Chocolate Pretzel Rods

[Cathie]

Hi Ladies:

I want to make chocolate dipped pretzel rods with sprinkles to add to my little thank you gift I give to each lady at my exchange. They seem easy enough to make but I am wondering how far in advance I would be able to prepare them and what is the best way to store them. Thanks in advance.
Cathie in PA

[Bonnie]

I made these last year for neighbors and friends and they are easy. I used semi sweet and the white chocolate. The sprinkles drove me nuts because they kept bouncing off all over the place but they looked nice. I also dipped in dark chocolate and used the white to decorate and vise versa.

After mine cooled and the chocolate was nice and stiff I just put them in a tuberware container (the muffin one) layered with wax paper. They lasted a good long time because we had the leftovers on Christmas day and the pretzel was nice and crunchy. I made them about 5 days in advance.

When it was time to hand them out I put them into large cello bags and used a ribbon to tie off.

It was a nice simple gift. I am also thinking about doing marshmallows this year. I saw this in one of the magazines. Dip in chocolate and sprinkle with crushed peppermint.

I also saw the long peppermint sticks dipped in chocolate which would be great to add to a small gift basket of cocoas.

[Cathie]

Hi Bonnie:

Thanks a bunch for your reply, I am excited to make these as they are so festive looking. Your marshmellows sound WONDERFUL!!! Now that you mentioned them, I am now inspired to make my homemade peanut brittle....and the marshmellows oh, these holidays are tough with all these goodies!!!!!!!!

Thanks, have a great day
Cathie

[bettynotsuzy]

You can make the pretzel rods (or even just choc covered pretzels) NOW if you want, and they will still be fine for Christmas. I make these every year, and the shoppe I buy my supplies at also has a wide assortment already on display. They sell them for gifts, as well as selling all the baking supplies one could ever need.

A favorite is sprinkling the still wet choc. pretzels with crushes toffee or heath bars. I also use red and green chocolate (melted) as a drizzle for a festive touch. Some dip two rods at once then decorate. You can also find the nice cello bags made specifially for pretzel rods at supply and craft stores.

I too have made the marshmallows. I use the lolly sticks just like for the choc. lolly pops. I put two or three marshmallos on them then dip and garnish just like the pretzels.

Another cute idea the shoppe had was little marshmallow snowmen. They used white chocolate and let it drip and collect at the base a bit. They used candy eyes, icing nose, and a had made from a marshmallow stuck to a cookie, then dipped in chocolate. They were adorable... I hope I am explaining them clearly!

Have fun with your candy making, and baking this year... I have some experimental biscotti in the oven right now!

[bettynotsuzy]

Ooops... sorry for the typos! I am new here, and have no idea how to edit my post!

[Cathie]

Hey BettynotSusy:

Thanks, the snowmen sound great!!!!

I just love all these ideas for entertaining. I hope your biscotti comes out well. We love biscotti at our house. Please let us know how it turned out.

Happy baking
Cathie in PA

[bettynotsuzy]

Hi Cathie,

The biscotti came out good, need to tweak the recipe a bit, then experiment with different flavors. I still have a couple different recipes I want to try as a base. I plan to decorate these with chocolate etc. and use for gifts this holiday. Not sure if I will make them for the cookie swap though, I like to make my Aunt Bea's Butterballs for the swaps!

Sweet Dreams!

[MrsP]

For a white background, you can also dip them in white melting wafers, and then drizzle with whatever, including other colors of melting wafers. This is a great idea that can easily be translated for other holidays, depending on the color scheme. Melting wafers can be found in places like Micheal's craft store, they are made by the cake/candy decorating company, Wilton.

[carrie]

bettynotsuzy, Would yo post your recipe for your Aunt Beas Butterballs? They sound awesome!