Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

Background

Years ago, in high school, we used to have to sell holiday items for the extra curricular activities in which we were involved.  For me, it was choir and the catalog we brought home always included a tin of white chocolate covered pretzels.  As a rule, I don't like white chocolate, but every year, I used my own saved pennies to buy myself a tin of these delectable morsels.  When high school was no more and I needed to save those pennies for more necessary items, I realized I could make the pretzels myself at half the cost.  This year, I resurrected the idea, transforming (so far!) an entire giant bag of tiny twists into chocolate coated deliciousness.


Ingredients

pretzels
melting chocolate (white almond bark, milk chocolate almond bark, and/or Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate chips, the latter being my favorite)
wax paper
festive sprinkles/decorating sugar (optional)
colored melting chocolate discs (optional)
nuts (optional)


Directions

The process here is blissfully simple.

White chocolate bark beginning to melt in double boiler

Place your chocolate of choice in a double boiler (legitimate or homemade!) and allow to melt, stirring occasionally to help the process along.

Pretzels bathing in melted white chocolate bark

When chocolate is completely melted and smooth, drop a few pretzels in and, using a fork, turn to coat.  Remove one pretzel at a time, allowing excess chocolate to drip back into the double boiler.  I use a big meat fork for this because the two prongs hold the pretzel, but still allow plenty of space in between for chocolate runoff...mmmmm, chocolate runoff.

Dipped white chocolate pretzels cooling on wax paper

Transfer coated pretzel to a piece of wax paper to cool, dry and harden.  You can break off excess chocolate once they've hardened... or just leave it :)  I think it gives a nice, homemade feel.  Plus, is there really such a thing as "excess chocolate"???






 Decorating tips:

Sprinkles or Decorating Sugars - these should be applied before the chocolate dries to assure they stick to your pretzel.  I find the sugars show up much better on a white chocolate base, whereas more opaque sprinkles are great on any type of chocolate.

Nuts - these should be finely chopped, or even super finely chopped.  You may choose to sprinkle them on as noted above, or you may also roll the pretzels in the nuts.  In this case, drop them directly into a bowl of nuts when you remove them from the double boiler.  Roll them in the nuts to coat and remove to wax paper so they can set up.

Chocolate Drizzling - If you choose to use a second kind of chocolate on your pretzels, I recommend drizzling in a back-and-forth motion over the pretzel.  This will give the effect of streaks.  You may choose to use colored melting chocolate (such as green or red for Christmas, blue for Chanukah, or team colors if you're watching the big game!) or a chocolate chip (semi-sweet or dark over white chocolate, peanut butter or butterscotch over dark chocolate).  Simply fill a plastic sandwich baggie 1/3 of the way with your chips.  Nestle them into one bottom corner of the bag and twist slightly so they don't spill out.  Place bag in microwave and melt in 10 second intervals, until the chocolate is melted.  Remove from microwave carefully, chocolate will be hot, and squeeze chocolate back into the corner of the bag.  Twist strongly above the chocolate to prevent it escaping out the top of the baggie.  With a pair of scissors, cut a small piece off the corer of the bag where the chocolate sits.  If the chocolate string coming out is too thin, you may cut a slightly larger hole in the bag.  Remember, you can always make that hole bigger, but cannot make it smaller, so it's best to start tiny.  Hold bag over batch of pretzels and squeeze a ribbon of chocolate over the pretzels in a back and forth motion.  Again, let them sit to dry, trying not to eat them all as they do :)

But I Don't Have One: Double Boilers

It's inevitable: You're reading through a recipe and you get to that one part "...place dough in pasta machine...", "...whisk eggs...", "...melt in double boiler."  You sigh heavily and think, "well, I can't make this recipe."  Is that always true?  Introducing a new series dedicated to discussing kitchen equipment and how we can replicate fancy versions with what we already own.  In this first episode, we will be discussing Double Boilers.


What is a double boiler?

Double boilers consist of two receptacles that nest and sit upon a stove or other heating device.  Water is placed into the lower receptacle, while the top receptacle is reserved for, largely, edibles.


Awesome - what's it for?

Double boilers are used in situations calling for heating a substance by maintaining a very constant temperature to prevent burning.  In my house, it is almost exclusively used for melting chocolate, but some other good candidates would be sauces and fillings (i.e. my goat cheese ravioli filling).  Some folks also use a double boiler to melt wax, but since I can't eat that, I won't discuss it here.


Soooo, why can't I just put the stuff in a pan?

You sure could, but it would be much more susceptible to burning.  When you place items in a pan over a flame or other heat source, that heat is not terribly even - despite high-end ranges!  When using a double boiler, one relies on the heat produced by boiling water and the ensuing steam.  If we all think back to grade school, we might recall that water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a double boiler, this temperature is maintained in the steam being produced right below the top receptacle.  There is more science here (key terms: energy, state change), but I'll leave it at this for now.


Okay, I guess I'll go buy a double boiler.

That would be fine.  Many people own them.  A quick glance online tells me that you can find them mostly in the range of $30 - $50, with some cheaper low-end models and a few high-end models with a similarly impressive price tag.  Might be worth it to you.

On the other hand, you can easily create your own double boiler with a sauce pot and a bowl, thusly:

Homemade double boiler (stained stove top, optional)

Find a pairing that will allow room for water and steam between the bottom of the pot and the bottom of the bowl you place on top.  That is, you do not want a bowl that sits completely on, or even very close to the bottom of your pot.  You need room for the 212 degree steam to mill around in there.  One other thing to note is that, in this situation our top receptacle has no handles, therefore it is nice to have an oven mitt on hand (no pun intended!) in case you need to touch the bowl.  Also, because these two pieces were not specifically made to sit together and because the bowl is contoured, there can be some movement of the bowl in the pot if you are manipulating what is inside (i.e. stirring filling, dipping pretzels in chocolate).  This slipping is not often severe enough, however, to warrant more than mild attention - you aren't going to spill your chocolate: I would never endorse anything that did that!


Truth time: In my adult life, I have never owned a double boiler.  I have gotten along just fine with the setup you see above.  I have nothing against double boiler owners, either.  But now you know that not owning one won't preclude you from that "chocolate dipped" recipe.  You, too, can be melting (but not burning!) chocolate in minutes - and I recommend it.  Go ahead.  What are you waiting for?  Do it.