My 4-year old daughter is the artsy one in the family. She loves singing, dancing, classical music, and deep thinking. To me, it’s exhausting. But thank goodness for her because although she overwhelms me with her artistic side, she also makes sure that (her handmade) pictures decorate the walls, cookies always look cute, and no friend is left behind – almost every single one of them has at least a few pictures she’s colored for them.
I am trying to embrace the artistic side of me by helping her find crafty things we can do for each holiday. With Valentine’s Day coming up, 4 different sprinkle options for only $3 at Target, and a large bag of pretzels sitting in our closet, I helped her make some hand-dipped pretzels for Valentine’s Day.
What you need for hand-dipped pretzels:
- Pretzels
- Chocolate (I use baking chocolate but choose your favorite)
- Sprinkles (optional)
How to make hand-dipped pretzels:
Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove and stir with a rubber spatula. The chocolate should be melting but if stirring the chocolate doesn’t make the chocolate smooth, microwave again for 15 more seconds and stir again. Repeat until the chocolate is melted.
Optional: to melt chocolate, I usually put a pot filled with a small amount of water on the stove (low temperature) with a Pyrex measuring cup in the water. As the water heats up, the chocolate will melt. However, do not allow any water into the chocolate or the chocolate will turn hard. This method allows you to keep the chocolate warm for a long amount of time.
Once the chocolate is melted, dip one side of the pretzel into the chocolate. You can dip the entire pretzel into the chocolate, however, you might want to use tongs, spoon, or other utensil to keep the chocolate on the pretzel and off your hands. Either hold the pretzel up over wax paper and sprinkle the sprinkles onto the pretzel or fill bowls with the sprinkles and dip the pretzels into the bowl-filled sprinkles. The bowl worked well for my kids. Once the sprinkles are on, lay them on wax paper to dry.
For Valentine’s Day, my daughter will be adding her Valentine cards onto a bag full of her pretzels. It’s a perfect treat for her preschool class and neighborhood friends!
