Pretzel Crunch

This is my new favorite snack! The kids can't wait for it to cool, and my family just can't get enough. I made a double batch to package some for the kids' teachers, but when it came time to package it up, I just didn't want to! (I did anyway...)

Sure, they are not much to look at and not very complicated to make, and that might just be the dangerous part! Too easy to make just another batch!

Pretzel Crunch

Recipe created by Christina Tosi - Milk Bar

4 cups salted mini pretzels – about 1/2 of a 16-ounce bag

1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons milk powder

1/3 cup malted milk powder

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

14 tablespoons butter (1 stick, plus 6 tablespoons), melted

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

2. Pour the pretzels in a large bowl and crush them with your hands to one-quarter of their original size. Add the milk powder, malt powder, sugar, and salt, toss to mix. Add the butter and toss to coat. As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the pretzels and creating small clusters.

3. Spread the clusters on a parchment- or silpat-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes, until it looks toasted, and sugar coating bubbles and coats the pretzels.

4. Cool the pretzel crunch completely before storing. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for 1 week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep for 1 month. 

I used small letter shaped pretzels so I didn't crumble them up, just left them as-is. The last few times I made this recipe, the butter separated from the rest of the ingredients while baking, so I might try to reduce the amount of butter next time I make this. I also toss the mixture once while baking, and a few times while its cooling so that the sugar coats the pretzels properly. And lastly, if the pretzels aren't very salty, I suggest adding a pinch of salt of two. The very first batch I made with the bottom of the bag where all the salt had collected, and it was my most favorite batch to date. I'm sure the added salt made the difference!