Seems like I've been on a peanut butter and chocolate kick lately.
Seems like that's entirely ok with me.
This recipe is so simple you'll freak, and so addictive you might need to get to know your neighbors. Like, right now. Whoever thought of this is seriously an evil genius, and is probably thoroughly enjoying their five minutes of blog fame, thanks to Pinterest.
Oh! On a very unrelated note, I'm on vacation this week. No biggie, I'm just gone up north Thursday-Sunday, so don't freak if I don't answer your pressing comment or email. I'm not gone for too long! I've got some scheduled posts for you, so don't feel too abandoned.
Anyway!
The method:
Grab yoself some good, salty, and fresh pretzels. This is the base, and if the base isn't good, then nothing's good.
Woah! You've miraculously mixed up a super easy buckeye mixture, where'd that come from?
(Sorry, my sweet and salty cravings had me rushing through the step-by-step pics. Pretend you've seen a bowlful of the peanut butter stuff.)
Anyway, get something like a teaspoon of said buckeye mixture.
P.S. It will take all the self-restraint you have to not treat the peanut butter mixture as a dip for pretzels.
Roll it in a ball (totes like playdoh!), and stick it on a pretzel half. Still with me? I know, it's so hard. Take a breath now.
Aaand we're sandwiched! Woohoo! You've come this far, I'm proud of you.
Now, continue this meticulous process until you've got a good sheetful or two of them.
And then...you have to freeze them. It's worth the wait. Promise! Because then you're going to dip them in chocolate and sprinkle them with coarse sea salt. Which I didn't get a picture of either.
Still blaming the sweet and salty cravings. Don't judge.
After a teensy bit more in the freezer, you have the ultimate snack/appetizer/midnight craving.
Consume wisely. HA.
Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites
Yield: about 60-80 pretzel bites (you can halve it...but why?)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more as needed
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, plus more as needed
- Pretzels (one full bag should do the trick)
- 1-2 bags (usually 12 oz. each) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling (I highly recommend fleur de sel)
Directions:
To make the filling, combine peanut butter and softened butter in a large bowl with a fork, whisk, hand-held mixer, or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix in the salt and vanilla. Add the sugars and mix to combine. At this point, if the filling will roll easily into balls without sticking to your hands, you’re good to go. If it does stick, add a little more of each sugar until you reach a consistency that is easy to roll (You may find that you'll have to do this once or twice throughout the assembly process, if the filling becomes sticky.).
Working with a scant teaspoon of filling, roll into a small ball then sandwich between two whole pretzels. Place onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Continue until you've used up the filling. Stick the whole tray in the freezer for about half an hour to firm before dipping in chocolate.
Melt the chocolate chips according to your preferred method, or as directed on the bag. Remove the tray from the freezer and quickly dip half of each pretzel bite into the chocolate, then replace on the tray. After dipping about three, sprinkle with coarse sea salt as desired. Continue this with every third dip completion, so the chocolate doesn't harden before you can add the salt. When all are dipped, return the tray to the freezer to set up completely. Store in the refrigerator.
Sources: adapted from Two Tiny Kitchens, who adapted it from Foodaphilia
