halloween “in the house”: chocolate dipped pretzels

So many things to love about these pretzels.

They’re super easy to make – even if you’re not a “baker”.

They keep well for several weeks, so you can make them in advance and check at least one thing off your list.

Clustered in a vase or large glass they can double as a cute centerpiece.

They adapt – with a change of colors and sprinkles – to almost any occasion (think Fourth of July, baby shower, Christmas, etc.).

And just look at them!

As there’s no real “recipe” here – you simply melt the chocolate, dip the pretzels and coat them in sprinkles – I’d like to share some of the tips and tricks I’ve gathered over the years. I’ve given the quantities I used based on the number of pretzels I made – adjust your amounts accordingly. And remember to make a few extras to account for inevitable breakage (or snacking).

For 36 pretzels, in three different colors, I used a half bag (5-6 oz.) each of candy melts (half that amount for the black ones, as I only used those for drizzling). This was more than enough to coat the pretzels and have enough left over for drizzling.

I also used three small (2.5 oz.) containers of sprinkles – each was enough to coat 12 pretzels.

The trick to working with candy melts is not to overheat them – this changes their consistency and makes them harder to work with. Melt at 50% power in your microwave, working in 30 second increments and stirring well each time. If you do overheat them, you can add 2 t. of vegetable oil for every 12 oz. of melts, which will restore their consistency.

A coffee mug is narrow and tall – perfect for dipping pretzel rods (just make sure your mug is microwave safe). After you dip the pretzels in the melted candy, gently tap off all of the excess till just a thin coating remains. You’re now ready to coat them in your sprinkles.

I like to make little foil “trays”, open on one end, for coating the pretzels. For the neatest, most even results, gently press the pretzels into the sprinkles, coating all sides. Try to avoid rolling. Lay the dipped and coated pretzels on parchment-lined baking sheets to set.

If you’re drizzling the pretzels, immediately transfer the candy melts into a piping bag, a ziploc bag or my favorite tool – a squeeze bottle.

Drizzle each pretzel with a contrasting color and return to your baking sheets to set. Keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature, or place in goody bags.

To clean the bottles, squeeze out as much of the candy as possible. Place the bottles in the freezer for a few hours. Most of the remaining candy will fall right out with a few squeezes; use warm soapy water to clean out the rest.

I can’t wait to hand these out to Noah’s class – and I couldn’t resist adding a fun straw too!

Be sure to check out my Halloween Pinterest board too!

Related posts:

halloween “in the house”: pumpkin pretzels halloween “in the house”: vampire teeth! halloween “in the house”: candy corn rice krispie treats