A timeless favorite, homemade chocolate-covered pretzels are always a crowd pleaser. Enjoy the crispy, crunchy texture inside a soft chocolate coating, with that salty-sweet flavor combo no one can resist.
This is my go-to recipe for chocolate-covered pretzels. This may seem like an overly simple recipe, considering you really only need 3 ingredients, but trust me when I say these are always a smash hit with anyone and everyone!
You can make them as simple or as fancy as you want. Dip various sizes and shapes of pretzels; use white, milk, or dark chocolate (or all three!); add colored sprinkles for holidays or to match a party theme… And you don’t have to limit yourself to sprinkles! Chopped nuts, crushed candy canes, toffee bits, crushed Oreo crumbs… have fun with it.
It’s always nice to have a no-bake treat to accompany your other Christmas cookies. It’s what I love about caramel corn, peanut butter balls, and rum balls, too.
And if using pretzels that are labeled gluten free, this makes a great gluten-free dessert, as well.
Most shapes and sizes of pretzels work for dipping in chocolate, whether that’s large or small pretzel twists, thick pretzel rods, honey wheat braided twists, or even holiday shapes. My favorite is the mini twists, which I think provide the perfect ratio of sweet, soft chocolate to salty, crunchy pretzel!
Obviously you’ll want to avoid flavored pretzels, like the honey mustard variety!
When it comes to melting chocolate for coating pretzels—or peanut butter balls, Oreo balls, peppermint bark, you get the idea!—I always recommend chopping up real, quality chocolate.
For the best-looking and best-tasting chocolate-covered pretzels, start with real chocolate. Use the 4-ounce “baking chocolate” bars you can find in the baking aisle of the grocery store. I prefer Baker’s or Ghirardelli brands. Melting wafers also work, and for those, I recommend Ghirardelli brand. You can use milk, semi-sweet, dark, or white chocolate to coat your pretzels.
Do not use chocolate chips, which contain stabilizers to prevent them from melting smoothly. Save them for your chocolate chip cookies.
A splash of vegetable oil thins out the chocolate so it’s the best consistency for dipping. If you find your chocolate is still too thick, add a little more vegetable oil. Coconut oil works too, but I recommend vegetable oil for best results. (And if using melting wafers, no need to add oil.)
Melt the chocolate: You can use a double boiler, but I usually just use the microwave. Place the chopped chocolate, along with the oil, in a microwave-safe bowl or glass liquid measuring cup. Microwave in 20-second increments, stirring after each increment, until completely melted and smooth.
Dip:Drop a pretzel twist in the melted chocolate, and lift it back out again with a fork. Tap the fork gently on the side of the bowl/measuring cup to allow excess chocolate to drip off. Use a toothpick (or another fork) to slide the dipped pretzel onto a lined baking sheet. (If using pretzel rods, simply hold one end and dip the other end in the chocolate.)
Allow the chocolate to set. If desired, lightly sprinkle each with sprinkles while chocolate is still wet. I like using nonpareils here, which are the teeny-tiny colored balls. But any sprinkles work!
And if you have leftover chocolate, feel free to drizzle it on top—you can use a spoon or squeeze bottle for that. Place the baking sheet with the chocolate-covered pretzels in the refrigerator to set the chocolate. It should set in about 30 minutes, and then you can transfer the pretzels to a container, tin, bag… or your mouth.
Chocolate-covered pretzels are so simple to make, yet always a crowd-pleaser. Have fun with all the variations including different shaped pretzels, white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate, and various toppings like sprinkles, crushed candy canes, Oreo cookie crumbs, and more. See recipe Notes for more ideas.
