Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Sometime in February, while cruising around the web, I found a simple little recipe for a peanut butter pretzel sandwich dipped in chocolate. I made them for my sweetheart and my friends for Valentine's day, as they all adore the salty/sweet contrast as well as the peanut butter/chocolate combination. I enjoyed the treats too, but felt they were a little too rich and chocolaty (wait, is that possible?). 
Since then, I've played around with the technique of making these little candies and the ratio of filling to pretzel to chocolate. My favorite iteration uses the square or round "checker" pretzels, a combination of brown and powdered sugar in the filling and a mere half dip in chocolate. This dessert is a crowd pleaser, I've yet to meet someone who can stop at just eating one! I made them for the most recent Philadelphia Food Blogger Potluck and my housewarming this past Sunday and they were a huge hit at both parties.
1 cup of peanut butter (creamy works best)
2 Tbsp softened butter or margarine
1/2 cup powdered sugar (you may need more)
3/4 cup brown sugar (you may need more)
Pretzels
1 bag good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli 60%)
Combine peanut butter and softened butter in a large bowl with a fork or whisk. Add the sugars and stir to combine. At this point if the filling will roll easily into balls without sticking to your hands you're ready to go. If not, add more sugar ( a little bit of each) until you reach a consistency that is easy to roll. 
Use a teaspoon measure, or a small cereal spoon to scoop the filling. Roll each portion into a small ball and set on a cookie sheet. I like to roll all the balls and then sandwich them between two whole pretzels. When all the balls are rolled and successfully sandwiched, stick the whole tray in the freezer for about half an hour.
Pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat at 30-second intervals, stirring occasionally until completely melted. Remove the pretzel sandwiches from the freezer and quickly dip each half-way into the melted chocolate. Return to the try and repeat with remaining sandwiches. When all are dipped, return the tray to the freezer to set up completely. Store the sandwiches in the refrigerator until serving time. 
Makes about 45 sandwiches.
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~de
They were a fabulous HIT!!
Thanks for posting!
I made a double batch too, and yet I still only came up with 60ish ):
But all around a great and simply idea.
-Jenny
Kitchen Scales
JEnnie {Cinnaberry Suite}