Chocolate-dipped Pretzels Rolled in Bacon

Life is Good: Sweet loves Savory

Our five-year old isn't the only one who has been celebrating a birthday around here. In fact, we have a thirteen-day span where we celebrate our wedding anniversary, his birthday, and the hubs' birthday. Throw in Mother's Day a week or two later and you have what we affectionately refer to as "Celebrationpalooza" at our house.

I made so many sweet treats for the big kid's birthday--rocket-shaped rice krispies treats, artist palette-shaped cookies, crayon-shaped cookies, frosting, frosting and more frosting, "paint-striped" cupcakes, decorate-your-own cupcakes, a dinosaur cake and probably more that I can't remember (is there such a thing as sugar-induced memory loss?) that when it came to my husband, Grant's, birthday, the last thing he wanted in the house was something sweet. Besides me! Wink.

My mom always handmade things and cooked special treats for our family, so this kind of thing has been engrained in me. And I just couldn't have a family birthday go by without making something something SOMETHING for Grant. So I sent my noggin to work. And one word appeared in my head, like a marquee with flashing lights...

I live with a bunch of carnivores. And my husband's life's mantra reads like a bumper sticker on the back of a beat up VW van: "Everything tastes better with bacon"!

I whipped the car into the Target parking lot and bolted in, searching for inspiration. Granted, I would have been better off in a Whole Foods, but I have to be all about efficiency during Celebrationpalooza and we needed diapers, so Target it was!

I'm sure I wasn't the first person to make pretzels dipped in chocolate and rolled in bacon, but I was the first person in our house! It's super easy...

You'll need a bag of pretzel sticks (I used Rold Gold), some chocolate chips or chunks or a bar (I used the best chocolate that Target had. Emphasis on the words, "that Target had"), bacon bits or bacon chunks (we only eat turkey bacon at our house, so I "splurged" and bought REAL pre-packaged bacon bits this time), a bowl, a fork/spoon/knife for spreading the chocolate, a microwave (or a mini crockpot), and some waxed paper.

First, I heated some chocolate chunks in the microwave. It took my chocolate a little over a minute to melt. Time will vary with individual microwaves. Be sure not to get any water in your bowl or it will ruin your chocolate. The chocolate will get lumpy and hard.

I recommend dark chocolate. It's healthier and I think it creates a better flavor profile for the bacon.

Once your chocolate is melted, dip your pretzel stick in the chocolate. Using a fork or spoon is a good way to spread the chocolate evenly.

Next, I went straight to a plate of bacon bits and rolled the chocolate pretzel in them.

Then I placed them on some waxed paper and let them "set up" for a couple of hours.

I only made about a dozen of these. If I were making more, I would use a mini crockpot to melt the chocolate and keep it warm. Melting the chocolate in the microwave really only works well for small batches.

I wrapped these up in a cute container with a ribbon so that my husband could take them to work and share with his staff. But somehow, the next morning the pretzel sticks were nowhere to be found...