Monday, December 23, 2013

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites Stuffed with Caramel

It's here! It's here! Christmas is here!! The most wonderful time of the year is upon us!! We have Christmas tonight with my family, Christmas tomorrow night at Hub's Grandpa's house, Christmas on Christmas with my sister and Christmas at home, followed finally by Christmas with my in-laws next weekend. While dividing up the presents today into which pile goes where, I realized I have a lot of piles. It quickly reminded me how blessed we are and to remember to be truly thankful not just this time of year, but everyday.

What comes after Christmas?!?! Returns New Years!! Yay for New Years parties! This year we're heading up north to see some of my favorite people/best friends in the world! Since I don't have to host this year, my schedule is a tad more open. Score! So to fill my time I decided to come up with a perfect treat to bring to my girlfriend's New Year's Eve party:

Trust me when I say these things are amazing! I just hope my friend's party guests love them as much as I do. Check it out, it's a pajama New Years party! Meaning we get to sit around in our sweats all night long and stuff our faces with champagne and these! My best friend is actually my roommate from college. We met in the first month of our freshman year and have been as thick as thieves ever since. We only live about two hours from each other and talk and text and facetime regularly. One of the things that makes this lady so amazing, besides her love for animals, her huge giving heart and her insanely addictive laugh, is every time we see each other it's as if no time has passed at all. I love her so much and can't wait to ring in the new year with her! Love you Barton!
So the process to make these is very easy! Only problem I have is I only have one mini muffin pan so to make a lot is a little time consuming. Other than that, these are a no-bake delight! First thing to do is melt some butter and mix it in with not-so-finely chopped pretzels and put some in the bottom of the tray to create a "crust".
Then mix together peanut butter, a couple kinds of sugar, some vanilla and a little bit more butter together and roll the dough into balls. Then place the peanut butter balls on top of the pretzels and make a hole in the middle with your finger.
Pour in some caramel:
And top with melted chocolate. Tap the tray on the table a few times to get out all the air bubbles.
Pop in the freezer for about 30 minutes and Ta-Da! Awesomeness!
Ingredients:
Pretzels, broken into smaller pieces
2 T butter, melted
1/2 Cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 Cup powdered sugar
1/3 Cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp butter
1 Cup milk chocolate chips
Caramel sauce

Directions:
Break the pretzels apart in a small bag until each one is about a 1/2 inch in size. There's no right or wrong way to do this part, I just found bigger pieces were easier to work with. Here's what mine looked like:
Once they are broken up, mix them with the melted butter and add to the bottom of the pan. Mix together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, brown sugar, butter and vanilla together in a bowl (I used a small bowl and a big spoon). Roll the "dough" into small balls that fit into the muffin tin. Poke a small hole in the middle and fill with caramel sauce.

Push the sides of the peanut butter bowl up and slightly away from the edge of the pan. This will help the chocolate fall down the sides a bit. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 second increments until the chocolate is easy to pour. Add to the top of the peanut butter and place the tray in the freezer for about 30 minutes, or until completely hardened. Run a knife along the side of the cup to loosen the chocolate. They should come up easily. Hope you enjoy!

Merry Christmas to you all! I will see you again later this week!
*I ended up not bringing these to the party, but some other great snacks instead.
Thanks for stopping by!

**I linked up to the dedicated house, between naps on the porch, amaze me monday, rain on a tin roof, carrie this house, huckleberry love, craft o maniac, a pinch of joy, serenity now, 504 main, simple living and eating, the jenny evolution, miz helens country cottage, fireflies and jellybeans, coastal charm, hope studios, the winthrop chronicles, naptime creations, future expat, cedar hill farmhouse

18 comments:

  1. Your Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites look awesome, what a fun treat! Thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and wishing you abundant blessings in 2014!
    Miz Helen

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  2. I love hosting parties...but then again, I also love it when I'm not the host and get to be the guests. (If that makes sense.) I love this creative recipe! All of the flavors are perfect together. Great to take to a party! Have a happy NYE! Wanted to tell you thank you for sharing with all of us over at the Show Stopper Saturday party this morning!

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  3. So many great flavors mixed into one…thanks so much for bringing these to foodie friday. Happy New Year.

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  4. These look delicious! I've never had pretzels with peanut butter :)

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  5. Oh my gosh. Yum. I am drooling on my computer!
    Beth @ The First Year Blog

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  6. I've put this on my 'must try' list :)

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  7. Hi! Checking these out from our Much Ado About Monday party at Huckleberry Love. They look super delicious! I want to make these, but not sure how many cups of pretzels to chop up. Thanks for linking up!

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  8. You had me at chocolate and peanut butter! These sound yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe with us .

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  9. I have to try these - is there any better combo?! Dropping by to let you know that your recipe is being featured at this week's Freedom Fridays :) The party goes live at 8:30 pm EST - hope to see you there ♥

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  10. Chocolate and Peanut Butter with Pretzels!! AWW of course it made the features at Freedom Fridays!!! LOVE it!!

    Hugs and Happy New Year!

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  11. Are you kidding me, what a post to wreck New Years resolutions. I am going to have to try your Chocolate, Peanut Butter pretzel bites STUFFED with Carmel. Oh my goodness. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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  12. How many more of my favorite things can be in these! YUM! I just featured you on (last weeks Tickled Pink No. 19 belated features post - did that make any sense???)

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    1. Thank you so much! Hope your holidays were wonderful!

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  13. Yum this looks perfect :) Thank you so much for linking this recipe up at Recipe Sharing Monday! The new link party is up and I'd love to see you back. Have a great week. :)

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  14. OMG I saw these featured on Melt in Your Mouth Mondays and just flipped! I cannot wait to give these a try...there are still so many things I wanted to bake for the holidays that I just never got a chance to.

    I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! Now following~ visit soon!

    Toodles,
    Tammy<3

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  15. Can't wait to try these! Featuring them at Tasty Tuesdays over at www.redcottagechronicles!! Peanut Butter, chocolate and caramel....pure bliss!!

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  16. These look incredible. I am featuring them tomorrow when this week's BFF Open House link party opens!

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    1. Thank you so much! I'll be sure to stop by. See you then!

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