Saturday, March 26, 2011

Hand-dipped White Chocolate Pretzels Tutorial

These delicious little guys are one of my favorite things to make and to eat.  I love the combination of salty and sweet together.  Sometimes I find myself unconsciously eating a whole bunch while watching tv.  Yikes. 

Now believe me when I say that ANYONE can make these, even husbands and kiddos.  From start to finish it took me 30 minutes to make these.  Clean up is easy and there is no oven involved!  Here's what you'll need to get started:

1. PRETZELS. I personally think that the "snaps" work best.  You can find this in the chip aisle at Walmart.  (If that's where your Walmart puts the pretzels.)
2. ALMOND BARK.  Buy the white chocolate flavored kind.  I've experimented with the milk chocolate flavored kind and did not enjoy it as much.  White chocolate is a must.  You can find this at Walmart in the cooking notions aisle where all the cake mixes and muffin mixes and jello and baking supplies are.
3. GLASS BOWL.  Since an oven is not involved, you will be melting the almond bark in the microwave. 
4. WAX PAPER.  One time I put the dipped pretzels on a cookie sheet and I had so many casualties when I scraped them off the sheet.  Wax paper works the best because the pretzels pop right off when the chocolate has hardened. 
5. SPOON.  You'll need a spoon to stir the lumps out of the melted chocolate.
6. KNIFE.  You'll need a knife to cut the almond bark into smaller pieces. (Picture below)


I learned the hard way how tempermental almond bark is.  I had never used it before until just a couple months ago and really had no clue what to do.  I first decided to melt in a nonstick pan on the stove on low heat, but I scorched the melted goop so bad that I had to throw it out.  So, just melt it in the microwave.  It's much easier to control the consistency better. 

On the back of the package it will tell you how long to microwave the almond bark.  It's 90 seconds the first time.  Stir.  Then microwave for 15 second intervals and stir in between until you get the consistency that you want.  The amount of almond bark you use (I only used half a package) will determine how many times you nuc it. 


While the almond bark was melting away, I set up my table with the pretzels and wax paper.  Once I had the right consistency, I just started dipping away.  I only covered half of the pretzel because I didn't want too much chocolate to overpower the pretzel.  Here's what the finished product looks like:


And there's your hand-dipped white chocolate pretzels!  Happy dipping!

2 comments:

  1. I love making these except I use the pretzel rods usually! We all love them and that is saying a lot for my family! I prefer the white bark too although I make them with both.

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  2. Even husbands? WHATTTT? lol =) I love white chocolate dipped pretzels and may add some sprinkles? For my baby, of course! =)

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