Tuesday Treats: Crunchy the Snowman

I found this recipe back in July when I started collecting Christmas craft ideas (I'll post about that in a bit). It is freaking adorable and super easy to do. Check it out!


Edit: 8/15/2012 Image removed. I don't want to be sued.

 From FamilyFun Magazine

Ingredients:

1 bag of 8-inch pretzel rods

1 cup of white chocolate chips

1 bag of mini chocolate chips

orange decorator's gel

fruit leather in various colors

gummy rings

gumdrops

wax paper

knife/spoon

Instructions:

1. To make a batch, melt 1 cup of white chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler.
2. One at a time, dip one end of an 8-inch pretzel rod in the melted chocolate and use a plastic spoon or knife to spread the chocolate two thirds of the way down the rod.
3. Set the pretzels on a sheet of waxed paper and press on mini chocolate chips for eyes and buttons. Use orange decorator's gel to add a carrot nose.
4. When the chocolate has hardened, stand the pretzels in a mug or glass and tie on strips of fruit leather for scarves. For each hat, stretch a gummy ring over the narrow end of a gumdrop and secure it on the pretzel rod with a dab of melted chocolate.

Some tips and tricks:

• Instead of fruit leather, use the Twizzler's Peel N Pull for your scarves.
• Do not try to microwave the chocolate chips... it WILL burn. Use two pots that fit inside each other instead.
• When setting the rods on the wax paper, have the scarves set on the paper already for easy tying.
• Set the rods standing up in a glass once the eyes, buttons, and nose (and scarf if you use the idea above) have been attached and place in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to quicken the hardening process.
• Instead of using orange decorator's gel, cut an orange gumdrop or ring into pieces and use that as a nose instead.
• All items can be found at WalMart (yuck, I know... try your local supermarkets, dollar stores, and so on first), including the fruit leather.
• If the snowmen are too cutesy, dip the rods in chocolate then drizzle a different color chocolate in a decorative pattern, roll the dipped rod in sprinkles or nuts, etc.
• Use the cheap stretchy gummy rings instead of the Lifesaver's brand since those don't stretch as well (and need to be cut in order to be used).