Salted Caramel Popcorn, Pretzel & Peanut Bars
Let me introduce you to Rice Krispies treats on crack. Or steroids. Pick your poison. These are insanely, dangerously addictive. There aren’t even any Rice Krispies in them. Instead, we have a mixture of popcorn, pretzels and peanuts. And you know the whole butter and marshmallow mixture that traditionally binds everything together? Forget about it. How about marshmallows mixed with salted caramel? It’s the ultimate sweet and salty snack bar. It’s Rice Krispies treats meet Cracker Jacks. And this hybrid beats them both. I think I’m still in awe of how delicious this creation is. Also, have I mentioned how much I adore salted caramel? I currently want to put it on everything.
Here you go, the sweet and salty lineup.
We have salted caramel, popcorn, pretzels, peanuts, and another healthy dose of kosher salt. Sweet and salty heaven. I could bathe in this stuff!
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Now, for the popcorn you’re going to want to either pop your own or use a “homestyle” version – absolutely no added butter or flavorings, or it would just taste weird. I was planning on popping my own and then happened to see this while perusing the chip and pretzel aisle. If you can find something similar, then I would totally rock the microwave. One bag of this stuffed popped up almost exactly 12 cups of popcorn. Score!
The bars are pretty much made exactly like typical Rice Krispies treats. Only instead of melting butter, you make a salted caramel sauce, then stir in the marshmallows until melted. Pour it over all of the salted goodies (popcorn, pretzels and peanuts), mix it up, and press it into your pan. Let it cool and set up, cut it into bars, and then dive right into heaven.
One year ago: Pumpkin Pie Bars
Two years ago: Potato Rosemary Bread
Three years ago: Challah
Salted Caramel Popcorn, Pretzel & Peanut Bars
Ingredients
- 12 cups (132 g) plain popped popcorn
- 4 cups (320 g) coarsely chopped salted pretzels
- 1 cup (146 g) salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (125 ml) water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
- ⅔ cup (158.67 ml) heavy cream
- 2 cups (150 g) miniature marshmallows
Instructions
- Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.
- Toss together the popcorn, pretzels and peanuts in a large bowl; set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil, without stirring, until the mixture reaches an amber color, about 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly pour in the heavy cream (the mixture will bubble up and sputter). Immediately add the marshmallows and stir until melted.
- Pour the salted caramel mixture over the popcorn, pretzel and peanut mixture and quickly stir together with a rubber spatula (I find that spraying the spatula with nonstick cooking spray makes this easier) until all of the popcorn, pretzels and peanuts are coated with the caramel mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared 9x13-inch pan. Spray a small piece of wax paper with nonstick cooking spray and use to press mixture evenly into pan. Sprinkle with some additional kosher. Cool completely and then cut into bars. These can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
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Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
A very yummy snack! Made it with homemade popcorn and it turned out great. Kids are loving having it as an after school snack. We are popcorn junkies making it old style on the stove. Love to see more popcorn creations.
I am NEVER making these again. I can’t – I’ve just eaten a good quarter of the batch.
These are SOOOOO good. They’re a little salty for my taste, but that could just be that I consumed about 80 times the reasonable service size.
Delicious and easy. Thank you!!
Just made these and they are AMAZING!! I made these for a big party and doubled the recipe so it took me about twice the amount of time for the sugar mixture to turn amber, but once it began to turn color it went really quickly. The caramel mixture spelled unbelievably good. Mine were extra sticky, maybe I went a little overboard with the caramel mixture, so the bars aren’t very pretty but they taste amazing. Thanks for the recipe!
These sound really delicious! Got to try them!
Hi Michelle!
I just made these last night, and they turned out completely soggy. I measured it all and followed the recipe to a T. I let them sit overnight, and in the morning all of the caramel-marshmallow stuff was on the bottom of the pan. What do you suggest I try to fix this?
The flavors were delicious, but they were not servable.
Hi Lauren, I’m so sorry to hear that! I wonder if either the mixture wasn’t mixed completely (not all of the caramel mixture was distributed) and/or it was a little too warm and a stint in the refrigerator would help next time to get them to set up faster?
Oh, these look good! Too good! Going to be giving this a try very, very soon. :)
Those bars look so good!
Seriously drooling. You’re an evil genius, peddling salted caramel. I need to find me a reason to make these babies. Aside from, you know, just because. I’d be tempted to add just a drizzle of some semi sweet chocolate but that may be gilding the lily a bit.
These are absolutely yummy the savory and sweet combo is so different… I once tried pickled mango same palette of flavors sweet and sour…..Yum
I just LOVE the sweet and salty combo in these bars!!
Oh, my goodness… These look seriously easy to make and dangerously addicting! Thanks for sharing!
There is a local woman in North Pole, AK that makes insanely delicious caramels, plain and with sea salt. this would be good to try with them – if I could save enough to try it ;o)
Just wanted to follow up and say that these are AMAZING! They are the perfect combo of salty and sweet and I could hardly stop sneaking bites when I was slicing them up to bring to the office.
Not sure if I should thank you for bringing these into my life or hate you :)
Hi Michelle,
I bought all of the ingredients to make these tonight but I have a quick question regarding the amount of popcorn. The recipe calls for 12 cups (of already popped, I am assuming), is that correct? It just seems like a lot of popcorn compared to all of the other ingredients, so I figured better safe than sorry and just double check.
Thanks,
Kristin C.
Hi Kristin, Yes, 12 cups popped. It does seem like a lot, but I promise it all works :)
Hi Michelle,
Ok then, I trust you! Thanks for getting back to me :)
Have a great weekend!
Kristin
SAD!! :( I think I burned the caramel…and it was barely 8 minutes. Hate seeing all this goodness wasted! Just wanted to warn everyone to really WATCH that carmel! On the plus side my waistline will be happy ;)
Wow, these sound so good!
This is simply inspired!! Must make these soon!
Holy cow, I could eat caramel popcorn all day! These bars would create a serious addiction! they sound amazing!!!
These have been on my list for a few weeks now! They look amazing, does it get any better than salty sweet goodness? I’m going to add in M&M’s and candy corn, mmm!
I thought these were good but I might have done something wrong like not cooking my Carmel long enough because they seem to fall apart fairly easy. But the family liked anyway.
These would make the perfect party treat!
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.com/
These look amazing! We just got word at work about a last-minute lunch tomorrow and they’re asking some of us to bring dessert. I’ve made my grocery list to pick up everything I need to make these :)
I really need to make these! Love all the different components.
These look insane. I’m throwing in some peanut butter chips too!
Okay – it’s official….you are now the coolest person I know! Buzzed!
Those look a million times better than boring old Rice Krisies treats!
These look so delicious and simple too. Love it!
Wow! Off the charts!
that’s going to do NOTHING (good) for my diet. Goodness – I could munch the lot !
Oh.
My.
Goodness.
This is one of few posts that makes me want to run to the store to get all the ingredients…and I literally mean run, because I don’t have a car.
But…homework calls, so these will have to be made tomorrow. But they will be made. ASAP. Because anything with salt, caramel, popcorn, and pretzels would be a sin NOT to make.