Now, I know they make cute little Christmas tree pretzels during the holiday season. But who really wants to take the time to dip all of those in chocolate? Not me. Put me down for the least time-consuming dessert there is, please. I also know there's the popular dessert of pretzel rods dipped in chocolate with sprinkles and other things. But everybody makes those - there's no fun in that! I was looking for something tasty, quick and new. I'm pretty picky, right? Oops.
Well, I thought up this little concoction when my mom started her holiday baking - peanut butter crackles, frosted sugar cookies, peanut butter balls, and . . . peanut clusters. Peanut clusters have a whopping two ingredients and are always a hit. Why couldn't I sub the peanuts for pretzel chunks? I couldn't think of a valid reason why not, therefore here they are.
My boyfriend Noah cannot get enough of these. Between these and the peanut butter balls, I think we could have him covered for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He snuck tons of these at his family Christmas, clearly not worried about saving any for his family members. (I snuck some too, so I don't have a lot of room to talk, but we won't tell him that. Also, he gets credit for helping me make these. He did the breaking of the pretzel rods - what a good little helper.)
But! These were a hit - they're sweet, salty and oh so crunchy. They took about 15 minutes to whip together, so that's another plus. I would definitely recommend these out of the holiday desserts I made this year (and I made a couple not tasty Christmas treats, so believe me on this one). Feel free to half or double the recipe depending on how much you need! You won't regret it!
Chocolate Pretzel ClustersPrep Time: 15 minutes. Cook time: 0 minutes. Total time: 15 minutes.
Yields: about 30 clusters (varies greatly depending on size of clusters)
Ingredients:
12 oz. bag pretzel rods
*28 oz. vanilla almond bark (could use chocolate almond bark also)
*The packages I used were 24 oz. and contained 12 squares each. I needed 14 squares for the amount of pretzels I used.
Directions:
*1. In a medium bowl, break pretzel rods into about 1/2-inch long chunks (I used my hands). They don't have to be perfect. Some of mine were smaller, some were larger. Sometimes they were difficult to break or crumbled, so just try to break them as best you can. Once the bag of pretzels is broken up, set the bowl aside.
2. In a large microwave safe bowl, heat almond bark at 20 to 30-second intervals until fully melted, careful to not burn it.
3. Remove almond bark from microwave and pour in pretzel pieces. Using a spoon, stir the pretzels until all the pieces are evenly coated.
3. Remove almond bark from microwave and pour in pretzel pieces. Using a spoon, stir the pretzels until all the pieces are evenly coated.
4. Using the spoon, scoop out portions of the pretzel chunks and place on wax paper, making sure to separate each cluster.
5. Let clusters sit for about 30 minutes until the almond bark is completely dry. Remove from wax paper and eat! Store in an air tight container.
*I preferred having smaller pieces than larger, but that's just me. You don't want crumbs, but I would recommend breaking up the pretzels smaller rather than larger. Unless, of course, you want this treat to be more salty and less sweet. I like mine chocolate-y, so I wanted to make sure the pretzels didn't overpower the almond bark. It's pretty flexible, though, so whatever your heart desires!
*I preferred having smaller pieces than larger, but that's just me. You don't want crumbs, but I would recommend breaking up the pretzels smaller rather than larger. Unless, of course, you want this treat to be more salty and less sweet. I like mine chocolate-y, so I wanted to make sure the pretzels didn't overpower the almond bark. It's pretty flexible, though, so whatever your heart desires!
*Note: Nutrition facts may vary due to brand of products.
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