Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

This is one of those thunk yourself on the forehead recipes where you think to yourself, now WHY didn't I think of that?  Pretzels?  Cinnamon?  Sweet? Salty?  Yes please, and thank you.  I ran into this one on the Baking Junkie blog, and then ran right out and bought a bag of pretzels.  I think she used the bigger twists - I went for the smaller ones, both because they were on sale and because I thought they might slow me down a little in terms of the number of them that I would eat when I was done.  (Not.)

As for the cinnamon, there is only one cinnamon in life for me, and that is this one:

If you haven't yet, you have to order yourself some Penzey's Cinnamon at least once in your lifetime.  It is the cinnamon to end all cinnamons.  It has ruined all other cinnamon for me, forever and ever.  

Anyway.  This recipe calls for mixing up some cinnamon with some sugar and some vegetable oil and stirring that around with a bag of pretzel twists.  You then bake them for about 30 minutes and then try and restrain yourself from burning your mouth by eating one the second they come out of the oven.   For the 15 minutes that I have been writing this post, the usually-non-snack-eating Southern husband has quietly been in and out of the kitchen twice to grab another handful.  The Stealth Snack Grabbing Seal Of Approval...it's all I need to know that I have a hit on my hands!

A new twist on pretzels...how great is that??

(Sorry, I'm unable to restrain myself from bad puns.)

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels, from Baking Junkie

1 (16 oz) bag pretzel twists
⅔ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

2. Pour pretzels into a roasting pan. In a medium sized bowl mix together vegetable oil, cinnamon and sugar. 

3. Pour over pretzels and stir to coat. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, removing twice to stir.

4. Cool and serve!

Click here for printable recipe

Chocolate Pretzel Bites

I've been happily cooking away for days now testing holiday "gifts from the kitchen" recipes." My kitchen is a cheery, sticky mess of sugar, chopped nuts, and more chocolate than the eye can see. The Southern husband and the teenager keep drifting in and out to sample things, and I keep having to explain to the dog that, incredibly unfair as it may seem, dogs are not allowed to eat chocolate, even if it falls on the floor. Even if she is wearing a completely adorable Christmas collar with a jingle bell on it. Sorry, pooch.

And out of all of this merry chaos, out of all the sweet treats I have mixed up, this one is my hands-down favorite. Sweet and salty, peanut butter and chocolate, smooth and crunchy, this one could not be easier to make or more addictive to have on your counter. Or to have HAD on your counter, because the bowl I had on my own counter is now sadly empty.

Here's what you need:

A bag of what they call "fountain and fondue chocolate," and before you panic, they have giant bins of this stuff at Michael's craft stores. I bought several bags, just in case I can't stop myself from making MORE of these.

You also need a couple of bags of those little pretzel peanut butter sandwiches (I used the Snyder's brand. Two 8 ounce bags.

Plus peanuts, peanut butter chips, shortening and some bittersweet chocolate chips. (I'm assuming here that you know what all that stuff looks like so no more cute little explanatory pictures.)

Okay! You melt up the two chocolates in the microwave, and then dump in the pretzels. Swirl them around until they are good and coated with melted chocolate. Then scoop them out with a fork (which lets the excess chocolate drip off) and lay them in a single layer on cookie sheets that have been lined with wax paper. Now sprinkle them with chopped up peanuts. So far so good...but there's MORE. Melt the peanut butter chips with a little shortening in the microwave and pour it into a ziploc bag. Now snip a corner of the bag and drizzle the peanut butter mixture over the pretzels. Now pop them in the fridge until the chocolate is hardened and then break them apart.

You have now achieved perfect chocolate and peanut butter happiness. Now all you have to do next is decide: are you REALLY going to wrap them up and give them away?

I'll leave that entirely up to you.

Chocolate Pretzel Bites, adapted from Southern Living

• 2 1/2 cups fountain and fondue chocolate
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 eight ounce bags pretzel sandwich crackers
• 1 cup chopped salted peanuts
• 3/4 cups peanut butter morsels
• 1 1/2 tablespoons shortening

1. Microwave both chocolates in large bowl for 2-3 minutes or until melted, stirring at 1 minute intervals.

2. Pour pretzels into bowl of melted chocolate and stir gently until coated. Lift out with fork, allowing excess chocolate to drip off, and lay in single layer on cookie sheets lined with wax paper.

3. Sprinkle chopped peanuts over pretzels.

4. Melt peanut butter chips and shortening in microwave for 30 seconds or until chips are soft. Stir until smooth and spoon into ziploc bag. Snip tiny corner off off bag and squeeze peanut butter mixture over pretzels.

5. Put cookie sheets in the fridge until chocolate has hardened, about an hour. Break into pieces.

Click here for printable recipe