Helping your kids come up with a fun Valentine's gift that doesn't involve a cheesy mug is hard.  So instead, we roll with it by filling those mugs with delicious and infinitely adaptable chocolate-dipped pretzel rods.

Because if there's anything better than a mug of coffee with chocolatey pretzels on the side, well... I seriously doubt it.

Ingredients

Pretzel Rods
Chocolate chips (any flavour; can also use baker's chocolate)
Oil or Shortening
Sprinkles



Add 1/4 cup of chocolate chips plus 1/4 tsp of oil or shortening to a microwave safe dish (I used a coffee mug).  The oil helps the chocolate hold its melted form a little longer so you won't have to reheat.  Melt your chocolate at 50% power for 30 seconds at a time in your microwave, remembering to stir between each interval.

Take care not to over cook your chocolate (#oopsididitagain).  It turns into a baked fudge-like consistency that cannot be remelted.  If you do this, smear some of your fudge on a Triscuit cracker and serve to your family as fancy appetizers, ideally with a made-up french name to cover the fact that you made a mistake.

"What, you've never heard of Craquelins du Chocolat?  Oh, they're the latest thing..."

Les Craquelins du Chocolat - magnifique!


So now that the boo boos are out of the way and you've prepped your second batch of chocolate properly this time, use a spoon to smear several inches of your pretzel rod in chocolate.  Then immediately roll in sprinkles or pour over to coat (pictured above). 


Rolling in sprinkles will make the candy coating thicker (at left).  Set aside to dry on a wax or parchment lined container.  It should only take a few minutes for the chocolate to harden.


Feel free to leave some of the pretzel rods plain.  I achieved this striping effect by holding the back of the spoon against the top of the chocolate dip (i.e. in the middle of the rod), then rotating the rod while slowly pushing the spoon downward to the tip.


I made a second batch of melted white chocolate in the same way as described above, then used a spoon to drizzle over the semi-sweet chocolate layer.


Presentation time!  Make a pretzel rod bouquet using your dipped sticks, embellishing with flowers or any other seasonal decoration of your choice.

C'est tout!