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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, November 24, 2007

Holiday sweets

By Annmarie Timmins
Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Caramel Pretzel Turtles are a no-cook recipe that takes a little more than an hour to assemble and produce. These sweet treats can be distributed in a variety of attractive ways, such as wrapping them hard-candy style.

LARRY CROWE | Associated Press

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With a little planning and time in the kitchen, holiday gift giving can be delicious. For example, this no-cook recipe is simple to assemble and produces attractive, delicious treats. For gift packaging, consider wrapping each turtle in cellophane hard-candy style, then heaping them in cones fashioned from festive cardstock.

CARAMEL PRETZEL TURTLES

Start to finish: 1 hour and 10 minutes

Makes 48 turtles

  • 14-ounce bag soft caramels (about 48)

  • 10-ounce bag pretzel nuggets

  • 12 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

  • 2 cups toasted almonds, finely chopped

    Line a baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper. Set aside.

    Unwrap the caramels. One at a time, place a caramel between two sheets of parchment paper (not the paper from the baking sheet), then use a rolling pin to roll it into an oval about ⁄ inch thick.

    Wrap the flattened caramel around a pretzel nugget, pinching the ends to seal. Set aside on another sheet of parchment paper. Repeat with remaining caramels and pretzel nuggets.

    In a double boiler over simmering water or in the microwave, melt half the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth. If using a double boiler, remove the pan from the heat. Add the remaining chocolate and stir until smooth.

    Place the almonds in a shallow bowl. One at a time, use a fork to dip each pretzel nugget in the chocolate to coat, tapping off any excess, then dip it in the almonds to coat. Set on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining pretzels.

    Let stand until set, about 3 hours, before packaging.

    Recipe from the December 2007-January 2008 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine