These simple chocolate-covered pretzel rods are dipped in melted dark chocolate and topped with holiday sprinkles, nuts, and mini marshmallows. They make a beautiful and easy giftable holiday treat for friends and family!
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Chocolate-covered pretzels are a vegan and dairy-free treat when made with dark chocolate. It’s a simple vegan snack or dessert! The combination of salty and sweet is so satisfying.
You can always use milk chocolate or white chocolate if you are not vegan or dairy-free, but I find the semi-sweet dark chocolate is not cloyingly sweet and is a wonderful contrast to the salty pretzel rods.
These pretzel rods are customizable, too!
Melt your favorite type of chocolate, or use a variety of chocolates. Decorate with your favorite crushed nuts, holiday sprinkles, or candies!
I used a Christmas sprinkle variety pack.
Depending on the holiday or occasion, you can switch it up. Use pastel sprinkles for Easter, orange and black for Halloween, or multi-colored sprinkles for a birthday celebration. They make a wonderful edible holiday gift for friends.
Packaged in a cellophane bag and tied with a colorful ribbon, they make beautiful party favors and homemade holiday gifts.
They are easy enough to make with the kids and are a fun weekend activity.
💗 Why You’ll Love These Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Rods
- Three simple ingredients
- Easy and fun to make
- Edible Christmas Gift
- Sweet and Salty
- Perfect for a holiday bake sale
- Vegan and dairy-free (when using dairy-free dark chocolate)
- Gluten-Free option
- Customizable for any holiday or special occasion (change up the sprinkles)
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Chocolate Chips: You’ll need one 12-ounce bag of dairy-free chocolate chips. I prefer to use Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels. If you don’t need vegan chocolate chips, you can use semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate or white candy melts, milk chocolate, or even colored chocolate melts. You can also opt to use dark chocolate bars over chocolate chips. For the holidays you could use red and green melts. For Easter, you could use pink or blue. For the 4th of July, you could use red, white, and blue melts. Or, for Valentine’s Day, do red melts with white heart sprinkles!
Sprinkles/Nuts/Other Toppings: Although not necessary, using holiday-themed sprinkles makes these pretzel rods look professional and festive. Add chopped almonds, mini marshmallows, colored candies, or any of your favorite toppings!
Pretzel Rods: You’ll need one 12-ounce bag of pretzel rods. If you need gluten-free, use gluten-free pretzel rods. You can even make your own with this pretzel rod recipe. Or use a differently shaped pretzel, such as pretzel twists, if you prefer.
📖 Variations and Substitutions
Try Different Varieties of Chocolate: You can use a combination of different chocolates, including white, milk, or colored candy melts.
Homemade Caramel: If you’re not a chocolate person, dip these in a homemade caramel sauce.
Sprinkles: Depending on the holiday or occasion, use festive colored sprinkles. Leave the sprinkles and decorations off for a more neutral year-long pretzel stick, or top with your favorite nuts!
🔪 Tools and Equipment
Glass Mixing Bowl: Use a microwave-safe bowl to melt your chocolate.
Spatula: Used to stir the melted chocolate and help spread the chocolate over the pretzel rods.
Baking Sheets: You need 2-3 baking sheets lined with parchment paper to place the pretzel rods on and allow the chocolate to set.
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Rods
- Pour chocolate chips into a medium microwave-safe bowl—microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between until chocolate is melted. If chocolate is almost there but not melted, reduce it to 15-second intervals.
- Dip the pretzel rods in chocolate. Use the spatula to help you cover ¾ of the rod. Lightly shake to remove any excess chocolate.
- Place the rod over the baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper, and sprinkle with your choice of sprinkles, nuts, or candies. Gently twist the rod to make sure all sides are covered. Place rod on lined baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the pretzel rods until all chocolate or pretzels are used. This recipe makes about 30 in total.
- Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set. Remove from the fridge and enjoy!
📝 Expert Tips
- Do not heat the chocolate in the microwave for too long-heat in 30-second increments, stirring in between. If you overheat the chocolate, it will burn and be unusable.
- Another option to melt the chocolate is to use the double boiler method. With this method, you place a glass bowl over boiling water so that the bowl does not touch the water, and the steam warms the chocolate. This is a more gentle way to melt the chocolate.
- Yet another option to melt the chocolate is to place warm water in a crockpot. Place mason jars filled with chocolate chips in the jars and place the jars in the water. This will gently melt the chocolate and keep it melted while you dip your pretzels. The challenge with this method is that you need to be careful not to get any hot water in the jars of chocolate.
❓ FAQS
Transfer the melted chocolate to a tall mason jar for ease of dipping so that you can dip the pretzel easily.
After you dip the pretzels in chocolate and top them with your sprinkles, place them in the fridge for about 10-30 minutes to set. Once set, they do not need to be stored in the fridge. They will keep at room temperature if stored in a cool dry place for several weeks.
🎁 How to Package as a Gift
These make an easy and fun gift that, when packaged, has a beautiful presentation!
Package these in clear cellophane bags. Tie them with a colored twist tie. Then used red and white striped string and a snowflake holiday tag to wrap around the top. Place three rods in each bag, but add as many as you like!
❄️ Storage
If not given as a gift, transfer the rods to an airtight container—a holiday cookie tin or zip-lock bag. Store them at room temperature in a cool, dry place such as your pantry. The pretzel rods will keep for several weeks if stored properly.
🎄 More Christmas Treats!
🎥 Video
Recipe
Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 oz bag of chocolate chips
- 12 oz bag of pretzel rods 30 pretzel rods
- holiday sprinkles
- chopped nuts
- mini marshmallows
Instructions
- Pour the chocolate chips into a medium glass mixing bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each increment, until the chocolate is melted.
- Dip the pretzel rods into the melted chocolate. Use a spatula to help you cover ¾ of the rod. Lightly shake to remove any extra chocolate.
- Place the dipped rod over the baking sheet lined with parchment paper, sprinkle with your choice of sprinkles, nuts, or candies, gently twisting the rod to ensure all sides are covered.
- Place the pretzel rod on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat for the rest of the pretzel rods until all chocolate or pretzels are used. The recipe will make about 30 pretzel rods.
- Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set. Remove from the fridge and enjoy!
Notes
- Don’t heat the chocolate in the microwave for too long. If you overheat the chocolate, it will burn and be unusable.
- Another option, instead of the microwave, is to use the double boiler method. With this method, you place a glass bowl over boiling water so that the bowl does not touch the water, and the steam warms the chocolate. This is a more gentle way to melt the chocolate.
- Yet another option to melt the chocolate is to place warm water in a crockpot. Place mason jars filled with chocolate chips in the jars and place them in the water. This will gently melt the chocolate and keep it melted while you dip your pretzels. The challenge with this method is that you need to be careful not to get any hot water in the jars of chocolate.
- Package these in clear cellophane bags. Tie them with a colored twist tie. Then, wrap around the top with a red and white striped string and a snowflake holiday tag. Place three rods in each bag, but add as many as you like!
- Store them at room temperature in a cool, dry place such as your pantry. The pretzel rods will keep for several weeks if stored properly.
Barbara
These are so good however I just put my first batch into bag and saw that the chocolate was melting in the cellophane bag. Should the Pretzels in bags stay in the refrigerator before gifting? If so how long? I did cool them in refrigerator for 20 minutes after decorating.
Alison Corey
It depends on the type of chocolate you use, some take longer to solidify. I have not had trouble with the chocolate melting once put in the cellophane bags, however, the pretzels must be completely cool and the chocolate hardened before transferring.
Colleen
These are so delicious, festive and simple! I will be making these for gifts this Christmas. Thank you for sharing.
Emmeline
Such a fun sweet treat! I will definitely be making a Christmas version of these for my family this year.
Nathan
These are so cute, especially with the holidays coming up. I see some little gift bags in my loved ones’ futures!
Sisley White
These are so much fun and so delicious. I love making them so I can use up some sprinkles.
Sue
These are such fun, and so much cheaper to make at home, the fancy catalogs charge a fortune for them!!