Snappy pretzels baked in butter and chocolate sugar and then drizzled with chocolate, these Candied Pretzels are an irresistibly easy snack that can be ready in under 30 minutes!
Your New Favorite Party Snack
Sweet, salty, crunchy, chocolatey….
Check, check, check and check. These Candied Pretzels tick all the boxes to qualify as one of the best snacks of your life.
Addictive, sweet & salty (I may have mentioned this, yes, but is there any better flavor combo? It’s worth repeating), and so, so easy. Candied Pretzels take all of 5 minutes to toss together. Then just 15 minutes of baking, which means that in well under 30 minutes you can be munching on your new favorite snack. Or walking out the door with your last-minute potluck contribution that no one needs to know was last minute.
If I sound a little obsessed, it’s because I am. We’ve made candied pecans and candied walnuts here before, but candied pretzels are just a new level of snacking perfection.
Candied Pretzels: How-To
To make candied pretzels, we start by tossing a few (generous) handfuls of small & crunchy twisty pretzels in melted butter, flavored with a hint of vanilla. This is not only going to add great flavor to our finished product, it’s also going to help our cinnamon sugar coating cling to the pretzels, ensuring they all get a nice even coating. Toss your pretzels well here, and make sure they all get a thorough butter-bath!
For our coating, we’re using a simple blend of sugar and cocoa powder (for a chocolatey, cocoa-sugar flavor) as well as just a pinch of ground cinnamon. We’re also adding just a touch of flaky sea salt, because even though your pretzels will already be salted, the flavor will be a little subdued by the cocoa sugar and a little extra salt goes a long way for bringing out all the best flavor.
And, like I mentioned earlier, we’re going for sweet & salty here.
Don’t Forget the Chocolate!
While your candied pretzels are baking, that cinnamon/sugar/butter mixture is going to caramelize around each and every pretzel (sometimes settling in the spaces between the twists and making crunchy candied blobs — those are my favorite!). While this step alone is going to give you great tasting candied pretzels, it’s the chocolate that you add once the pretzels are out of the oven that really takes them to the next level.
A quick drizzle of dark chocolate adds a surprising amount of flavor. We’re only drizzling the dark chocolate, so we’re not quite venturing into chocolate-covered-pretzel-territory, but it’s enough to make these candied pretzels feel truly, well, candied.
You can use melted chocolate chips, a melted chocolate bar, or dark chocolate melting wafers (Ghirardelli are my current favorite for flavor and ease of use). The melting wafers are honestly my preference because the chocolate hardens quickly (within a matter of minutes) and isn’t as prone to re-melting in your hands as either chocolate chips or a chocolate bar would be. Whichever you choose, though, you really can’t go wrong!
I’ve made these candied pretzels well over a dozen times so far, and foresee this happening again and again this summer.
Enjoy!
Be sure to check out my Candied Pretzel video at the bottom of the recipe! If you enjoy watching, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 150 recipe videos that you can watch for free!
Candied Pretzels
Ingredients
- 3 cups small twisted pretzels heaping (about 225g)
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted (57g)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate melting wafers ** (140g) or semisweet chocolate chips, but if you use chocolate chips it will take longer for the chocolate to re-harden and it is apt to melt in your hands.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine melted butter and vanilla extract.
- Add pretzels to the bowl and toss until all pretzels are coated with butter.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Reserve 2 Tablespoons of your sugar mixture and set aside. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the pretzels, using a spatula to turn the pretzels until all are coated with sugar mixture and the butter is absorbed.
- Pour contents of bowl onto prepared baking sheet and spread the pretzels in an even layer. Evenly sprinkle the reserved 2 Tbsp of sugar mixture over the pretzels.
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 300F (150C). Turn/flip pretzels with a spatula so that they do not burn, and return to oven.
- Bake for 5 minutes, remove from oven, stir pretzels once more and bake for another 5 minutes (still on 300F/150C).
- Remove pretzels fro oven and allow them to cool at least 15 minutes before drizzling with chocolate.
- Allow chocolate to harden then enjoy!
Nutrition
Treat yourself to a FREE E-BOOK!
This recipe was originally published 10/05/2016. Photos and post updated and recipe updated for clarity 06/05/2019.
Steph
I can’t wait to try this recipe to give as treats for the holidays. Would it make a big difference to substitute Pink Himalayan Salt (fine grain) for the flaky sea salt?
Sam
Hi Steph! I hope everyone loves it! The pink Himalayan salt will work just fine here. 🙂
Steph
Thank you Sam! These turned out fantastic. I gave them as holiday treats to a few coworkers and they were a huge hit.
Thank you for sharing this and other recipes. You are my ‘go to’ when I want to try something new.
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed everything so much, Steph! I’m honored to be your go to! 🙂
Alyssa
Hey Sam, I haven’t tried these yet but they look delicious! How can you store them and for how long?
Sam
Hi Alyssa! They will store at room temperature in an air tight container for at least a week. 🙂
Annie King
These are absolutely amazing!! My family and coworkers won’t let me stop making them! They are delicious and addicting.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that the candied pretzels are such a hit, Annie! Thanks for commenting and sharing them with your coworkers. 🙂
Peggy
These are awful. I followed the directions exactly, except that I left them in the oven an extra 3 minutes at the end. The sugar never caramelized, and what I am left with is pretzels swimming in a sea of flavored sugar. Now I have to find something else to take to the party tonight. I’m not happy.
Sam
I’m disappointed to hear that, Peggy, very bizarre, I’ve never had that happen before. It might be helpful to watch the video below the recipe and see if that helps troubleshoot what might have gone wrong.
Beth
In the instructions before the recipe – it reads “For our coating, we’re using a simple blend of cinnamon and cocoa powder (for a chocolatey, cocoa-sugar flavor) as well as just a pinch of ground cinnamon.”
Should it read “…simple blend of SUGAR and cocoa powder as well as just a pinch of ground cinnamon?
I read that section 3 or 4 times and then looked at the pic and figured it must be SUGAR and then the recipe reads sugar.
Sam
Haha, whoops! Yes! thanks for catching this, Beth. Obviously I’ve got cinnamon on my brain.
heather (delicious not gorgeous)
ooh, love that there’s cocoa in the chocolate sugar and actual melted chocolate all over them! a little more chocolate is always a good thing (;
Sam
I agree!! Thank you! 🙂
Puja
Oh wow Sam, the color of this recipe tempting me to finish everything there in the tray. Superb !!!
Sam
Thank you, Puja!! 🙂
Medha
Candied pretzels take this sweet and salty business to a whole new level! Loving the looks of these 🙂