Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods are a sweet and salty treat that is easily customizable for any holiday or occasion and fun for kids to help make too! These Christmas chocolate covered pretzel rods are going to be packaged up and shared as gifts with my girls school friends this year!
I am obsessed with pretzels and chocolate! That salty-sweet yumminess is one of the best flavor combinations ever, and another chocolate pretzel treat we like to make during the holidays are these easy pretzel hugs.
Chocolate covered pretzels rods are a great idea for any holiday, not just Christmas. All it takes are holiday-themed sprinkles or colorful candy melts and youve got a perfectly cute and delicious treat appropriate for Valentines Day or Halloween or the 4th of July!
You can even call them chocolate covered pretzel “wands” for Halloween or “sparklers” for the 4th of July!
Flipz is a type of confectionery created by Nestlé in 1997, consisting of salted pretzels covered in chocolate and other coatings.
How to Make Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods
There isnt much technique to this activity, but your success can hinge on using a tall enough container for dipping the pretzel rods. You want something tall and narrow like a glass cup or straight-sided mason jar, rather than a bowl.
The only problem with this approach is that if you are dipping lots and lots of pretzels, the level of the chocolate will go down fairly quickly.
I found it was easiest for melt enough chocolate to fill up one jar, then have more melted chocolate on hand to refill the jar as needed as the level went down. Hence, the multiple jars of the same types of chocolate in the pictures of the crock pot below.
While we worked with one jar, the other held chopped chocolate that was in the process of melting down. Be sure to shake excess chocolate off each pretzel before transferring them to a parchment lined baking sheet.
This is actually the most tedious part of the process and the one I had to help my 3 year old with since she couldnt quite get enough of the chocolate off to prevent puddles from forming around the pretzel rods once they were laid flat on the sheet for decorating.
My 6 year old got the hang of it quickly though!
The pretzels set up just fine at room temperature, although to speed up the process and clear some space since we were making A LOT of chocolate covered pretzel rods to give as gifts, I moved trays out to our cold garage while we worked, which made them set up even faster.
What Type of Chocolate to Use for Chocolate Covered Pretzels
For something like chocolate covered pretzels, you can use almost any kind of chocolate or chocolate-like products that are available such as colored candy melts or almond bark.
I might have gone with red or green candy melts for these Christmas chocolate covered pretzels if I didnt already have pounds (literally bricks and bags) of semisweet and white chocolate on hand that was passed on to me by my mother-in-law who had it leftover from a previous candy-making endeavor and wasnt planning on using it.
Pounds of leftover chocolate you say? Yes I can definitely find a use for that!
While candy melts work great for these treats, my honest preference is to use real, actual chocolate as the dipping base and then maybe use colored candy melts to drizzle over top.
When a treat is as simple as just pretzels and melted chocolate, I like to get the best quality chocolate I can find for a decent price. I almost always source my chocolate from Trader Joes, which sells big bars of it for a very reasonable price.
But you can buy any size bars of chocolate from your favorite grocery store or even order chocolate on Amazon.
The only thing I do NOT like to use for chocolate covered pretzel rods are chocolate chips, which have ingredients added that prevent them from melting the same as a bar of chocolate or candy melts.
Its doable and Ive used the trick of melting them with a little shortening, but I dont like it as well as the other options mentioned above. Melted chocolate chips also dont set up as hard as real chocolate either, which can also be problematic and just doesnt result in as good of a finished product for these treats.
CHOCOLATE COVERED PRETZEL RODS
FAQ
What is another name for chocolate covered pretzels?
What is the origin of chocolate pretzels?
Are chocolate pretzels German?
Are chocolate covered pretzels considered candy?
What kind of pretzels do you use?
Pretzels: The type of pretzels you use depends on the snack you want. You can use mini pretzels for poppable treats or pretzel rods if you prefer. Chocolate Chips: Since it’s all about the chocolate, reach for high-quality dark, milk, or white chocolate. It also melts better, which makes dipping easier.
What are chocolate covered pretzels?
Chocolate Covered Pretzels are fast, easy and delicious! A perfect sweet and salty treat that’s perfect for parties, holidays or any special occasion. Add pretzels to a dish for a sweet and salty combination! The salty crunch adds to this Chicken dish is divine along with this Strawberry and Raspberry salad version too!
How do you eat chocolate covered pretzels?
Dip: Using a fork, dip each pretzel into the chocolate and put it on parchment paper. Drizzle the pretzels using the remaining chocolate. Set: Let set until the chocolate hardens then enjoy! Crunchy pretzels and velvety smooth chocolate, and sweet and salty, chocolate covered pretzels are the perfect example of opposites attract.
What do you need to make homemade chocolate-covered pretzels?
Here’s everything you’ll need for homemade chocolate-covered pretzels: Pretzels: The type of pretzels you use depends on the snack you want. You can use mini pretzels for poppable treats or pretzel rods if you prefer. Chocolate Chips: Since it’s all about the chocolate, reach for high-quality dark, milk, or white chocolate.