The Best No Bake Pretzel Christmas Crack

This pretzel Christmas crack is going to become your new favourite holiday treat. The combination of salty pretzels, sweet caramel, and dark chocolate blend perfectly to make this the most delicious dessert. It's so easy to make and only requires six ingredients. You'll love that it's no bake and can be made vegan, gluten free and paleo too!

Table of Contents

• Why you will love this recipe: 
• Ingredients and substitutions:
• How to make (step-by-step): 
• Top tips:
• Variations and add ins:
• How to store:
• Frequently asked questions: 
• Other desserts you will love: 
• Recipe

Why you will love this recipe: 

• This dessert has the most incredible flavour! The combination of salty pretzels, sweet caramel, and rich dark chocolate makes for one of the most delicious sweet treats. It's perfect for the holidays, or anytime!
• It's so quick and easy to make with only six simple ingredients that you can find in any grocery store.
• It's a no bake dessert that only requires a few minutes of hands on time. You also don't need a candy thermometer to make it.
• This Christmas crack is refined sugar free and I've included options for making it dairy free, gluten free, vegan and paleo.
• It stores really well in the fridge or freezer.

If you love Christmas crack you will also love my graham cracker Christmas crack recipe.

Ingredients and substitutions:

• Pretzels - these are used to form the salty crunchy base of this Christmas crack - If you can find square shaped pretzels those work best, but you can use any type of pretzels that you like. If you are gluten-free be sure to use gluten-free pretzels.
• Butter - to make the most delicious rich homemade caramel. I've also included options to make this without butter in the recipe card directions. You can use a vegan butter if you are vegan or dairy free. You can use either salted butter or unsalted butter depending on your preference.
• Coconut Sugar - coconut sugar when combined with butter is the perfect combination of ingredients to make the most dreamy caramel layer. If you don't have coconut sugar you can use brown sugar instead.
• Vanilla extract - this is added to the butter sugar mixture to help make the most amazing tasting caramel.
• Salt - just a little is all you need to help contrast the sweet flavours of this dessert.
• Dark Chocolate - you can either use dark chocolate bars or dark chocolate chips for the chocolate layer. If you want to keep this recipe refined sugar free be sure to use dark chocolate sweetened with coconut sugar.

How to make (step-by-step): 

Step one:

First, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and place the pretzels on it in an even, single layer.

Step two:

Next, add the caramel ingredients to a small or medium saucepan on the stovetop and turn the burner on to medium high heat. Allow the ingredients to come to a boil and then turn down the heat to keep the ingredients at a simmer, stirring the butter mixture regularly for 4-5 minutes until the caramel thickens. You need to stir it to keep the caramel mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Step three:

Then pour the caramel sauce over the top of the pretzels and spread it out into an even layer. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Step four:

Now, just before you take the pan out of the freezer melt the chocolate by placing the chocolate in a microwave safe dish and heating it on high in 30 second intervals until melted.

Step five:

Next, take the pan out of the freezer and pour the melted chocolate over the caramel layer to form an even layer. Place the pan black in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Step six:

Lastly, cut the dessert into pieces and then enjoy!

Top tips:

• Square shaped pretzels are the most ideal for making this recipe as they form a more stable base layer but any type of pretzel will do.
• Run the blade of the knife under hot water for a few seconds before cutting these bars into pieces as the heat will help cut through the frozen layers more easily (just be sure to dry the knife after running it under the hot water). 
• I don't recommend trying to gift this Christmas crack as the caramel layer will melt at room temperature so the gift would get very messy.

Variations and add ins:

• To make it vegan: use vegan butter and vegan chocolate (my favourite vegan chocolate).
• To make gluten-free: use gluten-free pretzels.
• To make it paleo: use ghee instead of butter, use paleo friendly pretzels and chocolate that is dairy-free and soy free. 
• To make it dairy-free: use the dairy-free caramel option that I've included in the recipe card notes.
• Instead of coconut sugar you can use brown sugar. 
• For the chocolate layer you can use either dark chocolate bars or dark chocolate chips. You could also use milk chocolate instead if you prefer. 
• To add some extra crunch top it with some chopped nuts.

How to store:

Store this Christmas crack in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 7 days. You could also store it in the freezer for up to 3 months in a freezer safe bag or airtight container.

Frequently asked questions: 

Other desserts you will love: 

• Healthy Apple Pie Bars
• Gluten-free Christmas Crack
• Chocolate covered Rice Krispie Treats
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
• Nut Butter and Chocolate Crunch Bars
• Turtle Cookies Bars
• Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars

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Recipe