Chocolate-covered Pretzels

My hands down FAVORITE treat around the Holidays is white chocolate covered pretzels.  I know that they can be made anytime of year, but I only seem to make them for Christmas.  I just love the salty/sweet combination!  They are really easy to make and decorate.

You can use any shape/size pretzel that you like, but I find that the little pretzel nuggets are the easiest to work with.  I don't have exact amounts for the chocolate to pretzel ratio, I will try to pay better attention when I make them again next week.  I will post the amounts that I used later.

1 large bag of pretzels
1 lb. bag white chocolate melts*

*I am picky about my melting chocolate and avoid what is available in the grocery stores.  The white chocolate bark that they sell just doesn't taste as good as what I can buy at the local cake and candy store (Sweet Mercantile in Rancho Cucamonga, CA).  When I lived in Champaign, IL, I bought my chocolate at Mary's Cake and Cupboard (not sure if it is still in business, it was located just East of Carle Hospital off of University ave. in the same shopping area as Wendy's).  I think that you could also buy the Wilton brand chocolate melts that I have seen available at Michael's.

Directions:

There are several way to melt the chocolate.  If you know how to work with chocolate already, go ahead and use your preferred method.  However, I always melt my chocolate in an electric skillet. To do this, place a glass bowl in the skillet. Pour enough water into the skillet (not the bowl), to come up about halfway of the bowl. Turn the heat on low/medium. Add the (white) chocolate chips into the bowl and stir occasionally as it melts. I prefer this method, as it allows me to keep a more constant temperature. I can also melt several bowls of chocolate at one time. You can add food coloring to the white chocolate to tint as shown in the picture below.

You don't have to melt all of your chocolate at once.  Just add more chips to melt as needed.  It is much easier to store the unmelted chocolate then to store any excess melted chocolate.

Dip the pretzels in the melted chocolate and place on a sheet of waxed paper to set.  If you are going to add any sprinkles or other decorations, be sure to do this immediately after dipping in chocolate.  However, you will need to wait until the chocolate is set to add different colored chocolate drizzle on top, otherwise the colors will just mix together. 

This recipe is linked to http://allthesmallstuff-cole.blogspot.com/2010/12/tuesdays-at-table-mexican-bean-dip.html . The All the Small Stuff blog has a "Tuesdays a the Table" share feature.  Check it out for even more ideas!