How to Make Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods
How to Make Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods
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How to Make Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods
When baking for a family get-together or holiday party, you’ll love adding chocolate covered pretzel rods to your list of goodies. Because you can decorate them with such a wide variety of toppings, their presentation can be as simple, fun or decadent as you would like, at any time of the year. With the winning combination of salty and sweet, they’re sure to be crowd-pleasers, but that’s not even the best part. They’re so easy to make, your children can help, and you’ll still look like a gourmet confectioner.
What you’ll need:
Preparing Your Workspace
Because you’re working with melted chocolate, it’s important to prepare your dipping and decorating space before melting your chocolate. If you wait until you’ve melted the chocolate, you run the risk of having it harden before you’ve had a chance to cover your pretzels.
Step 1: Clear an appropriate amount of workspace.The number of pretzels and decorations you plan to use will dictate exactly how much space you’ll need.
Step 2: Chop or crush your decortive toppings into small pieces. Large chunks won’t look as pretty or stick well to your chocolate. Put each topping in an individual bowl.
Step 3: Lay out sheets of parchment paper to cool your chocolate dipped pretzel rods. Parchment paper is best, because it won’t stick to your chocolate.
Melting the Chocolate
After you choose the chocolate, you’ll need to melt it. The melting process requires close attention in order to avoid burning your chocolate.
Step 1: Over medium heat, warm the water in your double boiler to a simmer. Take care not to have the top pot touching the water. Also, make sure the two pots fit together well. A good seal will keep steam from rising and ruining your chocolate.
Step 2: Put your chocolate into the top pot. Smaller pieces melt faster and more evenly. Chocolate chips work well, but if you’d like to use bars, cut them down to a smaller size.
Step 3: Stir the chocolate as it melts. Continually scraping the sides and mixing the chocolate will keep it from scorching or separating.
Step 4: Remove the smoothly melted chocolate from heat.
Covering and Decorating Your Pretzel
Now that the chocolate is ready, the real fun can begin. It’s time to dip and decorate. For the best results follow all three steps for each pretzel before moving on to the next. Coating multiple pretzels with chocolate and then trying to go back to decorate them will be messy and your toppings may not stick very well.
Step 1: Coat your pretzel rod in chocolate. Hold the pretzel over the pot and spoon the chocolate over it. Leaving some of the pretzel bare will make it easier to hold and is aesthetically pleasing. Allow excess chocolate to drip back into the pot.
Step 2: Gently rotate the freshly-coated pretzel rod over your chosen decorative topping and sprinkle liberally. Resist the urge to roll the pretzel directly in the bowl, because it’ll make a huge mess of your topping.
Step 3: Lay your beautifully decorated chocolate covered pretzel rod on the parchment and repeat the process.
Step 4: Allow them to lay on the parchment until the chocolate is completely hardened again. Then you can store them in a plastic storage container.
Chocolate covered pretzel rods are fabulous treats for parties, gifts or bake sales. They’re easy to make and can be decorated differently for every season.