Chocolate covered pretzels recipe

Ingredients

• 5 cups pretzel sticks (or 4 oz mini pretzels)
• ½ cup water
• 1 1/3 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 12 oz dark chocolate
• Chopped peanuts

Instructions

1. Cover a large baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Make the caramel: in a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, water, and salt. Whisk frequently until the sugar dissolves.
3. Once boiling, stop stirring. Use a thermometer and cook until the caramel turns dark brown.
4. At 315°F, slowly add the cream. It will bubble—whisk continuously.
5. When it cools to 250°F, remove from the heat.
6. Carefully pour into a heatproof bowl and let cool for 5 minutes.
7. Dip each pretzel halfway into caramel, let excess drip off, and place on parchment to harden.
8. Temper the dark chocolate using the steps below.
9. Dip the caramel-coated pretzels into the dark chocolate.
10. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
11. Let set on parchment paper.

Use any chocolate you'd like: Our variations

You can use any chocolate you fancy for this recipe—or use all three. The same tempering method applies to milk and white chocolate, but they melt at a lower temperature, so keep a close eye on the heat.

White and milk chocolate should only be heated to 110°F (not higher). White chocolate is also great for coloring—try pumpkin orange or zombie green for Halloween pretzels.

For more fall inspiration, check out our pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

How to temper chocolate for a great result

Tempered chocolate stays crisp and glossy, and won’t melt easily at room temperature.

1. Break the chocolate into small pieces.
2. Bring a saucepan with about 1 inch of water to a low simmer.
3. Place a metal bowl over the saucepan (make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water).
4. Add 2/3 of the chopped chocolate to the bowl and stir continuously.
5. Use a thermometer to monitor the chocolate temperature.
6. When it reaches 110–115°F, remove from heat.
7. Place the bowl on a kitchen towel.
8. Slowly add the remaining chocolate (“seed”), stirring frequently.
9. Let it cool to 89°F (this can take 15+ minutes).
10. Your tempered chocolate is ready!