Thursday, June 4, 2009

Chocolate Covered Caramel Pretzel Rods

Awwwww yeah! Perfection!

I have been visualizing how to make the perfect chocolate covered caramel pretzel rods since the pretzel rod disaster of '08.

I was all ready to make some of these babies as Christmas gifts for friends and neighbors when I hit a major road block. The caramel I bought and melted became as hard a rock after it cooled on the pretzel rod. I couldn't have my friends and neighbors breaking their teeth on my gift! So I scrapped the project and made them cookies instead.

Ever since that fateful day, I have been going over my mistake. Store bought caramel! So I've been waiting for my opportunity to make these again to redeem myself.

I recently had a luncheon at church to show appreciation for all the teachers who teach the children each Sunday. I gave a little talk about how our teachers are like shepherds for these little lambs and how we can love them as the Good Shepherd has shown love to us. I made the pretzel rods to give to the teachers to represent a shepherd's rod.

Now, did I plan the gift around the lesson or the lesson around the gift. You decide!

Anyway, it turned out great and I wanted to share my caramel recipe so no one has to go through a caramel debacle!




Chocolate Covered Caramel Pretzel Rods

Things to get:
Pretzel rods (recipe makes about 50!)
Whole package of Chocolate candy quick (found at Wal-Mart) or 2-3 bags of chocolate candy melts
Vanilla candy melts to drizzle (optional)
Caramel ingredients

First make a batch of caramel:

1c. Karo syrup
1c. Brown sugar
1c. White sugar
1 stick of butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk


Put first 5 ingredients in a large sauce pan over medium heat and stir until melted and combined. Bring to a boil and stir for five minutes. Be careful to keep stirring so that it doesn't start to burn on the bottom of the pan. Take caramel off the burner after 5 minutes.

Put the hot caramel in a deep container. I used my Pyrex 4 cup measuring cup.

Prepare a couple cookie sheets lined with wax paper and spray the paper with PAM or coat with a thin layer of softened butter so caramel won't stick.

Dip pretzel rod in caramel, about 3/4 of the way and let it drip off any excess caramel. Then lay the rod on the cookie sheet.

Repeat with remaining pretzels.

Put cookie sheets in the fridge to help set up caramel.

Once caramel is set, lift up each pretzel rod off the wax paper and mold caramel around the rod since it will puddle on the sides as it cools.

Prepare the cookie sheets again with new pieces of wax paper. No PAM or butter needed this time.

Melt chocolate in a deep container and dip caramel covered pretzel rods.

Place chocolate covered pretzel rods on cookie sheets and place in fridge to set up.

In a zip lock baggie, melt the vanilla candy melts in the microwave. When completely melted, cut a tiny hole in the corner and drizzle the chocolate on the rods.

Place back into the fridge to set up.

Tip: I ran out of pretzel rods before I ran out of caramel and chocolate. So I put the caramel in a greased glass 8x8 and made some yummy soft caramel squares. I also put some dry roasted peanuts in the leftover melted chocolate and spooned in out on wax paper for some yummy peanut clusters. I'm just like the Indians. I don't let anything go to waste. Especially chocolate!


Well, I hope these turn out for you. They are a lot of work but so very worth it! Enjoy!


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34 comments:

  1. This is such a neat idea! I've never heard of a chocolate covered caramel pretzel. Who knew a chocolate covered pretzel could get any better?! :)

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  2. Yummmmmm! I'm totally going to make these soon! Thanks!

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  3. last time I tried to make caramel I burned 8 cups of sugar! I am definitely going to try your recipes.

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  4. These look absolutely beautiful. You did a fantastic job!

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  5. They definitely look like they were worth the effort! I love the salty/sweet combo.

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  6. What sweet little treats! I love the story about the sheperd's rod, very clever!

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  7. Mmm - I love salty and sweet. These look tasty and pretty.

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  8. These are really cute. Great job.

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  9. These look wonderful. I've never made mine with caramel. I always am lazy and dip them in chocolate and sprinkle with those little colored sprinkles.

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  10. what a sweet redemption! These look amazing!

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  11. sweet and savory and impressive looking too! Good job at keeping at it :o)

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  12. This is definitely going in my file for "make it soon". Yum!

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  13. These are gorgeous! Now I'm going to go drool over some more of your recipes. What a great blog you have here! :)

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  14. I love this idea.As a matter of fact I love yoyr blog. I'll be back often.

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  15. it's funny to think about people spending all that money to buy something like this at a gourmet shop when it's so easy to do at home.

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  16. YUM!! What a great idea! My favorite thing to get in bulk candy is chocolate covered pretzels, I should have just thought of making them myself!
    Thanks for the recipe! GREAT SITE! I love the idea!
    my cheat day is Sundays :)

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  17. Thank You Melody! I made these today for my sister's baby shower favor and they turned out wonderful! I will post them on my blog soon and give you credit, Thanks again!!!

    Marin

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  18. I would love to try this recipe for the caramel, but I am not sure how much butter to use. Is one block equal to 4 sticks?

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  19. I'm in the middle of making these and am very curious how you got the caramel to come off of the wax paper. Mine is a huge mess! The was paper is completely stuck to the caramel and I am having to hand pick it off of each pretzel. I've read that silicone baking sheets are the best to use, and I'm going to try to get those before I make some scotchmallows tomorrow. I can't even imagine getting the caramel out of a glass pan. The only other thing that came up was it took longer for me to cook the caramel. It took me almost 10 minutes to reach the soft ball stage.

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  20. mommyinzion: try spraying the paper with pam or spreading a thin layer or soft butter on the wax paper. As for the cooking time, I never use a candy thermometer. I wait till it starts to boil and then set the timer for 5 minutes. It always works for me that way.

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  21. If you have trouble with wax paper - try using parchment paper instead!

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  22. I love this and next time I am going to make them with a dust of cayenne pepper.

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  23. What size bag of Chocolate Candy Quick did you buy?

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  24. What size chocolate candy quick did you use?

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  25. Silpats work much better than waxed or parchment paper for both the caramel and chocolate stages

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  26. This is lovely! I like the whole idea and this can be really perfect for parties.

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  27. I'm making these right now. So yummy! I hate that I have to eat the ones that break, lol. My caramel is a little too soft, though. Did you ever use a candy thermometer? If so, what temp did you cook the caramel to? I will probably need to cook the caramel a little longer next time. Hoping the chocolate holds the caramel together. Thanks for the recipe, they're delish!

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  28. I am thinking of using these as party favors for my wedding---do you know how long they keep or how far in advance I can make them??

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  29. I think you could freeze them for at least 2-3 months. I would cover them with caramel first, let them harden up in the fridge. Once caramel is set, lift up each pretzel rod off the wax paper and mold caramel around the rod since it will puddle on the sides as it cools. At this point you could cover them with chocolate and freeze them OR put the caramel covered rods on a new buttered sheet of wax paper and put them in the freezer. When completely frozen, take the rods off the cookie sheet and place them in freezer safe containers with wax paper in between the layers. Cover them with chocolate a few days before the wedding and store them in the fridge. These would make great favors! Good luck and congrats on your upcoming marriage!

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