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I made you dessert bars today. Delicious, uber sweet yet salty little devils that come together so fast, that taste so good, you may or may not think I have spiked them with something illegal.
*Spoiler: I did not. *
If you like chocolate, peanut butter, ritz crackers, buttery things, marshmallows or any combination of the five of these guys, you are bound to love these Salted Chocolate & Ritz Nougat No-Bake Bars!
Here’s how to make them:
Start by lining a quarter sheet pan with parchment and 24 ritz crackers. If you don’t have one of these itty bitty cookie sheets, feel free to use a 9×9 glass dish. Also, lining the bottom with ritz is optional. This recipe calls for a lot of crackers, so don’t be afraid to leave the bottoms out. They will taste the exact same either way 🙂
Once we have THAT out of the way, take a sleeve of crackers….
…and abuse it slightly to coarsely crush them.
Then proceed to do with to a whole other sleeve of crackers.
Now for the actual cooking part: melt 1/4 cup of butter in a deep nonstick skillet or pot.
Then once it’s all melted, add in some granulated sugar,
and evaporated milk.
Bring this up to a low simmer and cook 5 minutes on the nose.
Then stir in the last of the nougat ingredients: vanilla, peanut butter and marshmallow fluff.
Once everything is incorporated,
Pour in the two sleeves of crushed crackers.
Once all the crackers are good and sticky, pour it over the cracker base.
Lightly grease your fingers and spread this out as evenly and smoothly as possible. Pop these into the fridge while we get the topping ready.
Yeah, so the topping is just basically melted chocolate. I used 2 ounces of dark baking chocolate that I’ve had in my pantry for who knows how long but feel free to use anything. Chocolate chips, almond bark, candy coating…..I’m not a hater. Anything will do as long as it’s sweet and it melts, you’re good to go.
After a few 30 second zaps, the chocolate should be all melted and smooth.
Drizzle this over the top, then 
sprinkle on some coarse sea salt.
Feel free to be as generous or stingey as you’d like. I used about 2 teaspoons.
Throw these back into the fridge until the chocolate is set, probably 10 minutes or so. Remove, cut into bars and serve.
And voila! Easy peasy decadent dessert bars, good enough for any occasion. If no one knew any better, they’d think there was straight up crack in these because they are that good. There’s just something about the salty/sweet combo that gets me every.single.time.
Also, if you didn’t tell anyone what was in these or how you made them, I’d bet you’d stump a bunch of people. The texture is like a no-bake cookie minus all the chewy oats: tender, but a lot more sweet….and salty. Plus pretty buttery cause of all the crackers.
If you have a couple minutes to spare in the near future, give these a whirl. I’d love to hear more opinions on these crazy sweet treats.
Printable recipe below 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Salted Chocolate & Ritz Nougat Bars
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 sleeves Ritz Crackers*
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons evaporated milk
- 2 cups marshmallow fluff
- 4 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 oz dark chocolate
- coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Line 9 1/2"x13" baking pan {1/4 sheet pan size} with parchment paper and line with 24 Ritz crackers, if you like. These bars will work with or without the extra crackers on the bottom. If you choose to not line the bottom with crackers, lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Coarsely crush the remaining two sleeves of Ritz crackers and set aside.
- In a large pot or deep nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in sugar and evaporated milk and bring to a bubble. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in marshmallow fluff, peanut butter and vanilla. Then dump in the crushed crackers and stir.
- Pour into prepared pan. Grease fingers and press evenly into pan. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Melt chocolate in a small bowl using the microwave, stirring every 20-30 seconds to prevent burning. Drizzle chocolate over bars, then sprinkle with sea salt {as much or as little as you'd like}. I used about 2 teaspoons.
- Refrigerate another 10 minutes or until chocolate is set, cut into bars and serve.
Can you replace peanut butter with anything else? My son has a peanut allergy.
Can you freeze these? How far in advance can you make them?
Lauren, would you think Nutter Butters or graham crackers would be okay ? or maybe a Biscoff/Biscofff spread version. I don’t have Ritz but now my mouth is watering and my “baking drawer” is full!
Peanut allergies in our house. Any success with sun butter or other substitute? This looks too good to pass up so I’m really hoping that either skipping or subbing would work
WOW!!! pretty sure these DO have CRACk!!!! could not stop eating them. Totured the person that brought them to the company potluck until she gave up this website!!!! They are that good!!! Can we use NUTELLA too? SO awesome!!! thank you for sharing!!!! love love love them!!!!
do you think this could be modified to be like rice krispies? Melt marshmallows instead of fluff?
These are just awesome – and relatively dangerous!!
How do you make marshmallow fluff?
I made these tonight and they were amazing! I think I left them in the fridge too long or should have let them come back down closer to room temperature before cutting them as they were cold and the outside pieces were a little crumbly when cutting. That being said they are incredible and delicious.
Well, those look ridiculously delicious. ALso, LOVE that Coach duffle 🙂
Oh wow these sound so delicious. And I love how easy they are too! The perfect dessert!
i could definitely devour many of these bars right now.. they look divine!
yum, these look so delicious. i definitely could devour a couple of these bars right now.. anything that has salted chocolate ticks all of my boxes!
Oh my goodness these look addicting and so delicious! When I read “nougat” I was worried that the recipe would be super complicated so I am relieved to see how easy these look!
I am a real novice when it comes to computers, but I like your website. I have chosen not to subscribe to any social media sites and am wondering why your website doesn’t allow me to email your recipes to my email address, so I can put them in my recipe folder.
OH my word this is just what we NEED! Yes, I said need as we having a group of approximately 30 teens over Sunday evening. No bake… sweet, salty, easy… oh yeah!!
Oh yum! Happy Happy Friday!
I’m a hopeless romantic, too! 🙂 I am pining this recipe, because these bars look incredible! I love salty-sweet!
Blessings,
Leslie
if I made these, I’m afraid I’d eat the whole pan! these look ridiculous, in the best possible way!!
You are such a Ritz Cracker genius!! I just can’t get enough! Pinned 🙂
You totally had me at sweet and salty. I can’t resist it ever!!! I love that these are no bake and nougat!!!
Sweet and salty AND no-bake? YES, please! Pinned!
OMG! Now, I try to stay away from anything that includes marshmallow fluff since it’s so difficult to work with, BUT these bars have me running to the store. There is just too much goodness going on here to pass this one up!
girrrrrrrl, you had me at nougat.
and salted. and no-bake.
🙂
I think I’m going to need some alone time with this pan and a glass of milk. Anything salty-sweet and I’m a goner!
My mouth is watering just looking at these yummy bars!
Peanut Butter AND Ritz crackers…I’m sold!
The flavor combination sounds like a winner! So simple yet looks ridiculously good. Can’t wait to try it!
Can never get enough sweet and salty, love these!