The Domestic Rebel

Everyday Ingredients, Extraordinary Desserts

Butter Toffee Pretzels

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Gold and white bowl of butter toffee pretzels on white wood with pink cloth

Ready for the most addictive snack? These Butter Toffee Pretzels are insanely delicious, sweet and salty, buttery and crunchy goodness!

This may be one of the most addictive snacks I have ever made! Full stop, no joke. If you have issues with stopping after a handful, you’re going to want to steer clear of this one. Just kidding – you have got to try it and see what the hype’s about.

I got the idea for these addictive pretzels from watching a friend’s Trader Joe’s haul on Instagram Stories. She said she picked up some butter toffee pretzels from TJ’s and said they were amazing. While I only live about 10 minutes from a Trader Joe’s, I loathe going there because it is always insanely busy. The parking lot is comically small and cramped, and inside is just a madhouse, even with their new shopping restrictions. So yeah, I only like going if I absolutely, positively have to (like for their potstickers – yum!).

Perhaps I’ll pick some up another time, but to avoid the madhouse I decided I’d make my own and boy, I am glad I did! These Butter Toffee Pretzels are so delicious and easy, too!

Butter toffee pretzels scattered on brown parchmentYou simply add an entire bag of pretzel twists to a large roasting pan that’s been lightly greased with cooking spray (trust me, this makes clean-up a breeze!). Then, you’ll make your toffee mixture. It’s as simple as adding butter, brown sugar, and light corn syrup to a saucepan and boiling it, then adding in some vanilla and baking soda. Pour the hot toffee mixture evenly over the pretzels, toss to coat, and I sprinkled in some Heath toffee bits on top for added crunch and to really drive home that toffee goodness.

Gold and white bowl with butter toffee pretzels on white woodThe hardest part is the time it takes to bake – 1 hour, with stirring every 15 minutes to ensure the toffee coats each pretzel piece. Once baked, spread it out onto a wax paper-lined countertop and let it cool so the toffee coating hardens over the pretzels. It’ll create these irresistible little clusters of toffee pretzels – YUM.

Closeup white bowl of butter toffee pretzels with pink cloth in backgroundThese are sweet, salty, buttery, crunchy and SO divine! You’re going to love my Butter Toffee Pretzels – TJ’s who?!

Closeup of butter toffee pretzels on parchment

NOTE: Some of you had questions regarding your butter toffee pretzels. The first is that your pretzels look dull and not shiny. This is normal! My studio was very bright when I shot these, and the glare on the pretzels is mistaken for super shiny pretzels. A dull/matte finish is normal. Second is that the toffee is hard to spread. This is also normal! The toffee will be hard to coat all of the pretzels at first which is why we have to bake it for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes, to help thin out the toffee mixture and try to evenly coat the pretzels. Clumping is normal because it creates those addictive toffee clusters on the pretzels. If your toffee is very hard, bake for an additional 15 minutes (so 1 hr and 15 min total). 

butter toffee pretzels in white bowl on white wood
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5 from 19 votes

Butter Toffee Pretzels

These Butter Toffee Pretzels are addictive, easy and SO divine! Buttery, crunchy, sweet and salty perfection in one easy and irresistible snack mix!
Prep Time1 hr
Cook Time1 hr 5 mins
Total Time2 hrs 5 mins
Course: Candy, Dessert
Cuisine: American, Dessert
Servings: 10 cups

Ingredients

  • 10 cups (One 16 oz bag) mini pretzel twists
  • 1 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter cubed
  • 1/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 bag Heath toffee bits

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 200° degrees F. Lightly grease a large roasting pan with cooking spray; I use a disposable one for easy cleanup. Add the pretzels to the roasting pan; set aside.
  • In a medium saucepan, add the brown sugar, cubed butter, and corn syrup and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract and baking soda; the toffee will bubble violently - this is normal.
  • Pour the hot toffee mixture evenly over the pretzels; sprinkle half of the bag of toffee bits over the pretzel mixture, too. Toss the pretzels to coat evenly in the toffee mixture and toffee bits.
  • Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes to ensure the hot toffee mixture evenly coats the pretzels. Once baked, spread the pretzel mixture onto a wax paper-lined countertop and immediately sprinkle with the remaining toffee bits. Allow the pretzels to set and harden, about 1 hour, before breaking into smaller clusters and packaging.

Notes

These pretzels will last about a week if stored properly in an airtight container at room temperature.

White bowl filled with butter toffee pretzelsYou guys are going to love how addictively sweet and salty these pretzels are!

Butter Toffee Pretzels photo collage

Have a super sweet day!

xo, Hayley

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Comments

  2. These taste amazing but when I removed the toffee sauce from heat and whisked in the baking soda and vanilla the sauce became very thick and didn’t spread evenly over the pretzels. What did I do wrong?

    Reply

    • Hi Kristi, it does thicken a bit and can be hard to spread over all the pretzels, but as you cook it and stop to toss/stir the pretzels during the baking time, it should continue to thin out and coat more pretzels.

      Reply

    • Hi Catherine, I’m not sure if you’re referring to the toffee mixture or toffee bits. The hot toffee mixture gets added to the pretzels just before baking, as well as half of the toffee bits. The remaining toffee bits get added after baking after you spread onto parchment to set.

      Reply

  4. 5 stars
    So easy and delicious! I used two 9×13 pans in place of the roasting pan and I lined them with tinfoil for easy cleanup. Bringing to friends in small baggies as little quarantine holiday gifts. Highly recommend this recipe!

    Reply

  5. Is it terrible to leave off the Heath bits?? I’m diabetic and theses sound so delicious, but hate to add any more sugary stuff…..

    Reply

  7. 5 stars
    I too thought the hot toffee mix was too clumpy to spread evenly. My remedy was to raise the oven temp to 300 degrees for the last 15 minutes Magic! Then i stirred and gave it another 5 minutes in 300 degree oven. That really loosened the coating. Yummy! This will be a new Christmas gift to friends and neighbors. Sweet, Salty, Crunchy Perfection!

    Reply

  8. 5 stars
    This is such a delicious, and simple recipe! I was concerned about during every 15 mins but it went by fast & turned out great. I will be making it for the holidays for my family.

    Reply

  9. Hi there! I’m going to be making these today but only have dark corn syrup. Is that okay to use ? Should I use less or more of it? Pls let me know. Thank you!!

    Reply

  10. Making these today! Do you use the toffee bits that have chocolate mixed in as well? Or just the bits o brickel toffe bits?

    Reply

  11. 5 stars
    I so badly wanted this to turn out but as stated above after I added the soda/vanilla, it was so thick there was no way i could get it all spread out. I didn’t start timing it until AFTER it started boiling. I was going to send this to my father in law who lives in assisted living but I had mostly clumps and probably a half bag of loose pretzels. Any other suggestions?

    Reply

  13. Your pretzels look so shiny mine did not come out that way. They are delicious . Any tips would be helpful

    Reply

  15. My toffee went opaque because semi crumbly when in the oven. Is this normal or did something happen to my toffee mix? Thanks! Otherwise very delicious.

    Reply

    • Hi Sara, it isn’t super shiny – it tends to veer more matte/opaque. As the toffee bakes in the oven, it thins some which is why we stop to stir the pretzels every 15 minutes to ensure they get evenly coated. Towards the end of that time, though, the toffee will harden and clump to the pretzels. It sounds like it worked just as it should have!

      Reply

  16. 5 stars
    Made these for the first time today and they are SO good! I may try the suggestion of raising the oven temp for the last 15 minutes to spread out the coating a bit more and to help the second half of the toffee bits stick better.

    Reply

  19. I made these yesterday, my toffee was also to thick to coat pretzels well, if I make again I will try the method mentiined above to turn up oven to 300 degrees the last 15 minutes. At 200 degrees it did not thin out at all.

    Reply

  20. DO NOT USE THE BRICKLE COVERED IN CHOCOLATE. That is all. Find the ingredients as Haley has written.

    Reply

  22. 5 stars
    Soooo yummy!! This recipe is awesome! I followed the directions exactly and they turned out great. I already plan to make a second batch.

    Reply

  23. 5 stars
    This is the best salty-sweet treat I have had in a long time and I will have these on repeat every holiday. I read some comments that there were issues with the toffee clumping and hardening, but if you follow the recipe then it should even out as you stir and bake the pretzels.

    Reply

    • Hi Michelle, I’m sorry, I have not tried making this with nuts. I think it should work, but I don’t know for sure.

      Reply

  25. 5 stars
    These were great! So easy, pantry ingredients, and SO GOOD if you like the salty and sweet combo! I am currently making a second batch because I know these won’t last.

    Reply

  26. 5 stars
    So easy. So delicious. I only used the half bag of toffee bits instead of adding anymore in and they were still amazing. So so so gonna make and enjoy again.

    Reply

  27. 5 stars
    Went to Trader Joe’s to buy additional bags of their Butter Toffee Pretzels to find out they were seasonal and gone until next year. Was so happy to find this basically simple recipe as I am no cook. Just finished making these. Absolutely amazing! As good if not better than TJs. I used toffee bits with chocolate (all I could find) so after taking out of oven after initial hour spread them out on two separate disposable cookie sheets covered with wax paper added the rest of the bits and threw them back in warm oven for two minutes so they could melt a bit and better stick to pretzels. Will have to divide into smaller baggy portions otherwise I can see me gobbling down large amounts in one sitting Thanks for this great recipe.

    Reply

  28. 5 stars
    Instead of pouring the mixture over the pretzels in the roasting pan.. I had the pretzels in a bowl and poured the mixture over and tossed to cover in the bowl before pouring the covered pretzels into the roasting pan. The pretzels were all very evenly covered from the beginning that way!!! Yum thanks for this recipe.

    Reply

  30. does the boiling time include the heat up to boiling? my toffee sauce was so hard and didn’t soften enough in the oven the properly coat the pretzels

    Reply

    • Hi Beth, the corn syrup is necessary to create the toffee. You could try adding in maple extract to the toffee after it has boiled.

      Reply

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