Rich Pretzel M&M Toffee Bars

When a friend of mine was having a night of prayer and treats to send him off on a month long missions trip to Malawi, Africa,  I knew I had to make something good. I had a bag of Pretzel M&M's in my baking cabinet that had been waiting to be used and I knew this would be a great opportunity.

I thought of a few different ideas, I had made a peanut butter pretzel cookie in the past that could definitely work with the M&M's but I wanted something different besides a cookie. I flipped through some recipe books and decided on some sort of blondie. I went to the grocery store looking for some inspiration when I saw a bag of Heath English Toffee Bits and decided they would go great together.

This recipe is very rich, but also a great combination of flavors: milk chocolate, pretzels and toffee. The bottom layer is perfectly crumbly with a gooey toffee topping to make a great pair.  The pretzels add a great crunch and the chocolate makes these bars amazingly sweet.

Rich Pretzel M&M Toffee Bars

makes about 36 bars

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
• 1 egg
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups pretzel M&M's (crushed)
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups english toffee bits

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F Degrees and grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Stir together flour and brown sugar in a large bowl. Cut in butter with an electric mixer until mixture resembles crumbles. Add egg and mix well. Stir in half of chocolate chips (1 cup) and 1 cup of pretzel M&M's. After mixing, set aside 1 1/2 cups of mixture and press the remaining into the bottom of the pan.

3. Bake for 10 minutes. Take out of oven and pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the hot crust. Sprinkle 1 cup of toffee bits evenly in the pan. Take the remaining of dough mixture and spread evenly over the top. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining toffee bits and remaining pretzel M&M crumbs. Let cool completely and cut into bars.