Treat Season
Happy Halloween weekend! I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share a yummy treat with you all, so I made a trip to the Bulk Barn to see what I could find. After a lot of browsing up and down every single aisle, as one does at the Bulk Barn, I came up with Halloween Caramel Pretzel Bites.
Sweet and Salty
Anyhow, several years ago, I came across a treat on Pinterest with three ingredients: Hershey’s Hugs, pretzels and Smarties. Salty and sweet, how could this be bad? I made a batch for Ian, and honestly, these were the greatest thing either of us had ever tasted. Is that a bold statement? Yes, but I am sticking with it.
As I strolled through the Bulk Barn I had two specific things in mind; 1) those sweet and salty’s and 2) what candy really stood out to me as something you eat at Halloween – sort of like Mini Eggs at Easter. It came to me quite easily once I saw the big bin – those individually wrapped, square caramels! I remember I would only ever get five or six when I went trick or treating and they were my mom’s favourite – so I always gave them to her along with my Twizzlers.
I picked up some pretzels, no easy feat because I wasn’t sure if I wanted classic twists or waffle shape. After what seemed like a lifetime, I chose waffle. Next came the caramels – I counted about 20 in my bag. It’s easy to just scoop a bunch, or you can count – depends on how many you want/need. My favourite part was the Smarties. They are so fun at holiday time because you can always get holiday colours. So today, I used brown and orange Smarties for the Halloween Caramel Pretzel Bites.
Side Note
Don’t get me started on the M&M’s vs Smarties debate. Smarties always win. They are 100% better. I do realize, however, that there are some places you can’t get Smarties, so in this case, by all means buy M&M’s.
Grab a Buddy
The most time consuming part of the Halloween Caramel Pretzel Bites is unwrapping the caramels. You’ll have these ready to go in no time at all if you have a helper! Definitely keep an eye on your caramel while it’s in the oven since oven temps vary. Once they start to melt down, they are soft enough to add the chocolate and be cooled down. Another quick tip is to make sure you use parchment paper. I tried my first batch with wax paper and made big smoke. Not only that, the caramel was hard to peel off the wax, but came off the parchment very easily.
Dessert Second
I recommend making these after you’ve had a proper meal. I didn’t and I ended up snacking a lot and now I feel a bit like garbage. Happy garbage, but garbage nonetheless. Speaking of proper meals, be sure to check out the Fancy Napkins review of a crockpot jambalaya. Perfect for Halloween so you’re not trying to cook in between trick or treaters.
If you’ve got a party to go to or some friends coming over this weekend, or maybe you want to bring a little something in to the office on Tuesday, give these a whirl and let me know what you think
Happy cooking!
Caramel Pretzel Bites
Ingredients
- Mini pretzels twists or waffle shape
- Caramels
- Smarties
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Place pretzels in a single layer on baking sheet
- Unwrap caramels, placing one on each pretzel (you can also cut the caramels in half if you want them to be less sugary)
- Place baking sheet into oven on the middle rack and leave in for about 3 minutes (less if you halved the caramels)
- After 3 minutes, the caramels should be quite soft
- Remove the baking sheet and press one Smartie into each caramel
- Place in the freezer to set for about 5 minutes
- Enjoy these at room temperature and store in an airtight container (not that you'll have many left to store...)
