Inside BruCrew Life

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Caramel Pretzel Cheesecake Brownies

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The sweet and salty layers in these Caramel Pretzel Cheesecake Brownies will have you reaching for another one brownie in a hurry!

Caramel Pretzel Cheesecake Brownies - pretzel crust, caramel cheesecake, & chocolate brownies make an awesome dessert recipe! Sweet & salty in every bite!

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The summer Olympics are just around the corner…there is something so fun about waiting every four years for the summer Olympics to come back around.

My favorite sport to watch has always been the gymnastics. It amazes me how flexible and agile those athletes are!!!

When I was younger, I always dreamed of being a world famous gymnast traveling the world. I think watching the movie Nadia over and over and over had something to do with that. Has anyone seen that movie recently?

I would love to watch it with my daughter after the Olympics are over, but I can’t seem to locate it anywhere. Even our local library doesn’t have a copy!

Caramel Pretzel Cheesecake Brownies - these brownies are an amazing dessert that you have to try. Sweet and salty goodness in every bite!

It’s a good thing I decided to pursue my baking dream instead. That one has worked out much better for me…especially since I never even took gymnastics classes.

So, since I need to get prepared for hours and hours of Olympic watching, I made some brownies. Oh, but not just any brownies. These treats got a little bit more fun added to them.

Fun…like being sandwiched between a salty pretzel crust and a caramel cheesecake, and then chocolate covered pretzel rings on top.

That’s the kind of fun baking stuff that happens in my kitchen. (If you are looking for an easier treat, you might like these caramel pretzel cookie dough bites instead.)

But after one bite of these caramel pretzel cheesecake brownies, and you might be doing flips down the hall…even if you have never done them before in your life.

Want to know my favorite part of this recipe? The salty pretzel bottom!! And the best part is that it stayed crunchy and salty even after a few days in the fridge.

Gotta love it when that happens.

Caramel Pretzel Cheesecake Brownies recipe:

Caramel Pretzel Cheesecake Brownies

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 53 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

Yield: 24 brownies

Caramel Pretzel Cheesecake Brownies

Caramel cheesecake with a pretzel and brownie crust is one dessert you will not forget.

Ingredients

    For the Crust
  • 2 cups coarsely crushed pretzels
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup sugar
    For the Cheesecake Brownies
  • 1 box brownie mix (9x13 size)
  • 2 packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
    For the Topping
  • 1/2 cup caramel candies (about 12 squares)
  • 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon shortening
    For the Pretzel rings
  • 2 cups pretzel rings
  • 12 ounces vanilla Candiquik coating
  • blue, black, red, yellow, and green gel food coloring
  • 5 teaspoons shortening

Instructions

  1. Stir together the crushed pretzels, sugar, and melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9×13 pan that has been sprayed with non stick spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
  2. Prepare the brownie mix according to the directions on the back of the box. Spoon 2/3 of the brownie batter on top of the cooled pretzel crust. Set aside.
  3. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and caramel ice cream topping and beat again. Gently spoon the cheesecake on to the brownie batter in the pan. Drop the rest of the brownie batter by spoonfuls onto the cheesecake. Swirl very carefully with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares or circles.
  4. In a saucepan over medium heat, stir together the caramel squares and the heavy whipping cream until melted. Drizzle over the cheesecake bars and let set.
  5. In a microwave safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips and shortening for 30 seconds. Stir and continue to heat 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between each time. Drizzle over the caramel. Let set. Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container.
  6. Melt the vanilla Candiquik coating according to the package directions. Divide it into 5 bowls and stir a little bit of gel color into each bowl until you reach your desired color. Stir in 1 teaspoon shortening per bowl and heat in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds. Stir. With a fork dip the pretzel rings in the colored coating. Let set on wax paper.
  7. Serve the cheesecake squares with Cool Whip and a pretzel ring if desired.

Notes

Top with Cool Whip and candy coated pretzel rings right before serving. The color from the rings will off on the Cool Whip when they are refrigerated.

https://insidebrucrewlife.com/caramel-pretzel-cheesecake-brownies-olympic-style/

Caramel Pretzel Cheesecake Brownies - the sweet and salty layers in these brownies will have you reaching for more! Great dessert recipe!

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Comments

  12. Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says

    July 20, 2012 at 3:37 PM

    Oh Jocelyn, these have my name all over them. Pretzel crust? Brownie? AND cheesecake? Wow. Love the rings too! I think my mom has my old VHS tape of Nadia…someday we’ll have to get together and watch it with our girls. 🙂

    Reply

  13. Hayley says

    July 20, 2012 at 4:18 PM

    These look super yummy! Those cheesecakes are incredible. So gooey and chocolatey! And the brownies in the middle? How do you even come up with this stuff? Oh wait, you’re a baking olympian! 🙂

    Reply

    • Jocelyn says

      July 21, 2012 at 3:40 AM

      Haha! My brain seems to go a mile a minute when thinking about dessert creations!!! If you could only see the list of things I want to make so far:-)

      Reply

  32. Christie says

    July 24, 2012 at 7:45 PM

    So cute! Great idea for Olympic fun!

    I LOVED Nadia. I made my dad rent it over and over and over again. I found it recently on Amazon, I think, on DVD. Watching it with my daughter now.

    Reply

  33. Allison @ Alli 'n Son says

    July 26, 2012 at 4:02 AM

    I love watching the marathon runners, I’m just so amazed by how far and how fast they can run. How do they do it?

    These bars, oh man, seriously? All of my favorite ingredients. I love them so much that they will be featured on this week’s Sweet Tooth Friday link up. 🙂

    Reply

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