Chocolate and Pretzels, the Perfect Combination

I’ve written about my love of pretzels, hence the “Pretzelgirl” handle, but I have yet to tell you about my favorite foods to combine with them.  Nothing goes better with the salty crunch of pretzels than the smooth, creamy, chocolatey taste of any kind of chocolate.  White chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate or even chocolate flavored chocolate, you can’t beat chocolate covered pretzels, a famous treat, which makes a perfect snack. 

In trying to come up with a clever idea to bring to my nephew’s college graduation celebration, I decided to make my own chocolate covered pretzels.  I had seen them made once before but forgot how simple they are to make.  All you need is some good chocolate, pretzels shaped to your liking, a microwave oven, and some wax paper.

First you melt chocolate in a bowl in the microwave for one to two minutes or until most of the chocolate has melted.  Stir the chocolate until all of it is smooth and creamy.  Dip, submerge or spread the chocolate on pretzels and lay the finished product carefully onto a wax paper lined baking pan.  Decorate with sprinkles, nuts, cookie crumbs or whatever you want and let sit until chocolate sets. 

You can chill the pretzels in the refrigerator but be careful that the temperature change is not too dramatic after you take them out or the chocolate will develop those nasty white spots or streaks.  While there is nothing wrong with the taste, it will just look bad. 

The other two most important steps to remember are to not over heat the chocolate and make sure you don’t disturb the pretzels until the chocolate has set. 

You can use colored chocolate wafers, which work great, and mix colors, drizzle or double or triple dip the chocolate with a combo of milk, dark and white for a true gourmet candy.  Wrapping then in cellophone bags tied with ribbons  also gives them a professional look.  The bags are ususally available at most baking supply stores or on line.

Whether you make them or buy them, if you have never tasted chocolate covered pretzels, you are in for a treat.

Here are links to some of my favorite chocolate covered pretzel companies:

Asher’s - Traditional chocolate covered pretzels in milk, white and dark.  They also make yummy chocolate covered potato chips (try them – you’ll love them)

Fretzels – I have never tasted these but they look absolutely amazing.  You can order them online for gifts or as a pretzel of the month club.  What a great idea? Fretzels all year round.

Natural Snacks, Good For You and Tasty Too!

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I had the chance to visit many of my old “food” haunts which kept me sane while I lived there.  It’s so difficult for a New Yorker to be satisfied gastronomically in most other cities, but the one thing LA had going for it was the fresh produce at the farmer’s markets.

When I lived in LA, every Saturday, I would walk to the famed Farmer’s Market in Santa Monica to buy my week’s worth of fresh California fruits and vegetables.  Who could resist snacking on fresh California strawberries, the many varieties of oranges, and yummy tree ripened peaches and plums. 

But my favorite treat  from the market were the fresh apricots, just picked and still firm to the touch, with a slight blush to the golden yellow skin.  No where on earth have I ever tasted such juicy little bundles of heaven.  On my recent trip, I had to stop at my favorite market and pick up a few pounds which I devoured in only a few days.  I am so spoiled by their tasty goodness that I still can’t bring myself to buy them anywhere else.

In addition to the local farmer’s markets, the famed Fairfax Farmer’s Market is still in existence and more popular than ever since they built an outdoor mall, called The Grove, just next door.  One think I enjoyed snacking on while roaming through the stalls was the mixed nuts from Magee’s House of Nuts.  They also make delicious homemade peanut butter, but on this trip, I stuck with the mixed nuts.  So what’s so special about these nuts?  Well, take a look.  Crunchy, salty, with a perfect blend of Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Pecans and the best part — giant, collossal Macadamia nuts.  Have you ever seen Macadamia’s this big?  They almost dwarf the almonds.  These have to be the largest nuts I have ever seen!

While you can’t beat the fresh produce, the one thing LA was lacking in was a variety of Pretzels.  So, while I lived there, I shopped at the farmer’s markets religiously and mail-ordered my pretzels from the east coast.   I have to admit, LA does have the best produce (which the exception of Jersey tomatoes and blueberries) but when you can find delicious fresh fruit from anywhere, it’s the best snack in the world – good for you and tasty too.