Trail Mix. Chocolate covered pretzels. Caramel Popcorn. A milk shake with a side of french fries (and something to unclog your arteries).
So. What do all of these glorious foods have in common? What makes the undeniably delicious and addicting? It’s the salty-sweet factor. When a food has both salt and sweetness, it encompasses the best of both worlds and satisfies almost any craving. It’s like your taste buds don’t even know what to do with themselves when presented with such goodness all at once. So that is why I present to you today, a salty-sweet treat, containing Rice Krispy cereal, pretzels, chocolate and peanut butter, in a three-layered bar form. This no-bake recipe is slightly time-consuming, as each layer has to harden in the fridge before you pour on the next layer. I almost lost it waiting for these things to be ready so I obviously stuck the pan in the freezer to speed up the process of getting them from the pan into my mouth. Some say that it’s all about the journey, not the destination. Well with this recipe, while the journey is fine enough, the destination is delicious.
To start, chop up your pretzels (I used a potato masher- points for creativity?) and mix the pieces around with the Rice Krispies in a big bowl. Leave this to the side.
Combine a quarter cup of both sugar and water with three tablespoons of lite corn syrup in a saucepan over high heat.
Let this mixture come to a boil, and cook for about 3-5 minutes. If you want to get technical, use a candy thermometer to determine when the liquid gets to 235 degrees F. If you’re like me on the other hand, and haven’t reached that point in your culinary development where you actually own a candy thermometer, then you’ll be fine just timing this step out. (Unfortunately, after making this recipe, a candy thermometer is now on my wish list of random kitchen appliances, along with an electric griddle and a zucchini spiralizer).
Pretending my spoon is a candy thermometer.
After removing from heat, stir in the butter until melted.
Next, pour the corn syrup mixture over the Rice Krispy-pretzel combo, and stir until completely coated. Transfer into a greased 8×8 pan, and pat it down to spread out evenly.
Let’s move on to the middle layer. In a small sauce pan, combine the two most wonderful things in the world together over medium heat. For those of you who haven’t caught on yet, or read my earlier posts through which I confess my undying love for these two items, I am referring to the chocolate and peanut butter. Continuously stir, until the chocolate chips are melted, and remove from heat.
I had to refrain from eating this by itself -_-
Pour the chocolate-peanut butter over the cereal-pretzel layer, and smooth out. Get the pan into the fridge or freezer and stare desperately at the clock for 30 minutes until it’s hardened.
It’s time for the final layer. Rinse out your small sauce pan, and combine 1/2 tsp of lite corn syrup with 3 oz of semi-sweet chocolate and a half of a stick of butter over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Pour this layer over the now-hardened middle layer, and spread until smooth.
Sprinkle some PB chips over the top if you please (I definitely pleased).
Leave the pan in the fridge or freezer for another 30 minutes to an hour. Cut these babies up, take a bite, and then take another bite. Just eat the whole thing, and then maybe eat another. 
These are best served right out of the fridge or freezer. Keeping these in the fridge, out of view, rather than on a plate on the counter, also helps with the urge to eat one every time you walk by.
Recipe
Ingredients
First Layer
- 1 cup of crushed pretzels
- 3/4 cup of Rice Krispy cereal
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1/4 cup of white sugar
- 3 tablespoons of lite corn syrup
- 3 table spoons of butter
Middle Layer
- 5 oz of milk chocolate chips
- 1 cup of creamy peanut butter
Top Layer
- 3 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp of lite corn syrup
Enjoy!
*Inspired by a recipe posted on My Daily Morsel*