Christmas White Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods

Need a quick-and-easy Christmas treat?  Here's an idea for you!  These White Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods are perfect for little treat gifts, or for get-together nibbles.  Not to mention, they're just fun... both to make and to eat.

And, again, I'm realizing that I've been on a total pretzel kick this Christmas baking season.  So far,  four out of my five posts for December have included pretzels!  That was not at all intentional.  First there was Dark Chocolate Pretzel Fudge for the December Crazy Cooking Challenge, followed by Pretzel Cookies with Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chips, and then Yuppy Chow with ... you guessed it ... pretzels!  Now I've moved on to simply dipping pretzels in chocolate.  White chocolate.  With colorful sprinkles.  Ya know, to deck them out for Christmas and all.

Don't they look cute?  I think they came out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I whipped these up at the last minute one night.  I was asked to make a batch of cake pops (like these Salted Chocolate ones) to include as a little "giftie" with the gift cards our teacher staff was giving the office staff for Christmas.  Now, I love to make cake pops ... but any of you out there who've made them know they aren't the quickest things to make.  They happen to be just a teeny tiny bit tedious and time-consuming.  So, I quickly said that wasn't going to happen at this point in the busy Christmas season.  But ... I did have another idea for a cute tasty treat.  And that's how these pretzels came to be.

I think I whipped up (or dipped up!) an entire bag of pretzel rods in less than 30 minutes.  So quick.  So easy.  Then I put five of them in a cellophane baggy, tied it with a colorful ribbon, and voila! ... Christmas white chocolate-dipped pretzel rod bouquets!

All you need to make these beauties is a bag of pretzel rods, some white chocolate bark coating, a tiny bit of shortening, and an assortment of colorful sprinkles.

Melt some bark coating together with a tiny bit of shortening.  The shortening thins the coating out a bit and makes it so you get a nice, smooth layer of white chocolate.  Use a tall, skinny container that is tall enough to fit most of the length of the pretzel rod in it.  I had a hard time finding something in my kitchen tall and skinny enough, and ended up using a pottery cup.

Once you've melted your coating, dip a pretzel rod in.  Tilt the container a bit if you need to to get the coating as far down the pretzel as you can.

Dipping

Take the pretzel out of the coating, gently shake off the excess, letting it drip back into your container.  Then, sprinkle with your chosen, well .... sprinkles.

I started off with my sprinkles laid out in shallow platters, thinking it would be best to roll the pretzel rods in the sprinkles.  Not the case.  It turned out to be easiest just to grab a pinch of sprinkles and sprinkle it over the pretzel rod with my fingers.  Just make sure to do this over a bowl or something with a bit of a side ... not the flat platters like I did.  Why?  Because the sprinkles tend to bounce when they land back on whatever dish you're sprinkling over.  I've swept my kitchen floor three times since making these pretzels, and I'm still finding little sprinkle balls hiding around my linoleum!

See my finger marks in the green sugar sprinkles below?  Yup, much better way to go than rolling.

Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle

Lay your dipped-and-sprinkled pretzels out on a sheet of waxed paper or parchment, let the coating set up, and then ... there you have it!  A beautiful, festive platter of White Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods.

Beautifully festive

Tie a few up with a bow for a cute and tasty little give-away treat.

Ribbon makes everything just that much more fun!

Christmas White-Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods
Source:  I'm sure I saw them somewhere, but I have no idea where!

Ingredients
1 (10 oz.) bag pretzel rods
1 (24 oz.) package white chocolate bark coating or 1 (1 lb.) bag white candy melts (you'll only use about 10 or 12 oz.)
1 to 2 T. shortening
Assorted sprinkles


Directions
1.  In a tall skinny container (such as a pottery cup or perhaps even a small glass vase), melt bark coating or candy melts and shortening together in the microwave per package directions (typically in 30 second intervals, stirring in between).

2.  Dip each pretzel rod in the candy coating, letting excess coating drip off back into the container. Sprinkle with sprinkles, as desired. 

3.  Place on waxed paper and let stand for coating to set up.

I pour the leftover white chocolate coating into a plastic storage container and save it for another use later.  All you have to do is heat it back up in the microwave, omitting the shortening (since it's already in there).

Enjoy!

Place in a cellophane baggy for a sweet little bouquet

This post is linked with Sweets for a Saturday hosted by Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Sweet Indulgences Sunday hosted by A Well-Seasoned Life, Sundae Scoop hosted by I {heart} Naptime, Think Pink Sundays hosted by Flamingo Toes, Savvy Homemade Monday hosted by Home Savvy A to Z, Cure for the Common Monday hosted by Lines Across My Face, Market Yourself Monday hosted by Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Mangia Mondays hosted by Shine Your Light, Crazy Sweet Tuesday hosted by Crazy for Crust, Tasty Tuesday hosted by For the Love of Blogs, Tuesday Talent Show hosted by Chef in Training, Tea Party Tuesday hosted by Sweetology, Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party hosted by Mrs. Fox's Sweets, These Chicks Cooked hosted by This Chick Cooks, Creative Juice Thursday hosted by Momnivore's Dilemma, Share Your Creations hosted by Kristen's Creations, Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollum, Christmas Link Party.

Need a quick-and-easy Christmas treat?  Here's an idea for you!  These White Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods are perfect for little treat gifts, or for get-together nibbles.  Not to mention, they're just fun... both to make and to eat.

And, again, I'm realizing that I've been on a total pretzel kick this Christmas baking season.  So far,  four out of my five posts for December have included pretzels!  That was not at all intentional.  First there was Dark Chocolate Pretzel Fudge for the December Crazy Cooking Challenge, followed by Pretzel Cookies with Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chips, and then Yuppy Chow with ... you guessed it ... pretzels!  Now I've moved on to simply dipping pretzels in chocolate.  White chocolate.  With colorful sprinkles.  Ya know, to deck them out for Christmas and all.

Don't they look cute?  I think they came out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I whipped these up at the last minute one night.  I was asked to make a batch of cake pops (like these Salted Chocolate ones) to include as a little "giftie" with the gift cards our teacher staff was giving the office staff for Christmas.  Now, I love to make cake pops ... but any of you out there who've made them know they aren't the quickest things to make.  They happen to be just a teeny tiny bit tedious and time-consuming.  So, I quickly said that wasn't going to happen at this point in the busy Christmas season.  But ... I did have another idea for a cute tasty treat.  And that's how these pretzels came to be.

I think I whipped up (or dipped up!) an entire bag of pretzel rods in less than 30 minutes.  So quick.  So easy.  Then I put five of them in a cellophane baggy, tied it with a colorful ribbon, and voila! ... Christmas white chocolate-dipped pretzel rod bouquets!

All you need to make these beauties is a bag of pretzel rods, some white chocolate bark coating, a tiny bit of shortening, and an assortment of colorful sprinkles.

Melt some bark coating together with a tiny bit of shortening.  The shortening thins the coating out a bit and makes it so you get a nice, smooth layer of white chocolate.  Use a tall, skinny container that is tall enough to fit most of the length of the pretzel rod in it.  I had a hard time finding something in my kitchen tall and skinny enough, and ended up using a pottery cup.

Once you've melted your coating, dip a pretzel rod in.  Tilt the container a bit if you need to to get the coating as far down the pretzel as you can.

Dipping

Take the pretzel out of the coating, gently shake off the excess, letting it drip back into your container.  Then, sprinkle with your chosen, well .... sprinkles.

I started off with my sprinkles laid out in shallow platters, thinking it would be best to roll the pretzel rods in the sprinkles.  Not the case.  It turned out to be easiest just to grab a pinch of sprinkles and sprinkle it over the pretzel rod with my fingers.  Just make sure to do this over a bowl or something with a bit of a side ... not the flat platters like I did.  Why?  Because the sprinkles tend to bounce when they land back on whatever dish you're sprinkling over.  I've swept my kitchen floor three times since making these pretzels, and I'm still finding little sprinkle balls hiding around my linoleum!

See my finger marks in the green sugar sprinkles below?  Yup, much better way to go than rolling.

Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle

Lay your dipped-and-sprinkled pretzels out on a sheet of waxed paper or parchment, let the coating set up, and then ... there you have it!  A beautiful, festive platter of White Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods.

Beautifully festive

Tie a few up with a bow for a cute and tasty little give-away treat.

Ribbon makes everything just that much more fun!

Christmas White-Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods
Source:  I'm sure I saw them somewhere, but I have no idea where!

Ingredients
1 (10 oz.) bag pretzel rods
1 (24 oz.) package white chocolate bark coating or 1 (1 lb.) bag white candy melts (you'll only use about 10 or 12 oz.)
1 to 2 T. shortening
Assorted sprinkles


Directions
1.  In a tall skinny container (such as a pottery cup or perhaps even a small glass vase), melt bark coating or candy melts and shortening together in the microwave per package directions (typically in 30 second intervals, stirring in between).

2.  Dip each pretzel rod in the candy coating, letting excess coating drip off back into the container. Sprinkle with sprinkles, as desired. 

3.  Place on waxed paper and let stand for coating to set up.

I pour the leftover white chocolate coating into a plastic storage container and save it for another use later.  All you have to do is heat it back up in the microwave, omitting the shortening (since it's already in there).

Enjoy!

Place in a cellophane baggy for a sweet little bouquet

This post is linked with Sweets for a Saturday hosted by Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Sweet Indulgences Sunday hosted by A Well-Seasoned Life, Sundae Scoop hosted by I {heart} Naptime, Think Pink Sundays hosted by Flamingo Toes, Savvy Homemade Monday hosted by Home Savvy A to Z, Cure for the Common Monday hosted by Lines Across My Face, Market Yourself Monday hosted by Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Mangia Mondays hosted by Shine Your Light, Crazy Sweet Tuesday hosted by Crazy for Crust, Tasty Tuesday hosted by For the Love of Blogs, Tuesday Talent Show hosted by Chef in Training, Tea Party Tuesday hosted by Sweetology, Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party hosted by Mrs. Fox's Sweets, These Chicks Cooked hosted by This Chick Cooks, Creative Juice Thursday hosted by Momnivore's Dilemma, Share Your Creations hosted by Kristen's Creations, Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollum, Christmas Link Party.