This was another joint project between my daughter Anna and me: chocolate dipped pretzels for Valentine's Day!
We made them to give out to her classmates and teachers next week, and for her brother's and sister's friends at school too. We made a lot! :) A whole big box of pretzel rods, to be precise. :) And we used 24oz of chocolate and a whole box of sprinkles too. :) I did all the dipping and Anna did all the sprinkles. It worked out great! We had already had a "practice run" of doing this at Christmas time, so we knew "the drill". :) We used both dark and white chocolate and we were both pleased with the end results. Don't they look pretty? :) Hopefully, their school friends and teachers will like them too. :)
Ingredients:
1. Prepare a couple of baking sheets by lining them with aluminum foil/parchment paper/wax paper or just use a silicone mat.
2. Combine the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate and the shortening in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave until the chocolate is melted, stirring after every 30 seconds (for 16 oz of chocolate, it takes about 1 minute and a half in total). When chocolate gets overheated it thickens and becomes unworkable, so watch your chocolate carefully! Take it out of the microwave when there are still unmelted chips remaining, and stir until the final chips melt. Alternatively, you can put the bowl with chocolate chips on top of a simmering pot of water and stir the chocolate until it melts- this way your chances of seizing the chocolate are not as high as if using the microwave (at least from personal experience), you just have to be careful not to get burned by the steam of the simmering water. Make sure the burner is set on LOW- you want a low simmer, not a boil.
3. If dipping pretzel rods, hold a rod by one end and dip in the chocolate, leaving an inch or two uncovered. Tap off the excess chocolate until the pretzel looks nice and smooth. If you are dipping pretzel twists, drop the whole pretzel in the chocolate and submerge it slightly. Use a fork to pull the pretzel out of the chocolate. Shake the chocolate-dipped pretzels several times to remove excess chocolate, and place it on the prepared baking sheet. If you are using sprinkles or small candies, sprinkle them on when the chocolate is still wet. Repeat with remaining chocolate and pretzels.
4. Place the pretzels in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to set the chocolate (or just leave out for a couple of hours or overnight- this is what I do).
5. If desired, melt the white chocolate and drizzle it over the pretzels for a decorative look, or do the reverse, for fun). Leave to set.
And here are our ready pretzels, all individually packaged for gift giving:
Recipe courtesy: http://candy.about.com
We made them to give out to her classmates and teachers next week, and for her brother's and sister's friends at school too. We made a lot! :) A whole big box of pretzel rods, to be precise. :) And we used 24oz of chocolate and a whole box of sprinkles too. :) I did all the dipping and Anna did all the sprinkles. It worked out great! We had already had a "practice run" of doing this at Christmas time, so we knew "the drill". :) We used both dark and white chocolate and we were both pleased with the end results. Don't they look pretty? :) Hopefully, their school friends and teachers will like them too. :)
Ingredients:
- 16 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
- 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp shortening
- 5 dozen pretzel rods or large pretzel twists
- Assorted sprinkles, small candies or chopped nuts (optional)
- 8oz white chocolate chip (optional)
Directions:
2. Combine the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate and the shortening in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave until the chocolate is melted, stirring after every 30 seconds (for 16 oz of chocolate, it takes about 1 minute and a half in total). When chocolate gets overheated it thickens and becomes unworkable, so watch your chocolate carefully! Take it out of the microwave when there are still unmelted chips remaining, and stir until the final chips melt. Alternatively, you can put the bowl with chocolate chips on top of a simmering pot of water and stir the chocolate until it melts- this way your chances of seizing the chocolate are not as high as if using the microwave (at least from personal experience), you just have to be careful not to get burned by the steam of the simmering water. Make sure the burner is set on LOW- you want a low simmer, not a boil.
3. If dipping pretzel rods, hold a rod by one end and dip in the chocolate, leaving an inch or two uncovered. Tap off the excess chocolate until the pretzel looks nice and smooth. If you are dipping pretzel twists, drop the whole pretzel in the chocolate and submerge it slightly. Use a fork to pull the pretzel out of the chocolate. Shake the chocolate-dipped pretzels several times to remove excess chocolate, and place it on the prepared baking sheet. If you are using sprinkles or small candies, sprinkle them on when the chocolate is still wet. Repeat with remaining chocolate and pretzels.
4. Place the pretzels in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to set the chocolate (or just leave out for a couple of hours or overnight- this is what I do).
5. If desired, melt the white chocolate and drizzle it over the pretzels for a decorative look, or do the reverse, for fun). Leave to set.
And here are our ready pretzels, all individually packaged for gift giving:
Recipe courtesy: http://candy.about.com
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