Chocolate-dipped pretzel rods

A sweet and salty festive treat!

This recipe was inspired by a delicious treat I enjoyed at a food event recently. While I’ll never stop loving soft, ballpark-style pretzels, the crispy, coated ones I tasted were fabulously festive and I’m going to make a huge batch for gifting. They’d also be terrific for school parties or holiday bake sales.

Ingredients

• 3 dozen pretzel rods
• 1 cup (250 mL) white chocolate baking chips
• 2 cups (500 mL) dark chocolate baking chips
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) vegetable oil, divided
• Candy sprinkles and/or Skor toffee baking bits, for decoration

Method

• Line three small baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Place white chocolate baking chips in a small, microwave-safe ramekin. Add 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of vegetable oil. Heat on medium-high power for 1 minute then stir vigorously. Continue heating and stirring in 15 second increments until mixture is smooth.
• Working one at a time with one dozen of the pretzel rods, dip one end of each rod into the melted white chocolate, tilting the ramekin as you do so. You want to coat about 1.5 inches (4 cm) of one end of each pretzel. After dipping, hold each one over the ramekin for about 10 seconds to allow excess chocolate to drip off. Place on parchment-lined tray and repeat with remaining pretzel rods. When done, put tray in refrigerator to set chocolate coating.
• In a slightly larger ramekin, melt the dark chocolate chips and remaining 2 teaspoons (10 mL) of vegetable oil, following the same procedure as above. Dip 12 pretzel rods in the dark chocolate and once they’ve been laid out on one of the baking trays, sprinkle generously with Skor baking bits or candy sprinkles.
• Briefly reheat the dark chocolate, giving it a good stir, before dipping the final 12 pretzels and sprinkling them with your topping of choice.
• Reheat the remaining dark chocolate and use a small whisk or the tines of a fork to spatter it across the tops of the white chocolate coated pretzel rods.
• Refrigerate all the pretzel rods until the coatings are firm, then transfer to an airtight container and store for up to a week.

Makes 3 dozen. Recipe can easily be multiplied, but it’s not advisable to melt more than 2 cups (500 mL) of baking chips at one time in the microwave (use a double boiler instead).