Boozy Bacon Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars

Boozy Bacon Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars are the perfect salty-sweet dessert! This twist on a classic peanut butter blondie incorporates bacon, pretzel pieces and bourbon into the batter. Perfect for a crowd, Boozy Bacon Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars make a versatile sweet treat for game day, a casual dinner party and more!

Y’all know me and boozy desserts: I haven’t met one I didn’t like. (Looking at you, Bourbon Maple Bacon Cupcakes, Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Hand Pies and Bourbon Pecan Brownies!)

So when I signed on for a food blogger collaboration called Freaky Friday — more on this in a bit — and received the blogger whose blog I’d be cooking from, I was delighted.

Jennifer is my kind of person. Not only does she all kinds of entertaining recipes that are packed full of FLAVOR, but she’s got gorgeous cocktails, easy appetizers AND killer desserts, too.

These Boozy Peanut Butter Bars feature pretzels and bacon, and they are her brainchild. When I discovered this recipe, I knew this was what I would make because YUM.

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Why I love this recipe:

These Boozy Bacon Pretzel Peanut Butter Bars are something else, y’all.

They’re a little bit sweet, a little bit savory, and they have an amazing crunch. (Thank you, pretzel pieces!)

And they have the flavor of bourbon for some extra punch. Because you can never go wrong with bourbon. And honestly, the splash of bourbon is the unsung hero that brings it all together.

This awesome snack bar recipe is simple to put together and even easier to enjoy.

Please note that we are not using semi-sweet chocolate chips or any melted chocolate to make this easy recipe. We want the pretzels, peanut butter and bacon to the star of the show.

More bar dessert recipes: Chocolate Chip Brownies with Bourbon and Pecans | Snickerdoodle Bars | Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

So… what is Freaky Friday?

I’m glad you asked! It’s an old-fashioned blog hop.

For those of y’all who haven’t been around the blogosphere, a blog hop is a collaboration where everyone brings something to the table, then you link to one another when the posts go live.

Michaela from An Affair from the Heart is the lady who founded this. She secretly assigns everyone another blogger, and we make a recipe from that person’s blog, photograph it as if it were our own and write a post about it with our own personal anecdote!

Then, on the selected Friday, our posts go live at the same time so we can share them with y’all and with each other.

We hope that this collaboration helps you discover some amazing new recipes, as well as find new bloggers to follow!

Take a look at all of our Winter Freaky Friday Recipes:

Looking for a comforting meal? Try Chili Con Carne, Chicken Lime Soup or Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup.

Want to serve an appetizer? This Philly Cheesesteak Dip would be great for a crowd. And I don’t think you could ever go wrong with Taco Tater Tots. (YUM.)

Slow cooker fan? Slow Cooked Meatballs are where it’s at! And the Best Crock Pot Beef Stew was given that name for a reason.

Love pasta? You can’t go wrong with Creamy Gorgonzola Pasta with Steak or this brilliant Chicken Bacon Penne Alfredo Casserole. Serve these Cajun Chicken Meatballs in Cajun Cream Sauce over your favorite pasta noodles.

Need a sweet treat? You can finish your meal with an individual Coconut Mug Cake. Banana Cream Parfaits would be brilliant for sharing. And these Valentine’s Day Dessert Nachos are a festive treat!

Love coffee? I cannot wait to taste this Tiramisu Latte, which mashes up a famous dessert and a famous coffee drink!

What you need to make this recipe:

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• Square baking pan (9″ x 9″) or an 8-inch baking dish if you want thicker bars
• Measuring cups and spoons and/or kitchen scale
• 100% avocado oil spray (or your favorite cooking spray) and/or parchment paper
• Glass bowl set
• Rubber spatula
• Hand mixer or stand mixer

Here is what you need to get at the grocery store to make these peanut butter-bacon bars:

• Unsalted butter — you need a stick of this goodness. I like using unsalted butter in all my baking because then I can control the salt in the dish.. and since this one involves peanut butter and pretzels and bacon, it will have enough.
• Light brown sugar — this sugar has the wonderful notes of molasses. If. you have dark brown sugar, that will work, too.
• Egg — a large or extra large egg from the store or farmer’s market are what you are looking for.
• Pure vanilla extract — use the best vanilla you can afford! This helps bring everything together.
• Creamy peanut butter — I used unsweetened peanut butter since we’re sweetening these bars up with the brown sugar. Feel free to use the PB you’ve got on your shelf.
• Bourbon — use whatever you like to sip on, so long as it’s not ‘fancy.’ I used pecan bourbon, but any bourbon should do as long as you like its taste.
• All-purpose flour — this brings everything together. We keep unbleached AP flour in our house, but the regular kind works here, too.
• Bacon — you want to cook this and chop it up. You’ll need about two bacon slices.
• Mini pretzels — use your favorite brand. You’ll break up some to go inside the bars for a nice crunch while others will top the bars.

How to adapt this recipe:

I haven’t tried it, but you certainly can! Here are some thoughts about substitutions…

Make it dairy free. My favorite 1-to-1 substitutes for butter are vegan butter, vegetable shortening or room temperature (still somewhat hard, not melted) coconut oil.

Make it booze-free. Skip the bourbon and add a healthier splash of vanilla.

Make it gluten-free. Since it calls for a very small amount of flour, you can probably substitute the AP flour for a 1-to-1 gluten free flour mixture without issue.

How to make peanut butter bars with bacon and bourbon

Prepare. Preheat your oven, spray the square baking dish, and start making that batter!

Cream the butter and sugar. Measure them into a large bowl, and cream together with a stand mixer or hand mixer. This will take a few minutes to get them good and incorporated.

Add the rest of the wet ingredients one at a time. Crack the egg into a small bowl, and pour it into the creamed butter and sugar. Stir until combined, then pour in the vanilla and stir. Then add the bourbon… and stir again.

Add the peanut butter. Beat until smooth.

Finally, add the dry ingredient. (This is flour.) Blend until combined.

Then sprinkle in the pretzel pieces and bacon pieces. Fold them in with a rubber spatula. 

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish, and spread it in an even layer.

Press pretzels into the batter to create a design, then pop them into the preheated oven to bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. (It’ll take about 20 minutes or so.)

Then all you do is let ’em cool, and then you can enjoy them!

Frequently Asked Questions

More desserts involving alcohol to try:

Love tequila? This Paloma Citrus Cake with Tequila-Lime Glaze is a nod to the classic cocktail. And this Vanilla Tequila Bread Pudding is an utter delight.

Want more bourbon? You can’t go wrong by baking a Spiced Apple Upside Down Cake with Bourbon Caramel Glaze.

Love other spirits? Bake a Bailey’s Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake or an Chocolate Chip Irish Cream Cake just because. And these Mini Apple Spice Rum Cakes are too cute to pass by!

Curious about how you can make these bars at home? Scroll on down…