Pretzel Crunch

Here's a nice treat for the pretzel lovers out there. It's crunchy and slightly salty, but also a touch sweet. And it's just a little different, so it's special enough to serve at your superbowl party. But take note, this recipe yields only 2 cups, so unless your superbowl party is actually just you sitting on your barcalounger, drinking beer and yelling at the tv, you might want to double or triple the recipe. 

MALTED PRETZEL CRUNCH

Makes about 2 cups

2 cups mini pretzels, salted

1/4 cup malt powder (I used malted milk powder)

2 tablespoons milk powder (I used instant nonfat dry milk)
1/4 cup tightly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons sugar

7 tablespoons butter, melted

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1.      Heat oven to 275° F.

2.      Pour the pretzels in a medium bowl and crush them with your hands to one-quarter of their original size. Add the milk powder, malt powder and sugars and toss to mix. Add the butter and toss to coat. As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the pretzels and creating small clusters.

3.      Spread the clusters on a parchment- or silpat-lined sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewed.

4.      Cool the pretzel crunch completely before storing or using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for 1 week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep for 1 month.

slightly adapted from epicurious.com by Christina Tosi (Momofuku Milk Bar)

pretzels

slightly crushed pretzels

sugars, milk powder and malt powder added

mixing in the melted butter

mixed

before baking

baked

pretzel crunch close up

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