Caramel White Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzels
50ish mini pretzel knots
1 cup of Kraft caramel bits
1 8 oz bar of quality white chocolate
3 tbsps PB2 powdered peanut butter (I know, weird, right?)
I really need a shorter name for these. Before you get all caught up on the powdered peanut butter stuff you're suddenly super curious about, let's just start at the beginning. This is a super simple way to make an easy treat that just looks hard. It also happens to be all of my mother's favorite snack flavors in one location. So I tailored these just for her. (I know. I proudly accept my daughter of the year award.)
There is a reason to buy the traditional pretzel knot. I knew I needed some compartments. Chambers to hold the next item.
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| Okay, so I happened to buy a really huge bag, but they are a good snack choice plain. |
Not sure if they have these everywhere, but my mom had picked me up a bag. Pea-sized caramel bits. They are actually soft, if you tried to squish them between your finger and thumb. (I did. Just so I could tell you that.)
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| Good for tossing on top of brownies before you cook them as well. |
I suppose I could have bought the squares and diced them up, but this is what I had which inspired the idea anyway.
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| No chopping. |
I put down a Silpat silicone mat on my baking sheet because I was afraid of the caramel sticking. Into a 350 degree oven for about five minutes or until the caramels melt into the holes.
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| One bit per chamber. They fit perfectly. |
As for the next part, buy high quality chocolate. Do not attempt to use chocolate chips because they have a stabilizer added that changes how they melt and withstand heat. (Hey, that's news, huh.)
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| It was on sale. |
Use a sharp knife and shave up the chocolate for easy melting.
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| Smaller pieces melt faster. |
Place a glass bowl on top of a pot of boiling water, but not touching the water. The steam will heat the bowl and melt the chocolate. Do not add any cream or you'll create a ganache that won't reharden.
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| Stir until all is soft. |
Remove the pretzels from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes so the caramel sets.
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| That was just long enough for the caramel to adhere to the pretzel. |
Okay, you've been so patient. Now for the odd stuff. Powdered peanut butter. Yep, that's right. It's peanut butter without the oil. Which means it's 85% less fat. Less fat = less you! (Not that I don't like all of you, but if there was 5% less of you, I wouldn't miss it. Unless it was the really awesome 5% of you. Fat is not awesome. So, I think we'll be fine.)
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| Comes in regular peanut and also chocolate peanut. Makes for a fun gift too. |
You can mix it into tons of things like smoothies, pancakes and even cereal. Or sprinkle on ice cream, yogurt, apple sauce or bananas. It tastes amazing and heck, you've saved yourself a lot of unnecessary fat grams without losing the nutty flavor.
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| Yep, looks just like cocoa or powdered sugar. |
Once the pretzels with caramel have cooled a bit, take the melted chocolate and spread some on top with a small, flexible spatula. Neatness does not count. (At least not in my case.) I suppose you could drizzle the chocolate as well. You could also use more than one type of chocolate for even more contrasting flavors. Then take a small sifter and with a spoon, quickly dust the peanut butter powder on top of the soft, warm chocolate. So it has the best chance of adhering.
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| Assembly line. But don't do all the chocolate at once or it will harden before you can get the powder to stick. |
I took the entire sheet and put it in the fridge to cool faster. When the chocolate was set and I wasn't worried about them sticking to one another, they were ready to serve or stack in a container.
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| A lot going on in one little snack! (I did try to choose the prettiest ones for you.) |
My mom LOVED them. Well, of course she did. It was all her favorite sweet treats in one bite. That is like toffee, pistachios and dark chocolate to me. (Trader Joe's has that candy, BTW. No need for me to brush up on toffee making skills quite yet.)
It's nice to get a custom made, everything you like, edible Christmas gift, no? I have a feeling mom will be asking for these again next year.
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