Valentine's Day 2012

This year my daughter and I planned ahead for Valentine's Day.  She was supposed to take some treats to share at her school party, so we pulled out an old favorite and updated it.  A few years ago we made pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate and fancy Valentine sprinkles.

This year my little munchkin decided that the traditional pretzel shape is so much more appropriate because it looks like a heart.

This morning she headed to school with a tray full of treats to share with her friends and teachers.  She probably doesn't know it yet, but I also sent her some of these peanut butter sandwich hearts for her snack.  Cute, right?

But back to the pretzels . . .  If you feel like sharing some chocolate with your honey (big or small), these are super easy to make.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

• 1 tsp. canola oil
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I prefer dark chocolate)
• About 35-40 pretzels  (I used lightly salted)
• Sprinkles

Place the oil and chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, and put the bowl in the microwave.  Microwave on high for forty-five seconds, then stir well.  Repeat several times until the chocolate is completely melted.

Add several pretzels at a time to the bowl, submerging them in the chocolate.  Lift the pretzels out one at a time with a fork.  Place the pretzels on a cooling rack sitting over a tray so that the excess chocolate can drip off.  Sprinkle the pretzels with sprinkles, if using, within a few minutes while the chocolate is still moist.

Once your tray is full, place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes to set.  After the chocolate has hardened, carefully lift each pretzel off the rack one-by-one by reaching underneath the pretzel with your fingers and gently dislodging it from the rack.  Be careful as you do this last step, as some of the pretzels may break.  (I made extra for this reason.  We kept the broken ones to munch on at home and sent the pretty ones to share at school.)