Butter toffee pretzels are made with pretzels coated in a sweet, buttery toffee coating with extra crunchy toffee bits on top. Share a bowl of this sweet and salty snack with your favorite people and watch how quickly it disappears!
Toffee is a flavor I can’t get enough of, whether it’s in toffee doodle cookies or peanut butter Christmas crack. It’s brown sugary, buttery, and perfectly sweet and when it sets it delivers a delicious crunch.
That’s why it only takes one bite of these butter toffee pretzels to give up pretending I’m not about to eat the whole bowl in one sitting. Chances are, that’s exactly what’s about to go down.
Luckily it makes a big batch because not only are they a fun treat to snack on for the holidays or to put out on your treat table, but they make the best edible gifts, too!
Baked Toffee Pretzels
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Uses simple ingredients you may already have on hand.
- The sweet and salty, sweet and crunchy combination is the best.
- This recipe makes about 10 cups, but you can easily make more if needed.
- Great for the holidays, but they work as a year-round treat too.
Helpful Tools
Ingredients
Below is a list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather to make this recipe, why you need them, and possible substitutions. Scroll all the way down for the full recipe card with measurements.
Jump- Pretzels: I like using waffle pretzels or mini twists because they give me the same grip as a chip or cracker, but you can use pretzel sticks if you like.
- Light brown sugar: When melted with butter, it’s what makes toffee toffee!
- Salted butter: I use salted butter to enhance the salty flavor, but you can use unsalted if you prefer.
- Light corn syrup: This helps to prevent crystallization once the brown sugar is dissolved, so it stays nice and smooth without a gritty texture.
- Vanilla extract: For flavor!
- Baking soda: When the baking soda reacts with the mixture, it creates air bubbles. This process helps to keep the toffee soft enough so that once it sets, it doesn’t crack your teeth!
- Toffee bits: You can use just toffee bits or Heath bits, which have bits of almond in the toffee. The same ones I use on my better than sex cake.
How to make Butter Toffee Bits
This section shows you how to make this recipe, with process photos showing the steps to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
Jump- Step One: Pour the pretzels out of the bag into a large bowl and set it aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir the brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup together and bring it to a boil. Stir constantly for 5 minutes.
- Step Two: Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and baking soda. It will bubble up!
- Step Three: Pour the hot caramel over the pretzels in the bowl and stir evenly to coat. Sprinkle half the toffee bits into the bowl and once again stir it.
- Step Four: Transfer the coated pretzels onto a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprayed with nonstick spray (trust me, you need it). Arrange it so that they’re in a single layer and bake in a preheated 200°F oven for an hour. Stir every 15 minutes.
- Step Five: At the end of the hour, remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the remaining toffee bits over the pretzels. Let them set for an hour, and then, once cooled and solid, break apart any large pieces.
- Don’t skip the 15-minute interval stirring. The mixture will be thick and will be hard to stir as it continues to bake, so stirring every 15 minutes ensures all the nooks and crannies get some of the buttery toffee.
- Have fun with extra toppings. Festive sprinkles, chopped nuts, a drizzle of melted chocolate, etc.
- Once they’ve cooled, you can also dip some of the in melted chocolate. Keep them as is, or sprinkle with chopped peanuts, pecans, walnuts, or a bit of flaked sea salt.
- Combine the pretzels with some candied cashews or candied pecans for a fun mix!
Storage & Leftovers
How to store leftovers
Keep butter toffee pretzels in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll keep for about a week.
I don’t recommend freezing them, they can get soggy.
FAQs
Why is my toffee so hard to spread?
Don’t worry, this is normal! That’s why we bake it and stir it every 15 minutes. It melts and thins it out in the oven so it’s easier to coat the pretzels.
If you are finding it’s still hard to spread after the hour, keep it in there for an extra 15 minutes.
How to prevent overcooking toffee?
Overcooking the toffee even before adding the baking soda is a surefire way to end up with toffee that’s too hard! It’s important to remove it from the heat after 5 minutes of boiling, before adding the baking soda.
Need more holiday treats? Try these:
Slow Cooker Cinnamon Sugar Candied Almonds
Grinch Christmas Cream Cheese Mints
Click here to view my entire collection of dessert recipes.
Butter Toffee Pretzels
Ingredients
- 16 ounces pretzels waffles or twists
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup salted butter cubed
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 8 ounces toffee bits divided (Heath bits)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°F and line a lipped baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray with non-stick spray.
- Pour the pretzels into a large bowl and set aside.16 ounces pretzels
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the brown sugar, cubed butter, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil and stir constantly for 5 minutes.1 cup light brown sugar, ½ cup salted butter, ¼ cup light corn syrup
- Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and baking soda. The mixture will bubble up.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Pour the hot mixture over the pretzels and stir to evenly coat.
- Sprinkle half the bag of toffee bits over the pretzels and stir to distribute.8 ounces toffee bits
- Pour the coated pretzels into a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Once the hour is up, remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the remaining toffee bits over the pretzels.
- Let the pretzels set on the counter for about an hour and then break up any large pieces.
Notes
- Mini pretzel twists, waffles, or even sticks can be used.
- Stir every 15 minutes while baking to keep mixture evenly coated.
- I like to use salted butter because I like a good salty to sweet contrast, but you can use unsalted.
- After cooling, dip pieces in melted chocolate and add toppings if desired.
- Store leftovers covered at room temperature for up to a week.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag me on Instagram @melissa_pplates so I can see!
Did You Make This?
If you made this recipe, I’d love to know how it went in the comments section below.
You can also tag me on Instagram – @melissa_ppplates or share a pic in the Persnickety Plates Community Facebook group. I love seeing what you’ve tried!
These butter toffee pretzels are amazing! Quick and easy snack, I’ll eat the entire batch if I don’t put them away😊
I was literally eating the last of mine as your email came through 😅 I’m kinda thankful I’m finishing them off lol