Gooey Gourmet Pretzels

By Lisa VanWilliams

Gourmet pretzels without the gourmet price. Ummm, yes please! This is a salty sweet, chocolate & caramel pretzel recipe that's fun to make with the kids or without them. They may look hard to make, but don't let them fool you. You can use any kind of treat you might want to stick on before they dry like M&M's, colored sprinkles for the holidays, any kind of nut, white or dark chocolate, you can even get crazy and do a S'mores version with crushed grahams and mini marshmallows.

Ingredients:
1 bag or package of your favorite pretzels
1/2 bag caramels
1-2 tablespoons water (for caramel only)
1/2 bag of chocolate morsels
handful of crushed peanuts
wax paper

Directions:
Line a flat baking tray with wax paper and then lay out your pretzels flat so you can evenly coat them.  Use a double boiler and put your caramels in and add the water on medium high heat. The water will make it easier to drizzle the caramel later.  Turn it down to medium if it starts to boil to hard.  Melt it down so when you take a fork it drips off nicely. If you don't have a double boiler just use an aluminum bowl and set it in a pan with a few cups of water under the bowl. The steam and heat will melt it quickly. 

Drizzle your pretzels with the caramel. You may need to reheat a few times.  Once the caramel is done, I do the same process with the chocolate. Melt it down and drizzle. While the chocolate is still hot, you want to start decorating asap.  I cool them in the fridge and them break them all apart and they are done. Enjoy!