Thin salted pretzels drizzled with melted dark chocolate from a squirt bottle. Thin streaks, not thick coats. Set in the freezer for one minute between batches.
Chocolate-covered pretzels from the store are always too thick. The chocolate coating overwhelms the pretzel and you lose the salt. This recipe drizzles melted chocolate over thin pretzels using a squirt bottle, and the result is completely different: mostly pretzel, thin streaks of dark chocolate, enough sweetness to notice but not enough to take over.
The process is fussy in a satisfying way. Twenty pretzels at a time on a cooling rack, a double boiler to melt the chocolate slowly, a squirt bottle for the drizzle, one minute in the freezer to set. You scrape the drips off the rack between batches and save them. Pretty damn addictive.
Tips for Making Chocolate Drizzled Pretzels
Use a double boiler, not a microwave
The recipe melts the chocolate over simmering water in a small pan set on top of a pot. This gives you more control than a microwave.
Stir continuously and remove the pan from heat while a few small lumps remain. Residual heat melts them. Overheated chocolate seizes and turns grainy.
Keep the squirt bottle warm
The chocolate solidifies in the bottle between batches. Run the bottle under hot water before each new set of pretzels.
Work quickly once the chocolate is in the bottle. The drizzle should be a fluid back-and-forth motion across each pretzel.
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California Love- Chocolate and Pretzels
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: Makes 60 1x
Diet: Omnivore
Description
Salty and sweet collide in this fun snack recipe.
Perfect for satisfying any chocolate craving!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Instructions
- Cover a large baking sheet with wax paper and place a non-stick sprayed cooling rack on top.
- Place about 20 pretzels on the cooling rack, ensuring they do not overlap. Set aside.
- Make room in the freezer (preferably) or refrigerator to place the baking sheet between batches to harden the chocolate.
- Fill a 3 qt. pot with about 2 inches of water and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to low, maintain a simmer, and place a small pan on top.
- Add chocolate to the small pan and stir continuously until there are just a few lumps remaining. Turn off the heat and continue stirring until all lumps are gone.
- Pour melted chocolate into a squirt bottle.
- Drizzle chocolate over one pretzel at a time using a back-and-forth motion to cover most of the pretzel.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer for one minute to harden the chocolate.
- Remove the baking sheet from the freezer, carefully remove the pretzels from the rack, and place them in an airtight container.
- Repeat with the remaining pretzels. Run the squirt bottle under hot water between batches to keep the chocolate smooth.
- When all pretzels are finished, scrape chocolate drips from the cooling rack onto the wax paper and collect the drippings in a small container for later use.
Notes
- For easier drizzling, microwave the chocolate in 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth.
- Use different colored chocolates to create a festive look.
- Store drizzled pretzels in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Melting
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 pretzel
- Calories: 100
- Sugar: 10
- Sodium: 100
- Fat: 5
- Saturated Fat: 3
- Unsaturated Fat: 2
- Carbohydrates: 15
- Fiber: 1
- Protein: 2
- Cholesterol: 5
Frequently Asked Questions
Why use a squirt bottle instead of drizzling with a spoon?
The squirt bottle gives you thin, even lines of chocolate across each pretzel. A spoon tends to drop large globs that overwhelm the pretzel. The goal is streaks, not a full coating.
Can I use milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet or dark?
Yes, but milk chocolate is softer and takes longer to set. You may need to freeze the pretzels for two to three minutes instead of one. Milk chocolate also tends to be sweeter, so the salt contrast is less pronounced.
How do I keep the chocolate from hardening in the squirt bottle?
Run the bottle under hot water between batches. The chocolate solidifies as it cools, so warming the outside of the bottle re-melts it enough to keep drizzling. Work in batches of 20 pretzels and reheat the bottle before each new set.