Leite's Chocolate Covered Pretzels

By stancec44

These chocolate covered pretzels–made with pretzels and dark and white chocolate–have a stunning appearance and a spectacular salty sweetness that’s terrific at cocktail parties. And just look at those sprinkles!
Good hostess gift.

Ingredients

• 14 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 8 ounces unbroken large pretzel twists or pretzel rods (you'll need to buy a couple 16-ounce bags to get enough unbroken pretzels)
• 14 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• Sprinkles (optional)
• HOW TO FANCY UP YOUR CHOCOLATE COVERED PRETZELS

Details

Preparation time 60mins
Cooking time 120mins
Adapted from leitesculinaria.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper, wax paper, or silicone baking mats.

2. Melt the semisweet chocolate in a bowl in the microwave, stirring it every 10 seconds or so, or in a bowl placed over but not touching a small saucepan with simmering water. Place the bowl of chocolate alongside the baking sheets.

3. Grab an unbroken pretzel, holding the bottom of it between your thumb and forefinger, and dip it approximately 3/4 of the way into the warm chocolate to coat it. Lift the pretzel out of the chocolate and gently shake it to allow any excess chocolate to drip off. (If you wish, you could instead dunk the entire pretzel into the chocolate, but don’t say we didn’t warn you it’s much fussier. And messier.) Place the pretzel on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with half the remaining pretzels.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’d like to decorate the chocolate with sprinkles or other decorating bling (see Variations above) instead of a drizzle of a different sort of chocolate, do so immediately while the chocolate is still wet and not yet set.]

4. Melt or temper the white chocolate in the same manner as you did the semisweet chocolate and then dip the remaining unbroken pretzels in the warm chocolate as you did in step 2.

5. To add an extra chocolate drizzle to the pretzels, warm any leftover semisweet and/or white chocolate until once again melted. Dip the tines of a fork in the melted chocolate or pour it into a squeeze bottle and drizzle it over the coated pretzels, using a white chocolate drizzle over pretzels dipped in semisweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate over pretzels dipped in white chocolate.

6. Let the chocolate-covered pretzels rest at room temperature until completely set and no longer sticky, about 30 minutes for white chocolate and about 2 hours for semisweet chocolate. The chocolate-covered pretzels will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.