Desserts: Chocolate Coated Pretzels

After the initial "development" of my first batch of pretzels (as described here), I took a week to think about the pretzel-problem and make some other goodies ;)  Anyways!  A lot of people gave me several different fixes, but it was clear the the biggest problem was the pretzels, not the chocolate.  The dipped pretzels became very stale overnight, but I think I found a way around that!!!  Anyways, I finally had some time today to make some!

Perfectly Melted Milk Chocolate

I only used 1/2 bag of chips at a time to dip the pretzels; that was enough chocolate for 40-45 pretzels.  I melted the chips (with 1 tbsp shortening) in the microwave on medium heat (power level 6 of 10) for two 45 second segments, stirring each time.  When I pulled it from the microwave, it looked like it needed just a bit more time; if you keep stirring, the warmth will eventually melt the rest of the chocolate (about 30 seconds of stirring should do it).  That kept the chocolate thin enough for dipping, but thick enough to completely coat the pretzels.

Milk Chocolate Dipped

White Chocolate Dipped

Dark Chocolate Dipped

They set up in about 2 hours and tasted great!  I guess I finally found a recipe that worked.  As you can tell from the pictures, I left part of the pretzel undipped as a "signature" for my pretzels.  The milk chocolate have the top right undipped, the dark chocolate have the bottom undipped, and the white chocolate have the top left undipped.

And on the upside, you can make chocolate dipped pretzels in the living room while watching football and Christmas movies ;)