Needing a sweet treat after a savory meal is a universal experience. However, when you’re craving a little sugar, it’s likely you don’t have time to whip up a gourmet chocolate dessert (no matter how much you want a homemade lava cake nightly). While I constantly searched for simple snack recipes that require little to no baking and already stocked pantry ingredients, I found pretzel snaps.
Now, despite the fact that they take ten minutes or less to prepare, I don’t make them often. In fact, I usually make this three-ingredient treat once a year around the holidays, when my family can share in the chocolatey goodness (because trust me, these are so dangerously good you’ll want to eat bowls of them). We usually wind up with approximately three containers full of them, which are consumed in the better part of just a few days. And you’ll see why when you read the ingredient list.
All you need is a bag of square pretzels, Hershey’s Kisses, and M&Ms.
How To Make 3-Ingredient Pretzel Snaps
Ingredients
- Hershey’s Kisses
- small square pretzels, such as Snyder’s “Snaps”
- red and green M&M’s
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange square pretzels on a rimmed baking sheet in neat lines. (There’s no need to lay parchment paper on the pan, but you can if you prefer not to wash chocolate off of the pan afterwards.)
- Place a Hershey’s Kiss in the center of each square pretzel until every single one is layered. Carefully (as not to move the pretzels around) transfer the baking sheet into the oven. Allow the chocolate to warm for just two minutes. It’s very important to watch the Hershey’s Kisses to make sure they don’t completely melt—you want them just melted enough so that they keep their base shape and can withstand an M&M on top.
- Grab an oven mitt and take the baking sheet out of the oven (it’s best to stand it on a wire rack). Top each with an M&M of your choosing. It’s better to do this part quickly before the Hershey’s Kiss hardens (I recruit a few extra hands for this part). Place the sheet of pretzel snaps in the fridge for 10 minutes to several hours for them to form into one chocolatey, mouth-watering snack—use your best judgement on the timing, I’ve left them for up to three hours at a time. Once stiffened, transfer them from the baking sheet to a container and enjoy!
Serving a crowd? Depending on how many people you’re preparing them for, use multiple baking sheets. A good rule of thumb is to set up the amount of pretzels based on the amount of Hershey’s Kisses you have.
Ingredient Swaps and Decoration Ideas
The beauty of pretzel snaps—besides the fact that they’re deliciously simple and the perfect on-the-go sweet snack—is that they can be easily modified to your taste preferences. I’ve experimented with Rolos instead of Hershey’s Kisses (for a hint of caramel), peanut M&Ms instead of the traditional version, or peppermint Hershey’s Kisses instead of milk chocolate during the Christmas season. The options are endless—and so is the decadent chocolate flavor.
Olivia Bria
