Homemade Take 5 with a Delicious Graham-y Twist

Do you know what I love? Candy. Always have, always will. I have longtime standing favorites, like the Kit-Kat, which I conquered in the kitchen here, but a more recent candy to hit the scene and secure a place in my heart is the oh-so-wonderful Take 5 Bar.

In my humble opinion, these beauties are underrated. They are simple in principle (pretzel, caramel, peanut butter, peanuts, chocolate) but perfectly combine the salty-sweet-crunchy-chewy combo, which I consider to be synonymous with the ideal dessert. It’s like a mash up of the Salty Pimp and American Glob minus the soft serve. And y’all know ANYTHING that reminds me of Big Gay Ice Cream is the way to my <3.

Any sweet treat I like to eat I like even more as a challenge to make in the kitchen. And hence, the homemade Take 5 Bar became this afternoon’s adventure after a lovely hour long stroll with Millie and her Uncle James. She also functioned as a sous-chef/major creeper in the process of making these babies (see below).

I googled recipes and found a lot of Take-5-like layer bars, but those didn’t satisfy my desire to duplicate down to appearance. The only possible problem I came across while conceptualizing was how to avoid the pretzel topped with the goodies to stay together when I dipped em in chocolate. I decided I needed a base. And then I thought of graham crackers. I love graham crackers, so I decided that adding them to Take 5 Bars would only make them better. I was correct in this idea. Huge fan.

This recipe is not gluten-free, sugar-free, paleo, #fitspro, or antioxident rich. It is, however, delicious. And as much as I am a typically healthy eater I stand by my belief that nourishing your mind and your taste buds is just as important as nourishing your body.

So here is my recipe for Take-5s ft. Graham Crackers. Make these. Eat them. All of them. Top them on vanilla soft serve for best results. *~*drool*~*

Ingredients:

• 1 sleeve graham crackers (9-10 whole crackers)
• 1 cup “Snaps” shapped pretzels
• 1 cup caramel candies (use a nicer kind, like werther’s baking caramels)
• about 1/3-1/2 cup peanut butter
• about 1 cup salted peanuts
• 18 oz chocolate chips (1 and a half bags)
• sea salt (optional)

Directions:

1. Break graham crackers into quarters. Just follow those handy lines on the squares. I know you can do this. I believe in you.

2. Unwrap caramel candies. I highly recommend you do not skip this step. Place said caramels in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 30-45 seconds on high until *~*melty*~* <3

3. Use a knife to spread gooey melty caramel onto each graham rectangle. This works best if you set up a nice parchment paper work tray on a baking sheet.

4. Press 2 pretzels on top of each graham rectangle.

5.Take your peanut butter and spread it on top of the pretzel layer.

6. Sprinkle 5-6 peanuts on each peanut-butter-covered rectangle.

7. Pour chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1-2 minutes in 30 second intervals, stirring at each interval until melty and smooth.

8. Use a spatula or knife to scoop chocolate on top of each bar and smother the crap out of it in with chocolatey goodness.  Sprinkle with sea salt if you are fancy. I am fancy. Not “so fancy,” though. Just the regular type.

9.Place each on on parchment paper lined tray and freeze until chocolate is set.

10. Eat.

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