Atonement, or, Crack Pretzels

In a sad, sad, summer tale, I told you all about the time I showed up at a party empty-handed.  Dear readers, I had the chance to atone for my sins this past weekend, when the friends we visited were kind enough to show up at our house despite my poor performance at theirs.  I did that in the form of peanut butter-filled, chocolate-dipped pretzels.  Forever more known to me as crack pretzels.

Just like Mary Poppins, they’re practically perfect in every way.  These are the brainchild of Foodaphilia, but I found them by way of 17 and Baking.

If you follow my Twitter feed, you may have seen something along the lines of, “holy sweet LORD, i cannot stop eating this peanut butter filling” the other day.  That was your first clue that I was on to something good.  I made these ahead of time, and it’s a wonder that there were any left to serve for all the peanut butter/sugar mixture I ate beforehand.

This stuff is magical.  If I hadn’t made it with my own two hands mixed it in my own KitchenAid (but you could do it with your hands), I would honestly ask myself if it was laced with some sort of illegal substance.

The good news is, it isn’t.  In fact, these addictive little bite-sized desserts are made with ingredients I bet you have on hand.  Now, I know plenty of bloggers have said that to you before, dear readers, and then you’ve rolled your eyes, thinking, “Right, like I keep smoked paprika on hand at all times!”  But hear me out.

Butter.  Peanut Butter.  Pretzels.  Sugar.  Chocolate (chunks, chips, kisses, you’re melting it so it doesn’t much matter).

If you just said check, check, check, check, check (check, check, check), you can be eating these before you know it.

To make this many bites (like I was going to count how many I stuffed into that container),

you will need:

• A bag of bite sized pretzels (I used the squares, but you could use the regular shaped ones, or the circles)
• A bag (about 2 C or 16 oz.) of chocolate chips, kisses, or any other kind of chocolate you have
• 2 T butter, softened
• 1 C creamy peanut butter
• 2/3 C powdered sugar
• 3/4 C light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla (if you don’t have it, don’t run out, just skip it)

Combine the butter and peanut butter in a bowl using a mixer, a wooden spoon, or a fork.  Add the sugars and vanilla, if using, and continue to beat (low speed if you’re using the KitchenAid) until well-mixed.  The mixture should be thick enough to hold its shape.  Using a small spoon, scoop the peanut butter mixture onto a pretzel, and use another pretzel to smush it into a sandwich, and set them on a baking tray lined with nonstick foil, waxed paper, or parchment paper.  If your peanut butter mixture is getting a little goopy by the time you finish, you can throw these into the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes to firm them up.  If not, press on.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave-proof bowl (nuke for 30 seconds, stir, nuke for 30 more, stir again, repeat until the chocolate is melted).  Give your sandwiches a chocolate bath, put them back on the sheet, and refrigerate or freeze them for at least an hour or two before you need them.  Unless you only made them so you could eat them yourself.  Then don’t even bother to wait for the chocolate to set.