I can’t be the only one who has every intention of doing all the things at Christmas time and then ends up doing about 13% of those things because, well, mom life! This time of year is so busy and I would love to bake all day everyday with my kids but let’s be real… work still needs to happen, house stuff still needs to happen, regular life still needs to happen. So this year I wanted to do a fun no-bake treat session with my 9 year old to still make memories, without 42 different ingredients, a sink full of dishes and and a full day of baking.
Insert chocolate dipped pretzel rods! You’ve probably seen them before… I had, but I never thought about making them myself and they are literally the easiest thing to make and you can make them in bulk relatively simply so you can have them for neighbor gifts, host gifts, teacher gifts and pretty much all the gifts you need without breaking the bank.
A few tips to make the process easier for you should you attempt these yourself.
- chocolate chips aren’t the best option, they don’t melt as well as baker’s chocolate, solid chocolate bars, or melts.
- we were out of parchment paper so we used foil which worked fine although for massive quantities I’m sure parchment paper might have worked better
- You can melt the chocolate quickly in the microwave however it doesn’t stay melted long enough to get through a big batch so the easiest way to do this is to use a slow cooker. We put some water in the slow cooker and turned it on high and then put mason jars inside. The water went about half way up the outside of the jar. Then when the chocolate was melted we turned the heat down to warm. The chocolate stayed perfect the whole time. Plus since the mason jars were taller it was easier to dip the pretzels. We also used a spoon to help spread the chocolate up the sides of the pretzel.
- For ease of clean up, don’t turn off the slow cooker until you’re totally done and ready to wash dishes. If you let the chocolate harden on the jars it’s not going to be easy to clean up. We rinsed them out immediately after we were done and then washed them in the dishwasher and they were completely clean.
- For heavier toppings (ie m&ms, chopped up candy bars, etc) it’s easier to dip the pretzel and then let the chocolate sit for a minute before you add the toppings. Otherwise the toppings just slide right off if the chocolate is too soft.
Here’s the recipe!
Ingredients-
1 package of long pretzel rods (approximately 33 rods)
Baker’s semi sweet chocolate
Baker’s white chocolate
(we used about 1/2 a box of Log House brand CandiQuick for both the semi sweet and white chocolate)
Your choice of toppings i.e. chopped nuts, crushed candy canes, sprinkles, mini m&ms, crushed candy bars, etc.
Instructions-
- Melt the chocolates in separate mason jars by placing the mason jars in a slow cooker on high with water coming up to about half way outside of the jars. (for more details see tips above.) Once chocolate is melted, turn down to low.
- Dip pretzel rods in the chocolate and use a spoon to spread chocolate up the sides of the pretzel leaving about 2 inches without chocolate at the top so they’re not entirely covered.
- Let the excess chocolate drip off inside the mason jar and then place it on a lined baking sheet. (preferably parchment paper)
- After letting it sit for about 30-60’s seconds to start to dry add the toppings of your choice.
- Let them dry for a few minutes before you move them.
Happy no-baking!
<3 Krista