Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Sticks

I'm still making the treats for this year's food gifts. Gotta give something to the neighbors and to the friends of the family.  We've already reviewed Liz's delicious Caramel Popcorn Balls.  Now we move onto my favorite of this year's three items, the Chocolate Covered Caramel Pretzel Sticks.

There is something magical about these bits of candy goodness.  Very few tastes are as great as this combination of sweet and salty, smooth and crunchy.  Make a bunch and give away a plate of them... or do what I did last year.   I made a batch of them, wrapped up a single pretzel and tied it to the box of chocolates that I made. 

While they take a little bit of time to create, they are not that hard to make.  And you can put your tempering skills to work that we learned from the Peanut Butter Truffles.  My recommendation is to buy your ingredients in bulk.  There are some large kitchen stores and restaurant supply stores that will have everything you need.  Here in Salt Lake, Orson Gygi sells some great chocolate and wonderful caramel at a pretty decent price.  A five pound brick of the caramel is around $16.99.  And they have a large variety of chocolates with a wide variety of prices, so you can get whatever you prefer.  They also sell small cellophane bags and candy boxes, so if you want make an elaborate gift out if it, you can pick up those supplies while you're there.

Now if you don't have a good culinary store around, I still recommend buying in bulk if possible.  Winco does have some good chocolate chunks in their bulk section that taste pretty good.  And you can also find caramels there as well.


Chocolate and Caramel Covered Pretzel Sticks
Makes 80 pretzel sticks

5 pounds chocolate
5 pounds caramel
90 pretzel sticks (you're going to have a few break, it's just the way it is)
Other decorative colored chocolate, sprinkles, nuts, coconut or sugar

Cover 3-4 cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

Place a 1/2 pound of caramel, chopped into 1 inch squares or less into a plastic tumbler.  Place in the microwave and cook on high for one minute.  Watch the caramel to make sure it doesn't boil over or scorch.  Remove from the heat and stir to make sure there are no unmelted portions.  If there are, return to the microwave and cook for 20-30 second intervals.  Once it's melted, retrieve the pretzel sticks.  Holding the glass of caramel at a 30-45 degree angle, dip a pretzel stick in the caramel and spin it against the edge, ensuring an even coating.  Remove it from the caramel and place it on the parchment paper.  Repeat with the other pretzel sticks until they are all coated.  If you begin to run out of caramel or if it becomes too thick, add some more caramel cubes and return to the microwave to warm it. Allow to cool, for anywhere between 1-3 hours, until the caramel has firmed up completely.

In a chocolate melter or a double boiler, begin melting 1-2 pounds of chocolate.  Heat the chocolate to above 115 degrees, then allow it to cool down to 93 degrees, maintain the temperature of the chocolate between 86 and 93 degrees.  If it drops below 84, heat it back above 115 and then bring the temperature back down again.  Once it's tempered, take one caramel pretzel stick and hold it over the chocolate.  Spoon the tempered chocolate over all of the caramelled area and then return to the parchment paper.  Repeat with all the sticks.  If you run out of chocolate, add more, heat up to 115, and reduce to 93 or less again.  I like to do a tray or two at a time and then decorate, just so the chocolate doesn't harden to the point where the decorations don't adhere.

Finally add any sort of additional decoration you're like.  Sprinkle the decorations (sprinkles, colored sugar, nuts, etc.) over the still warm chocolate on the pretzels.  If you choose to add colored chocolate, melt the colored chocolate quickly (place it in the microwave in 30 second intervals, no need to temper) and then drizzle it across the entire tray of pretzels at once, creating streaks across the face of the pretzels. 

Set the pretzels in a cool area for at least an hour. Don't store it somewhere too cold, like a fridge, garage in winter, etc., or you'll get white streaks or spots (called "Blooming") on your chocolate.  This doesn't hurt its taste or edibility, it's just ruins that shiny exterior you worked so hard to achieve through the tempering process.  When you're ready to hand them out, package them any way you'd like.  Wrap them in individual sacks, place a bunch on a plate, lay them in a candy box, etc..

So make a batch and give them away, if you want.  Or just hoard them and devour them like a crazed madman until you reach the sugar coma stage.... whatever makes you happy.