Patriotic Pretzels Covered with Chocolate are the perfect Fourth of July snack, covered with sprinkle stars and candy stripes. They’re a fun and festive treat, and look great on a buffet table.
SAVE THIS RECIPE!
Enter your email below and we’ll send this recipe straight to your inbox.
Why this Chocolate Covered Pretzel Recipe is a Keeper
- 30 Minute Snack: Have these red white and blue chocolate covered pretzels ready in about 30 minutes.
- Easy Ingredients: All of the ingredients for these foolproof snacks can be found in your kitchen or local grocery store.
- Family Friendly: Kids will both love to make and love to eat these pretzels, and they’re great for summer parties.
If you’re looking for more homemade treats, try these: Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares, Patriotic Poke Cake, and Patriotic Layered Jello.
Ingredient Notes for Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
- Candy Melts: Use red, white, and blue candy melts for coloring the chocolate-covered traditional pretzels.
- Soft Caramels: Soft caramels will let the candy bind to the pretzels, and give them a sweet flavor.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Prep Ahead Tips for Chocolate-Covered Pretzels
- Make Ahead: Make these pretzels ahead of time, then store them in an container until you’re ready to serve.
Special Equipment Needed to Make Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Parchment Paper: Line the baking sheet with parchment paper to keep the pretzels from sticking.
- Piping Bags: Use piping bags to pipe the candy coating onto the pretzels.
Pro Tip for Milk Chocolate
When working with chocolate, always use wooden spoons to stir, make sure bowls and other equipment are at room temperature, and avoid water.
How to Make the Best Chocolate Pretzels
These are the basic steps for making this chocolate pretzels recipe. Refer to the full, printable recipe card below for detailed instructions and nutritional information.
1. Melt the Caramels
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then, unwrap caramels and cut each one in half. Arrange half of the pretzels in rows on the lined baking sheet or cookie tray, and top each pretzel with half of a caramel. Place the paper lined cookie tray in the oven for about 8 minutes, until the caramels are starting to melt. Remove the pretzels from the oven and gently press the remaining pretzels on top of the caramels. Allow them to cool completely.
2. Melt Blue Candy
In a double boiler or a heatproof bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water, melt the blue candy melts and there are no lumps. You want the chocolate to be nice and smooth and melted. If needed, add ½ a tsp shortening at a time until the consistency is perfect for dipping.
3. Dip the Pretzels into Chocolate
Prepare a counter, table, or other flat surface with wax or parchment paper.
Dip about 1/3 of each pretzel into the blue chocolate, place it on the prepared surface, and cover the chocolate with sprinkles while the chocolate is still soft. Next, melt the white and red chocolate, adding shortening ½ a tsp at a time if needed for a nice smooth consistency.
4. Drizzle Chocolate and Let Cool
Working one color at a time, place the melted chocolate in a piping bag, cut the point off, and drizzle on the bottom 2/3 of the pretzels. Follow with the next color drizzling while chocolate is still wet so that you can still see the first color; allow chocolate to harden completely. Remove any excess chocolate and store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
How to Store and Use Leftover Pretzels Covered with Chocolate
- Storing: Store the pretzels in an airtight container at room temperature in a cool, dry place.
- Using Leftovers: The pretzels should be good for up to 1 week.
Variations and Substitutions to Make Chocolate Dipped Pretzels
- Flag Toppers: Use mini flag toppers to decorate your pretzels, along with toppings like sprinkles, crushed candy, crushed nuts, or chocolate chips.
- Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods: You can make this easy snack using large pretzel rods or pretzel twists instead of square pretzels.
- Colors: Make these sweet and salty snacks with different colors for different holidays, like Valentine’s day, Christmas, or Halloween. Ghirardelli candy melts work well, but any variety is fine.
- Type of Chocolate: Make the chocolate coating with different kinds of chocolate. You can use dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, white chocolate, etc. If you don’t have candy melts, you can melt chocolate bars in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high to speed up the process, or you can even use toffee.
Pretzels with Chocolate Topping FAQs
Expert Tips to Make this Patriotic Snack Recipe
- Add mini candy coated pieces: Try making some of these with a patriotic coated candy. For example, try these, or leave your pretzels plain.
- Shortcut tip for the patriotic pretzels covered with chocolate: Feel free to melt the chocolate in the microwave. Start with twenty seconds and stir after each interval until just melted so it does not burn.
- Variation tip: Not a fan of pretzels? Try covering strawberries or cookies with this method!
- Toppings: For more toppings for these classic chocolate snacks, use crushed peppermint, Oreos, chopped nuts, or wafers.
Find More Recipes for Pretzels
SAVE THIS RECIPE!
Enter your email below and we’ll send this recipe straight to your inbox.
Patriotic Pretzels Covered with Chocolate
SAVE THIS RECIPE!
Enter your email and we’ll send this recipe to your inbox.
Ingredients
- 20 Soft Caramels, approx. 20
- 80 Square Pretzels
- 3 cup Candy Melts, 1 Each of Red White & Blue
- Gold Star Sprinkles
- Small White Sprinkles
- 3 tablespoons Shortening
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Unwrap caramels and cut each one in half.
- Arrange half of the pretzels in rows on the baking sheet, and top each pretzel with half of a caramel.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven for about 8 minutes, until the caramels are starting to melt.
- Remove the pretzels from the oven and gently press the remaining pretzels on top of the caramels.
- Allow them to cool completely.
- In a double boiler or a heat safe bowl over a small pot of simmering water, melt the blue candy melts. You want the chocolate to be nice and smooth and melted. If needed add ½ a tsp shortening at a time until the consistency is perfect for dipping.
- Prepare a counter, table or other flat surface with wax or parchment paper.
- Dip about 1/3 of each pretzel into the blue chocolate, place it on the prepared surface and sprinkle with white and/or star sprinkles while the chocolate is still soft.
- Next melt the white and red chocolate, adding shortening ½ a tsp at a time if needed for a nice smooth consistency.
- Working one color at a time, place the melted chocolate in a piping bag, cut the point off, and drizzle on the bottom 2/3 of the pretzels. Follow with the next color drizzling so that you can still see the first color.
- Allow them to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container until ready to serve
Christina’s Notes
- Add mini candy coated pieces: Try making some of these with a patriotic coated candy. For example, try these.
- Short cut tip: Feel free to melt the chocolate in the microwave. Start with twenty seconds and stir after each interval until just melted so it does not burn.
- Variation tip: Not a fan of pretzels? Try covering strawberries or cookies with this method!
- Scale the recipe: Simply adjust the serving size in the recipe card and the ingredients will update automatically.
- Make your own All Purpose Seasoning: When a recipe calls for All Purpose Seasoning, you can use my homemade All Purpose Seasoning recipe or substitute salt and pepper to taste.
- Meat doneness: I always use a meat thermometer to test for doneness when cooking meat.
- Use unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt level in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven: Unless otherwise noted, always preheat your oven before baking.
For more helpful information about this recipe, such as variations, substitutions and other pro-tips, check out the blog post.
Colorful, patriotic and yummy!!
Thanks! Glad you like it!