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!
You 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.
The 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.
These are sweet, salty, buttery, crunchy and SO divine! You’re going to love my Butter Toffee Pretzels – TJ’s who?!
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
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
You guys are going to love how addictively sweet and salty these pretzels are!
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley
Angela says
would this work with mixed nuts?
thedomesticrebel says
Hi Angela, yes that’d be amazing!
KristiP says
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?
thedomesticrebel says
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.
Catherine says
Do you add the toffee before or after removing from heat?
thedomesticrebel says
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.
Amy Hayes says
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!
thedomesticrebel says
Amy, thank you so much for your review! So glad you enjoyed them and great idea for gifting!
Susie says
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…..
thedomesticrebel says
Hi Susie, not at all!
Donna Wakefield says
Oh Man! You are right these are addictive. I am glad I only made 1/2 batch.
Cbaby says
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!
thedomesticrebel says
Hi Cbaby, so glad you enjoyed!
Bre says
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.
Alex says
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!!
thedomesticrebel says
Hi Alex, yes, that should be fine!
Mckenzie says
Making these today! Do you use the toffee bits that have chocolate mixed in as well? Or just the bits o brickel toffe bits?
thedomesticrebel says
Hi McKenzie, I use the bits o’ brickle version, but the chocolate covered version would work too!
Jan says
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?
thedomesticrebel says
Hi Jan, as it bakes the toffee mixture thins out some. Stirring helps coat the pretzels.
Diane Shepherd says
Can th8is recipe be DOUBLED or should I make two batches? Thank you, and God .bless….
thedomesticrebel says
Hi Diane, with any candy mixture I recommend making two separate batches.
Beatrice Udzielak Vode says
Your pretzels look so shiny mine did not come out that way. They are delicious . Any tips would be helpful
thedomesticrebel says
Hi Beatrice, that may be a trick of the light and photography. Mine were not super shiny either.
Jessica Hauserman says
These are amazing!!!! I will be making them again.
Sara says
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.
thedomesticrebel says
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!
Melody says
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.
Baylee says
These are incredibly addicting! Delicious and will definitely be making again!
Jess says
These are AMAZING! Can’t wait to give these out with the rest of my baked goods for Christmas!
Pat says
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.
Angela Milano Morrissey says
DO NOT USE THE BRICKLE COVERED IN CHOCOLATE. That is all. Find the ingredients as Haley has written.
Amanda.S says
Can’t stop eating! These are great for Christmas gifts. A little sweet and salty treat.
Mary says
Soooo yummy!! This recipe is awesome! I followed the directions exactly and they turned out great. I already plan to make a second batch.
Dawn says
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.
Michelle Sullivan says
If I use peanuts instead of pretzels, should I change the temp or timing in the oven?
thedomesticrebel says
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.
Maggie says
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.
Rachel says
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.
Susan says
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.
Anne says
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.
Diana leslie says
Can you salted butter instead of unsalted?
thedomesticrebel says
I worry the mixture would be overly salty with the pretzels!
norma simpson says
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