Valentine's-Themed Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I've got to admit that I've never been a big celebrator of Valentine's Day.  I'm all for chocolate, but not the cards and flowers and hearts and pink and whatnot.  I'm just not that girlie I guess.  Case in point: What I want for Valentine's Day? Private obedience training for the little dog. That's how you win my heart.

However, it's a co-worker's birthday this week (Happy Birthday Sue!) and I thought I'd make her a treat that ties in with Valentine's Day.

You only need three ingredients for this - pretzel rods, candy melts, and nonpareils (or any other topping that suits you).  I bought the melts and nonpareils at the bulk store for just a couple of dollars, and the pretzels were about 3 dollars for an entire bag.

You'll start be melting the chocolate in a double-boiler to keep it from burning.  The chocolate stays soft for quite a while so you have lots of time to work with it. I had read about melting it in the microwave but all I ended up with was half blackened, half melted pink discs and a house that smelled like burnt marshmallows. 

Dip a rod into the melted chocolate - about halfway up - and spin it around to get an even coating.  You then should wait a minute or two to let it cool a bit before adding the nonpareils.  You can roll it directly into the nonpareils if you want a heavy coating, but I just held the rod over the bowl and sprinkled them by hand until I got the coverage I was looking for.

Here is my tester.  Looking good!

You will then need to set them down somewhere to cool.  Our solution (thank you Tom) was to hang them over the edge of a dinner plate with a coffee mug sitting on the undipped end to weigh it down.

I ran out of nonpareils with two rods left to go so I improvised with crushed honey-roasted peanuts.  Not as pretty but they still taste good.  I also tried rice krispies (they looked like mini clubs) and chocolate chips (too heavy, wouldn't stick). 

Here are my finished pretzels.  Pretty, hunh?  And the mix of sweet and salty is always a winner.

 

  

I bought some long cellophane gift bags and put two pretzels in each, tied up with some pink and white ribbon. 

  

I'm loving these so much!  Considering how easy they are to make I think I might whip some up the next time I need to bring a snack or a dessert to a get-together.

Did you try out any new Valentine's recipes this weekend?  Try to burn the microwave up melting chocolate?  Was that just me?

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Linking up here this week!