Christmas Pretzel Rods

This is one of the easiest holiday food crafts in existence! Pretzel rods covered in melted chocolate and decorated with candy, frosting, sprinkles, and sanding sugar result in a super fun and festive treat! Get your kids involved in making these Christmas Pretzel Rods, they couldn't be any more simple!

Why Make Christmas Pretzel Rods?

When you're trying to round out a treat table at your holiday gatherings, these holiday pretzel rods will add lots of festive color without too much extra effort. Stand them up in a pretty glass container or place them around your table around your other dishes to add some sparkle.

This is a great food craft project to get your kids involved, too! I know that time in the kitchen can be a hit or miss experience when letting the children get involved, but this one is so easy! The frustration and tears should be kept to a minimum, promise. Just keep the broom or vacuum handy for cleaning up those rogue sprinkles, ha.

What Skill Level Is Needed For This Project?

These are fun for the whole family! Little ones will need assistance with melting and handling the hot chocolate or candy, but they can go nuts with decorating all on their own.

Older kids may be able to do this project on their own. There's no way for these not to look cute... even when they're messy, they're still pretty!

Troubleshooting Tips

• Don't overheat chocolate. Most commercial candy wafers have a warning in the directions to not overheat the chocolate when melting. Once candy has reached a good liquid consistency, further heating may cause it to seize up/thicken and make it harder to work with. Remove from heat/the microwave as soon as it reaches the ideal consistency.
• Water is not your friend. Water is your enemy when it comes to melting chocolate/candy wafers. Even a couple of drops can turn your mixture into a seized-up chunky mess. While it is easy to avoid water when using the microwave for the melting process, be careful of lids on double boilers if using the stove top. Condensation can collect under the lid and drip down into the pan, ruining your whole batch.
• Spread or Dip. You may find that you prefer either dipping the pretzels into the melted chocolate or spreading it on using a nonstick spatula. Do what works best for you (I prefer spreading).
• Decorate immediately. Don't let the rods sit for too long once coated with chocolate. I recommend decorating each one immediately as the chocolate will set very quickly and you'll be outta luck with getting any sprinkles or candy to stick!

Make Other Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Shapes

Don't stop at just pretzel rods! Try pretzel twists, pretzel sticks, and those grid-shaped "snaps" to add variety. Utz even makes some holiday shaped pretzels - how fun!

Pretzel Decorating Ideas

Need some inspiration for your own glitzy festive pretzels? Try some of these ideas:

• Sprinkles! Duh, right? Try any and all shapes and colors of sprinkles. Use colors that contrast with the melted chocolate coating to really help them stand out.
• Crushed Candies. Peppermints are the obvious Christmassy choice here, but you can crush up any hard candies that you want. Use translucent ones for a "rock candy" effect.
• Drizzles. Use royal icing or pre-packaged cookie icing to add colorful squizzles and swirls.
• Crushed Cookies. Oreos, ginger snaps, grasshoppers.. anything, really! This is an easy way to vary flavors.
• Sanding Sugar. This shows up best on pretzels coated with white chocolate.
• Mini chocolate chips or mini M&Ms. Go big or go home when it comes to chocolate, right?

Storage and Freezing Instructions

You can prepare your holiday pretzel rods several days in advance to save time on those busy pre-Christmas weekends. Make sure the chocolate has fully set, and then carefully layer pretzels into an airtight container. Keep them at cool room temperature for best quality. I do not recommend refrigerating.

You can freeze chocolate-covered pretzel rods. Once the chocolate has fully set, carefully transfer rods into a freezer-safe zip top plastic bag. Freeze for up to 12 months. You can eat them directly from the freezer or let them thaw on the countertop. Please be aware that the sprinkles may chip off easily when handling the pretzels too much. Work carefully.

Print

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