Chocolate Chip Prezel Bars

I made these Chocolate chip pretzel bars from Brown Eyed Baker for Mrblocko's family reunion.  This recipe was of Mrblocko's choosing.  I gave him 5 or 6 recipes to pick from and this one struck his fancy.  I think it was the combination of the salty and sweet.  I liked this recipe because I had all the ingredients on hand.

Or at least I thought I did.  When I got ready to make these bars I realized I was short on chocolate chips.  So for the chips in the dough I used 1 cup semi sweet chips, 1/2 cup butterscotch chips and 1/2 cup white chips.  It worked out wonderfully.

For some reason these bars didn't set up exactly right.  They were slightly gooey/doughy, which leads me to believe that I should have cooked them longer.  After 35 minutes in the oven the edges had browned which lead me to believe they were properly done.  The bars tasted great, they just didn't want to hold together like they were supposed to.  Luckily, it didn't stop anyone from chowing down on these tastey treats.  People just ate the bars with a fork!

Chocolate Chip and Pretzel Cookie Bars from Brown Eyed Baker  Makes 32 squares
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12-ounce bag bittersweet (or semisweet, if you prefer) chocolate chips
1½ cups mini pretzel twists, coarsely chopped
¼ cup chocolate chips, for drizzling (optional)
¼ cup peanut butter, for drizzling (optional)
¼ cup pretzels, crumbled, for topping (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt. Using a mixer, beat the butter and both sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla extract. On low speed, beat in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and pretzel pieces. Spread the batter evenly in the pan and press it down evenly with a spatula. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool completely. In separate sandwich size baggies, melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter. Cut off a small corner on each bag and drizzle the chocolate and peanut butter over the top of the bars. Sprinkle the extra crushed pretzels on top. Let set and then cut into squares.