If you love salted caramel, you have to try these Whole Wheat Salted Caramel Pretzel Blondies! The pretzel bits inside give them a hint of crunch, and the sweet and salty flavors are perfectly balanced.
The secret to these blondies is the caramel syrup! It’s meant as a coffee flavoring syrup, but when poured over top of the blondies, it gets soaked in for 24 hours and makes them perfectly moist! (I’ve linked my preferred and tested caramel syrup below, but feel free to experiment with equivalent products!)
I like using finely ground sea salt to bake with, but you could use table salt if you prefer! I also enjoy adding a few decorative larger sea salt flakes for fun. You don’t want to over-salt when it comes to the topping, so just keep in mind that you can always start with a smaller amount and then add more to taste!
This post contains affiliate links from which I may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Read more here!
Kitchen Equipment:
- A 9 x 13 Glass Baking Dish
- Parchment Paper
- A Ziplock Bag + A Can Or A Jar (to crush the pretzels)
- 1 Large Bowl + 1 Medium Bowl
- A Hand Mixer
Servings: 12
Ingredients:
PART 1
- 1 1/4 Cups Crushed Mini Pretzel Pieces
- 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar, slightly packed
- 1/2 Cup Cane Sugar
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, slightly softened
- 2 Eggs, room temperature
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2 1/2 Cups White Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
PART 2
- 1/2 Cup Joe’s Organic Caramel Syrup
- A Few Pinches Of Fine Sea Salt, to taste
Directions:
PART 1
To Prep: Let the butter and eggs come to room temperature, then very briefly slightly soften the butter in the microwave
Preheat the oven to 350°
Line a glass 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper
Take your mini pretzels, add them to a sealed ziplock bag, and crush them (I use the bottom of a can on an angle!) – The pieces should be the equivalent of “chopped”, not huge but not crushed into a powder either
Set the pretzel pieces aside
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together with a hand mixer on a low setting until combined
Add in the eggs and vanilla extract, and beat briefly again until combined
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt with a fork
Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using the lowest mixer setting
Stir in the broken pretzel pieces with a spoon
Spread the batter into the prepared pan
Bake for around 23 minutes – or until the edges are just turning golden (I usually keep mine on the slightly undercooked side!)
Let fully cool
PART 2
Slowly and evenly drizzle the caramel syrup over the blondies
Sprinkle a few small pinches of sea salt over them evenly as well
Ideally they should sit for about 24 hours, or until the syrup has completely soaked into the blondies without any visible liquid sitting on top
Additional sea salt and can be added when serving to taste
Enjoy!