting texture should be thick but still pourable.
Pour fudge mixture on top of crust, spread evenly and place pan in refrigerator to set for 2 hours.
Once the fudge is set, melt your dark chocolate chips and coconut oil in a double boiler until it is smooth and shiny.
Spread melted chocolate on top of fudge and place in refrigerator while you prepare your white chocolate.
Melt white chocolate chips and coconut oil and drizzle on top of dark chocolate. Top with pretzels, pretzel pieces and a pinch of sea salt then place back in your refrigerator for 2 hours or more.
Cook Notes
Additional Time: 4 hours 10 minutes in refrigerator total: 2 hours for fudge to set 10 minutes to set dark chocolate before drizzling white chocolate 2 hours to overnight to set completely before slicing.
Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Before cutting your fudge bars, leave at room temperature for 15 minutes or more to avoid cracking the chocolate.
Tags: Bake Yourself Happy Dessert Holiday Baking Holiday Recipe Peanut Butter & Co. Peanut Butter Dessert Peanut Butter Recipe vegan Vegan Recipe White Chocolate Wonderful White Chocolatey Wonderful