Chocolate covered pretzel sticks aren’t just for Christmas anymore! Give them a spooky makeover and turn them into monster pretzel sticks – colourful, fun, kid friendly and perfect for any Halloween party!
When my kids were little, we were always in the kitchen. One of our favorite Halloween treats for home, class parties, or playdates was (and still is) monster pretzel rods. Think of them as a spooky version of the chocolate-covered pretzels often seen on Christmas cookie trays.
Don’t let the baking ads fool you: creating with young kids in the kitchen can be challenging, but if you follow a few guidelines and keep it simple, it can also be a lot of fun. One of my absolute favorite memories is spending time in the kitchen with my kids.
To make Halloween Monster Pretzel Sticks all you need is a little imagination, pretzel sticks, candy melter waffles, gel food coloring and an assortment of cute eyeballs, mustaches, lips and sprinkles.
What are the best melt wafers?
You can find melting wafers, candy melts, or almond bark at your local grocery store or craft store.
Technically, melted waffles are not chocolate. They lack cocoa butter and are mostly made up of vegetable oil and sugar, so they’re called either candies or melted wafers. The intended purpose of a candy melt or wafer is to impart the look and feel and taste of chocolate without the need for tempering to set.
In most cases, if you’ve eaten a chocolate-covered pretzel, it was probably made from waffles, melts, or almond rind.
My favorite brand of melted waffles is Ghirardelli. The vanilla-flavored melt-in wafers come in a 10-ounce bag, melt well and have a pleasant white chocolate flavor.
Melting wafers are easier to work with than real white chocolate, and they hold the color a bit better since white chocolate is actually more of an ivory colour, while melting wafers are pure white. This is nice if you want to add a mummy to your monster themed rods.
You can buy pre-colored melting wafers at many craft stores, but they taste like chalk to me, so I don’t usually recommend them. Almond rind would also work, but isn’t as easy to melt as waffles.
What is the best food coloring?
It is best to use a gel food coloringwhich you can find in craft stores.
Craft stores also have a huge selection of colors. You could make all kinds of monsters with all kinds of crazy colors! Do not use liquid food coloring to color melted waffles. It will cause it to get stuck.
Where can you find the ingredients?
I can find pretzel sticks, candy eyes, and melt-in-vanilla waffles online or at my local grocery store or Target store in the baking department. They want the big pretzels called sticks, not pretzel sticks.
When I really want to dress up my pretzel sticks, I stop by my local craft store and head into their baking aisle, where I can find colorful and different sized candy eyeballs, mustaches, bow ties, lips, and smiles. It’s also at the craft store where I buy the gel food coloring.
Don’t feel like you have to run across town to get the ingredients for this recipe. With the melting waffles, candy eyeballs and some sprinkles you can make awesome monster pretzels. All of these should be easy to find in the supermarket or online. You don’t have to color the melt wafers. I just like to mix things up a bit.
Tips for making this with kids
- Set up individual workstations. Give each child their own piece of parchment, chocolate dipping cups, pretzels, and candy decorations.
- Set up their stations and melt the waffles while they watch a cartoon.
- You’ll eat the most candy eyeballs and lick your fingers 1,000 times and then touch all the food, but you’ll be the coolest parent on the block, and they’ll love you for it. Accept the sprinkles and eyeballs in the nooks and crannies of your kitchen and have a little fun!
How far in advance can I make Dipped Pretzel Sticks?
Pretzel sticks can be kept for up to three weeks when stored in an airtight container on the counter. Technically, they last longer, but the pretzels get stale. However, I have yet to see any of my kids reject a stale pretzel dipped in candy.
Need more fun Halloween food ideas
- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- caramel apples
- “Spooky” Cinnamon Sugar Flour Tortilla Chips
- Sweet Potato Jack O’ Lanterns with Cinnamon and Sugar
- No-Churn Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream
Halloween monster pretzels with chocolate coating
This recipe calls for food coloring gel. Do not use liquid food coloring as this will cause the melting candies to set. Some grocery stores carry the gel, but it’s more commonly found in craft stores in their baking section.
ingredients
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1 (12 oz) bag of long pretzel sticks
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20 ounces white melt-in-your-mouth waffles or almond rind
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2 teaspoons solid coconut oil
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1 green jar of gel food coloring
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1 jar of purple gel food coloring
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1 blue-green jar of gel food coloring
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1 pack of googly eyes and lips
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1 pack of candy mustaches
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Various sprinkles
method
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Set up your workspace:
Lay out a piece of parchment paper. Remove all pieces of candy and place in individual bowls. If you are doing this with young children, give each child their own work space and divide the candy pieces evenly among them.
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Melt Waffles:
In a small bowl, add about half of the melting waffles and 1 teaspoon coconut oil. Melt it in the microwave in 20-30 second intervals, stirring each time. Once the waffles are completely melted, divide them into three bowls. I like tall, slender juice glasses because the rods are easier to dip and have good coverage, but you can use anything.
Repeat with the remaining melted waffles and the oil. Add to the divided melted waffles. (I make this in two batches because it’s easy to burn candy in the microwave, and sharing them melts the waffles in less time in the microwave and reduces the chance of me burning the candy.)
Gradually add the gel food coloring to each dish, stirring until you reach the desired color. Remember that gels, pastes, and powders are more concentrated than liquid food coloring.
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Dipping and decorating:
Dip the pretzel sticks into the melted and colored waffles, allow to drip off. Place it on the piece of parchment and add the eyeballs, mustaches and other various decorations. Allow to dry on the parchment paper until the melty wafers have set – about 10 to 15 minutes.
If they don’t set or you want them to set faster, slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and place in the fridge.
If your melt wafers harden during the dipping process. Simply place the bowl back in the microwave and zap, 5 to 10 seconds at a time, until it reaches dip consistency.
