Making your own chocolate covered pretzels or working with pretzel molds can be a fun way to spread some holiday cheer, start a small home business or make soccer moms green with envy. If you think it’s a tough task, think again!
What do you need to have on hand to make chocolate covered pretzels? That depends on what type of chocolate pretzels you are making. You can do a regular dip of pretzels in to chocolate or use a plastic mold that you pour chocolate in to. Both of them can be an excellent way to make creative gifts, seasonal offerings and fun treats. The basics include a microwave safe bowl or a double boiler for stovetop melting, quality pretzels, parchment paper, chocolate dipping tools (for small or mini pretzel twists) and of course chocolate!
Can you use any type of chocolate? You can use almost any type of chocolate; I try to avoid chocolate that have things like peanut butter or mint flavoring to them as not everyone likes that type of mix. If you are lucky enough to have stores that sell milk chocolate bars at a reasonable rate you can buy and use those. Chocolate bark is an option too; it is less expensive than regular milk chocolate and sets up quicker.
Are the pretzel molds expensive and where can you buy them? Most of the plastic pretzel molds that are sold for consumer use are in the two to three dollar range. Larger molds or specialty molds that are of characters will cost more but you can get an unlimited number of uses from them as long as you take care of them, wash them with a soft sponge and store them properly.
If you want to use plastic molds there are thousands to choose from. Most of them have four to six cavities so you can get a lot done in a short amount of time. You can get plastic pretzel molds for almost every season and holiday as well as specialty molds for baby showers, birthdays and graduations. You can use these to make unique gifts or pretzel bouquets. Most of the stores that sell these pretzel bouquets set the prices in the twenty to thirty dollar range for a set of six chocolate covered pretzels in a mug. Always make sure your molds are completely dry before using them; chocolate and water do not mix and if there is even a slight amount in the mold, you are going to get horrible pieces.
Once you invest in the mold and buy the chocolate the only other thing you need is time. Even if you are not a creative person, as long as you can use a microwave oven or boil water you can make chocolate covered pretzels. A plastic squeeze bottle is a nice accessory if you are going to drizzle on accents. If you want to decorate the dipped pretzels you can press them on to chopped nuts or use sprinkles on the chocolate while it is still setting up.
Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Twists: These do not require the use of a mold but you do need to have the right kind of chocolate dipping tools to remove the pretzel from the chocolate bath and allow it to drop so you end up with a nice looking piece. Use parchment paper to line a cookie sheet so you can remove them after they have hardened without them sticking or cracking. Once the pretzels have hardened completely you can stack them in a plastic bag and tie it off with some ribbon or store them in an air tight container until you need them.
Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods: You can dip half a rob in chocolate and let the excess drip off then place it on parchment paper to completely set up or you can opt to do a double dip; one side milk chocolate and the other side white chocolate. This is going to take twice as long to do because you need to let each half of the pretzel harden completely before dipping the other side. Make sure you tap off excess salt from the pretzels before dipping them to keep the melted chocolate as pure as possible.
Chocolate Pretzel Molds: Molds come in a variety of styles and sizes. You will need to inspect the mold to make sure that there are no cracks or dents in it. You can do a “one fill” color for quick treats or use different colors of chocolate to paint in a base design then use another color for the fill. These do take a little longer to harden completely because of the amount of chocolate that is being used but it is worth it.
One thing you need to get for chocolate pretzel mold pieces is a bag or two of solid, good tasting pretzel rods. If you skimp on these and get the cheaper pretzel rods you are not going to get a good snap from them when you bite in to them. Spending a couple extra cents on pretzels can pay off in the long run. Be sure to keep the dipped pretzels in an air-tight container to preserve the crunch.
If you are making these to give as gifts or to add to a pretzel bouquet you might want to look in to getting specialty pretzel bags. There are some that only cover the top section of the coated pretzel and others that enclose the entire rod. I prefer the longer ones as it protects the piece and gives it a much nicer appearance.
Buying a machine to keep chocolate in a liquid state is not a necessity. Oh, it is nice to have one but unless you are planning on using it once or twice a week or for huge batches around the holidays you will never get your moneys worth from it. Most of the in-home machines are in the thirty dollar range but the industrial models start at about four hundred dollars. Keeping your chocolate in a liquid state is not hard; I prefer to use a double boiler method with a round cookie rack in the bottom so I can pop plastic squeeze bottles into the water bath to keep it warm. Melting chocolate is not hard but it does require some patience.
The type of chocolate you pick depends on your budget. The top shelf gourmet chocolate will give you a better taste but unless someone else is paying for it I would use regular milk chocolate. Chocolate bark is an alternative; it has a little more wax in it so it sets up a tad faster. One of the things you need to remember is that you can not rush candy making. You can put the molds or trays of coated pretzels in the refrigerator to speed things up but this is not something that you are going to want to wait until the last minute to do.
