Hand Dipped Pretzels
Each year I try and make a treat to bring to work for some coworkers and students. This year I decided to make hand dipped pretzels.
Supplies needed are a tub of pretzel rods (I prefer the kind in the tub as opposed to the bags because the ones in the bags tend to be broken), 1 bag of each kind of chocolate you’d like to dip the pretzels in, and any kind of coating to sprinkle on top. The kinds I made were white chocolate sprinkled with nonpareils, semi-sweet chocolate drizzled with white chocolate, chocolate coated with crushed peppermint candies, and chocolate rolled in Heath toffee bits.
I used a double boiler on the stove top to melt my bag of chocolate. This was a really tricky process…I wish I could share some words of wisdom when it comes to melting chocolate but it was pretty much trial and error. I will say that my first batch seemed to melt quickly then harden up before I could get it off the stove but adding a splash of canola oil seemed to smooth it out again making it easy to dip the pretzels in. After dipping each pretzel and coating it with candy, I placed them on wax paper to cool.
Putting them out in the cold garage firmed them up quickly and then they were ready to be packaged. I bought little bags at Wally World (I think a package of 20 was $1) to put them in for gift-giving. A tasty, pretty, and inexpensive gift!
