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Our Great American Bake Sale is coming up, and I’m doing several cooking classes with kids ahead of time to make some tasty treats to sell.  I had chocolate on the brain and was contemplating all of the ways that my students could melt it safely.  A friend of mine (who is in the chocolate business!) told me that she did an experiment with a group of 8th graders and discovered that using a hair dryer was the best way to melt chocolate!  It sounded so nutty that I had to try it.

I made the following recipe with an enthusiastic group of first grade Girl Scouts.  The LOVED helping to melt chocolate with a hair dryer and patiently waited in line to hold the bowl steady and stir the melting chocolate.  Occasionally a little drizzle of chocolate flew through the air, and by the end of our cooking session, we were all sprayed or dusted with some evidence that we had been in the kitchen!

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

These tasty gems are simple enough for even the youngest chefs to create. Let your imagination go wild - no two pretzels will be alike.

1 bag large sourdough pretzels or pretzel rods
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 oz milk chocolate chips
4 oz candy melts, assorted colors
assorted sprinkles

1. Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper.
2. Place each type of chocolate chip and candy melt into its own glass bowl.
3. Bring your hair dryer into the kitchen. Seriously.
4. Turn the hair dryer on High and blow hot air onto one bowl of chocolate at a time, stirring frequently. The chocolate and candy melts will begin to glisten as they start to melt. Continue stirring to prevent burning, as they finish melting.
5. Coat half of each pretzel in chocolate and / or the melted colored candy melts. You can either dip the pretzel or coat it with melted chocolate dripped from a spoon.
6. While the chocolate is still wet, add an assortment of sprinkles: confetti, nonpareils or colored sparkling sugar.
7. Place coated pretzels onto the prepared baking sheets and allow to dry.
8. Once dry, place the pretzels in an airtight container and store in a cool location.
9. If you plan to sell these at a bake sale, place each one into a food-safe plastic bag, seal closed and tie with a pretty ribbon.

CALL THE KIDS:

• Line baking sheet with foil or parchment
• If your sprinkles don’t come in jars with a shaker lid, pour them into little bowls so they are easy to pinch or scoop.
• Help to stir chocolate while it melts
• Dip pretzels into the chocolate
• Decorate with sprinkles
• Once pretzels are dry, put them in baggies and tie closed with ribbon

TIPS:

• If you don’t have a hair dryer, you can melt the chocolates in the microwave. Heat them on 50% power for 1 minute at a time, stirring in between, until melted.
• Alternatively, you can place the chocolates in a metal bowl fitted over a pot of simmering water. Stir frequently - the steam from the simmering water will heat the bowl and will melt the chocolate. Be careful if using this technique with young children - the bowl gets hot and the steam can burn their skin.