Combos Pretzel and Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Bars

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Salty ‘n sweet combinations taste especially good in the heat when I crack a sweat just brushing my teeth.

It’s a good thing that I’ve been replenishing my sodium stores with these.

Combos Pretzel and Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Bars

These salty ‘n sweet, peanut buttery, caramely, crunchy little bars have hit the replenishment spot.

They have so many of my favorite elements rolled into one, there’s tons of texture, and they’re no-bake.

They’re as easy as making homemade caramel sauce in the microwave, infusing it with peanut butter, and then pouring the salted caramel over two of my favorite ingredients: cereal and pretzels.

Combos Pretzel and Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Bars

Corn Pops happened to be in stock and on store shelves here in Aruba (never know what you’re going to get from one day to the next) and then I saw the Combos while I was in the checkout line and knew I had to do something with them. Either separately or together and I opted for together.

Does anyone else want to admit to trying to open up Combos like an Oreo, and rather than licking off frosting, licking off cheese? Okay, I’ll admit to that but probably shouldn’t.

Pops corn cereal and cheddar cheese pretzel combos snacks

Corn Pops and Combos. That screams either childhood memories of foods that only Grandma would give me or cold cereal and pretzels for dinner in my dorm room.

You could probably make these bars in a dorm room as long as you have a microwave and since all the other ingredients, for better or worse, are shelf stable for about 9 years, you’d be the most popular student on your floor.

They’re a little bit too easy to make, actually.

Combos Pretzel and Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Bars

Everything tastes better with a copious chocolate drizzle and I not only need to replenish my sodium stores, but also my chocolate stores, daily.

Chocolate has a way of balancing sweet food and balancing salty food.  It complements caramel, and it brings out the best in peanut butter. Heck, chocolate always brings out the best in me.

Combos Pretzel and Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Bar

As the bars set up and cool in the pan, the salted caramel and peanut butter sauce sinks to the bottom and when you flip one over, you can really see what kind of treat you’re in for.

Isn’t that just a sticky, glistening, beautiful mess?

Combos Pretzel and Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Bars

When biting through the layers, from the crunchy ‘n sweet Pops to the crunchy ‘n salty Combos to the firm chocolate, you’ll be in texture heaven, especially if you love crunchy foods and enjoy lots of texture going on like I do.

The soft, gooey, slightly salty caramel and peanut butter sauce envelops the cereal and pretzels and serves to glues the bars together and is definitely worth getting sticky hands for. That’s what napkins are for.

Combos Pretzel and Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Bar

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Combos Pretzel and Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Bars (no-bake)

Makes one 8-by-8-inch pan, about 9 squares

3 cups Corn Pops cereal

2 cup Combos pretzels (one 7-ounce bag, I used Cheddar Cheese flavor)

1 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter

2/3 cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted for drizzling

Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside. In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, add the peanut butter, corn syrup, sugars, and microwave on high power to melt, about 30 seconds. Stop and stir to combine and heat in 10-second bursts until mixture has melted and can be stirred smooth. Add vanilla, salt, and stir to combine. Add the cereal, Combos, and stir to coat. Pour the mixture into prepared pan and smooth it with a spatula; set aside.

In a small microwave-safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute. Stop and stir to combine. Heat in 10-second bursts until chips have melted and can be stirred smooth. Drizzle chocolate over the bars with a spoon. Place pan in the freezer for 1 hour to allow bars to set up, or allow them to set up at room temperature for at least two hours, before slicing and serving. Bars will keep in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to one week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

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Combos Pretzel and Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Bars

Some of my favorite salty ‘n sweet recipes:

Cinnamon Sugar Chocolate Pretzels (no-bake, vegan, GF)

Cinnamon Sugar Chocolate Pretzels

Chocolate Saltine Toffee

Chocolate Saltine Toffee stack

Candy Corn Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites (no-bake)

Candy Corn Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites

Vanilla Cake Batter and White Chocolate Chip Caramel Corn

Vanilla Cake Batter and White Chocolate Chip Caramel Corn in jar

Buttery Toasted Captain Crunchies (Vegan & GF options)

Buttery Toasted Captain Crunchies in bowl

Peanut Butter Chex Mix, aka “Puppy Chow” (vegan, GF)

Peanut Butter Chex Mix, aka “Puppy Chow”
Peanut Butter Chex Mix, aka “Puppy Chow”

White Chocolate Vanilla Peanut Butter Puppy Chow (GF)

White Chocolate Vanilla Peanut Butter Puppy Chow

Do you like salty ‘n sweet combos?

I definitely have more of a sweet tooth than a salty palate, but here in Aruba and cracking a sweat doing nothing, salty foods taste extra good. And of course, gooey desserts with caramel and peanut butter don’t hurt.

If you have any easy, salty ‘n sweet, or just plain good snacky recipes, feel free to link them up.

Thanks for the Capresso 12-Cup Stainless Steel Coffee Maker Giveaway entries

Thanks for the Capresso 12-Cup Coffee Maker Giveaway entries

About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

Comments

  1. Combos are my secret addiction! These look really awesome. I have to say, ninety nine poinr nine percent of the time i like sweet over salty, probably thanks to the existence of chocolate, but my sweet salty favorite combo is yogurt covered pretzels.

  2. I have to tell you I am so glad we are not neighbors! I would be at your house everyday looking for sweet handouts! These bars look amazing! I need to make them, just so I can try one! Do you think you could freeze them? Probably not with the corn pops. I just know it would be so dangerous having a big batch of these in my house!!! I have no self control!!

    1. I stored them in the freezer here in Aruba – no problem whatsoever. I store 99% of what I make in the freezer without issue, ever. Go for it!

  3. Ohhh yeah!! You took sweet ‘n salty, and outside-the-box type recipes, and you really went there! Love that :) And I used to LOVE Combos!! I gotta go find some!

  4. Blast from the past! Corn Pops were a staple in our house growing up! I can’t say I’ve ever heard of Combos, though. They look great! I mean, cheese and pretzels rolled into one little snacky bite? Yep! Sounds great. Those bars look awesome. I love the combo of salty and sweet; it’s just so good. Sadly, with the corn allergy in our house, we will have to forgo trying it ourselves, but maybe for a potluck?! :-)

    1. you’ve never heard of combos? they are like the ultimate 2am snack after a late night or a gas station/road trip snack….they come with all different kinds of filling from cheese to PB to ranch, etc Highly processed and oh, so good :) You could totally swap the corn pops out for rice krispies or golden grahams, cheerios, etc…will be just fine!

  5. Yes, sweet and salty is for me as it balances sweetness to the point that I can eat…:) I don’t remember actually when I last had caramel or something with it! I like those corn pops, need to visit that section of a grocery store, haven’t been there in a very long time!

    1. Lol – when you are in a foreign grocery store and you see English and American packaging, the eye and the hand just gravitate to picking up those items I think!

  6. This totally kicks “Microwave Mug Cakes” ass. Microwave caramel is brilliant. I made beer toffee with stout infused chocolate and pretzels and I still can’t stop thinking about it. This looks just as good.

    1. yes it does re the mugcake – they are fine (Ive made one and posted about it before) but this is just 100x better! Your beer toffee? Omg delish!

  7. WOW! Such an original recipe, I don’t think anyone would think to turn Combos into a dessert!

  8. My husband would love these! He is a huge sweet and salty fan, and Combo’s are his favorite snack!

  9. I could do some serious damage here girl! :) Definitely a sticky, beautiful mess! Love the sweet & salty combo!

  10. The sauce on the bottom of those bars looks out of this world :) And I am once again thrilled to know I’m not the only person who dissects my food before consuming it! Though I’m not typically a sweet and salty kind of girl, I just posted a sweet and salty treat on my blog. Here’s the link if you want to look: http://piesandplots.net/caramel-cheerio-treats/ They’re no bake too!

    1. Well as a blogger I like to WRITE about the food; what it tasted like, the texture, the flavors, paint a picture. Not like talk about my dog or my kid or my shoes — all lovely but ya know!

  11. WOW! I LOVE sweet + salty, especially salty. These look like a dream bar. I’m drooling! Nice food fantasy for sure. :)

    1. Oh god that’s right, you are in the throes of food elimination and the GAPS. Girl, I don’t even know how you read blogs in the middle of it all! HUGS!!

  12. Averie- this looks like delicious little crack squares. I could do some serious damage. SERIOUS DAMAGE.

  13. It’s like you made these just for me. I have been going NUTS for salty/sweet stuff – combos brings me back to the olden days when I used to sneak them for an after school snack. Now I’ll be sneaking these bars. Just amazing.

    1. We can trade – you make me the horchata cookies (nice job on FG, they were killin’ it!) and I’ll make these for you. I get the better end of that trade :)