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My sister absolutely loves snacks that are both sweet and salty. Chocolate-covered potato chips and chocolate-covered peanuts are on the list, but chocolate-covered pretzels are her all time favorite.
Making your own chocolate-covered pretzels is a fun afternoon project and makes a nice alternative to the store-bought varieties, especially around the holidays when homemade treats feel extra-special.
You can make chocolate-covered pretzels using any pretzel shape that you like. Both the traditional pretzel twist and the long pretzel rod are popular, but the mini twists are my personal favorite. They guarantee that perfect ratio of chocolate to crunchy salty pretzel.
You can also use any chocolate you like – the only rule is that you need to pick a chocolate that you really love to eat on its own!
I made half my pretzels with white chocolate and half with semi-sweet chocolate. If you love milk chocolate, use that instead. Or if you are the kind of person who thinks “the darker the better” when it comes to chocolate, reach for that 85% super dark bar!
You can leave your pretzels plain or drizzle them with a little extra chocolate, as I have done. If you want to get fancy, dress them up with candy sprinkles, coconut flakes or chopped nuts. Sprinkles are a great way to dress up these treats for Halloween, Christmas, or any holiday!
Watch the Video for How to Make Chocolate Covered Pretzels!
Chocolate-Covered Pretzels Recipe
When buying white chocolate, check the ingredients and make sure cocoa butter is listed. A lot of inferior white chocolate just uses vegetable oil which doesn’t melt very well and won’t work for coating pretzels.
Feel free to swap the semi-sweet chocolate and white chocolate in this recipe for any favorite chocolate that you enjoy eating.
If you're topping the pretzels with sprinkles or something similar, be sure to do it while the chocolate covering the pretzels is still wet so that they stick.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 12 ounces white chocolate chips (see headnote above)
- 4 ounces (72 individual) mini pretzel twists
Method
1 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking sheet.
2 Melt the semi-sweet chocolate: Place the semi-sweet chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds at 50% power.
Stir the chips. Microwave for 30 seconds at 100% power. Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth.
If the chocolate still has lumps, microwave in 15-second intervals at 100% power, stirring between each interval until smooth.
3 Dip half the pretzels in semi-sweet chocolate: Place a mini pretzel in the semi-sweet chocolate and push it below the surface with a fork to coat.
4 Remove the excess chocolate: Use a fork to remove the pretzel from the chocolate. Then tap it gently against the sides of the bowl until most of the chocolate has dripped off.
Wipe the bottom of the fork on the edge of the bowl to remove any excess chocolate then slide the pretzel onto the lined baking sheet (use a second fork if needed).
Repeat until you have coated half the pretzels. You should still have a little melted chocolate left.
4 Repeat with the white chocolate: Repeat the process for melting the chocolate using the white chocolate chips in a clean bowl. Repeat the coating process with the remaining pretzels in the white chocolate.
5 Drizzle the pretzels using the remaining chocolate: Dip a fork the remaining semi-sweet chocolate and drizzle it over the white chocolate-coated pretzels; repeat with the remaining white chocolate.
If you want more control over the drizzle, scoop the chocolate into a quart size freezer re-sealable bag. Snip a very small corner of the bag (1/16-inch) to make a tiny hole. Squeeze the bag to drizzle the chocolate in a more controlled manner.
6 Refrigerate all the pretzels until the chocolate is hard. Then remove from pan and store in an air-tight container in the fridge. The pretzels will keep for 7 to 10 days.
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Irvin Lin is an IACP award-winning photographer, food writer and recipe developer, blue-ribbon baker, public speaker, and occasional social media consultant. His blog is Eat the Love and his first cookbook is Marbled, Swirled and Layered.
Chocolate-Covered Pretzels
Loved it, pretzels turned great..
Easy enough. A little more time consuming than I thought but I had never made these before. Worth the effort though because I used dark chocolate and my husband loved them.
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Sorry, this was a fail. The chocolate was too thick and clumped up, even tho I reheated it half way thru. Glad I only did a small batch. Wondering how I could have thinned it out a bit? Maybe butter?
xxxxxyyyyy
Hi Edith,
We’re sorry to hear this gave you issues! Melted chocolate is very sensitive to temperature changes, even of a degree or two, and it does indeed get clumpy as you are working with it and it calls. Next time, if the melted chocolate gets clumpy or too thick, try microwaving it in 15 second bursts, stirring well after each burst, until it’s loosened up a bit. It should take just a few bursts. And if it gets too thick again, do another quick melt. I used to work in a chocolate factory, and trust me, I know ALL the fails, because I’ve done them!
I tried it again because, although ugly, they were crazy delicious. This time I only melted a handful of chocolate chips and reheated them after every 10 or 12 pretzels. I also used a glove on my working hand because this stuff sticks to everything and is very hard to wash off.
Personal tweaks: I added some cinnamon and nutmeg, and a tiny bit of cayenne, and dusted with sprinkles. Rave reviews!
use some canola oil it will thin it out. do not use olive oil as the taste will definitely change
Thanks for sharing, Susan. Adding oil to the chocolate keeps it from developing that powdery white “bloom” when it solidifies. You don’t want to add too much or it won’t set. About 1/2 teaspoon per 8 ounces of chocolate is good. Shortening or coconut oil work, as well. There’s nothing wrong with using olive oil as long as you love olive oil. I myself love the combo.
But it’s too cool a temperature that causes chocolate to get gloppy. Just zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds or pop it over a double boiler of simmering water for half a minute or so and your woes should vanish!
Yes I like this …….
xxxxxyyyyy
Delicious! A definite hit.
xxxxxyyyyy