Welcome to DECEMBER, Where Magic Happens! 🧙🏻♀️
It’s officially 4 weeks until CHRISTMAS! Can you believe that? December is definitely my favorite month of the year! 💜 Not only because my birthday falls in December, but December is also a month where magic happens. 🎄To me, Christmas is a festival that puts a smile on everyone and brings people together. On that month, love is in the air. People are busy buying gifts for their loved ones, decorating their home and preparing food for Christmas parties. 🥳 This Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Bark recipe is perfect for everyone. No matter if you are planning to contribute something nice to a gathering despite your beginner cooking skills, or if you are thinking of making something special as a handmade gift to your friends, then this recipe is for you! 💓
Inspiration
This recipe is inspired from a product from Bark Thin. Also, there is something about the shape of pretzels that made it feel like Christmas! I have the idea of recreating this Bark Thin product for quite a while for a couple of reasons. A. It’s nearly impossible to find their products in Hong Kong. And B. Even if you could, the price is not that affordable. Since I reckon it won’t be that difficult to recreate this recipe, I decided to give it a go.
I know what you are thinking. Can’t you just make the pretzel chocolate bark by melting some chocolates. Mix in some pretzels and chill in the fridge until it hardens? I wish this recipe is that simple. However, making chocolates are not as simple as you think.
Tempering The Chocolates 🍫
Once you melt the chocolates, crystals in the cocoa butter will break down. And if the chocolate is not tempered properly, the cocoa butter crystallisation will be uncontrolled and uneven. Hence, resulting in a chocolate that looks dull with a chewy texture. Nobody likes chocolate with rough texture right? Most importantly, if you temper the chocolate properly, you will be able to let the chocolate set in room temperature. Tempered chocolate has a crispy and smooth texture. Moreover, it won’t melt easily unless your room is really warm. So it is totally worth the effort!😎
Although the word “tempering” might sound complicated or advanced at first, it is in fact not that difficult. All you need is some patience and a thermometer. I have written out a step-by-step instruction below so you don’t have to worry about it. 🙌🏻
Easy Or From Scratch
I first made this Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Bark recipe using store bought chocolates. For the second trial, I tried making this all from scratch as I want to make this a zero-waste recipe. 😌 Recently, I have been trying to reduce wastes from my daily activities, so I started purchasing most of my ingredients from bulk purchase zero-waste stores. If you are interested, here are some other zero-waste recipes of mine: Pumpkin pie sprouted granola, Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oats and Vegan Protein Brownie.
Both methods work well and create beautiful chocolate barks. If you are running out of time and doesn’t bother buying all those ingredients, you can definitely use the store-bought chocolate bars. However, if you are more conscious about reducing waste, and want to customize your chocolate bars even more, then you probably want to make it from scratch. I have included the instructions of both methods below for you. So feel free to choose whatever method you prefer. 😊
Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Bark
Course: DessertCuisine: FestiveDifficulty: Medium15
servings30
minutes5
minutesIngredients
- Easy Method Using Store-bought Chocolate Bars
10oz dark chocolate bars (I used 85%) (separated into 2/3 and 1/3)
1/2 cup pretzels (crumbled)
1/2 cup goji berries
1/3 cup maple butter (or any vegan caramel candy)
- Make From Scratch
1/2 cup raw cacao butter
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
1/5-1/4 cup raw coconut sugar*
1/2 cup pretzels (crumbled)
1/2 cup goji berries
1/3 cup maple butter (or any vegan caramel candy)
- Toppings
15 pretzels
1/4 cup goji berries
Directions
- Easy Method Using Store-bought Chocolate Bars
- Chop 1/3 of the chocolate into small pieces. Place the chocolate and 1/3 cup of maple butter (if you are using) in the freezer.
- In a metal bowl, break the remaining 2/3 of chocolate into small pieces. Place the metal bowl on top of a pot of simmering water. Be careful not to let the bottom of the bowl touches the water.
- Stir constantly until the temperature of the mixture reaches 46°C.
- Immediately remove the bowl from the pot.
- Now, add in the remaining chocolate in the freezer. Stir and mix well, while allowing the temperature to drop to 26°C.
- When the temperature reached 26°C, slowly bring the temperature back to 32°C by putting the bowl back on the double boiler. But this time with the heat turned off.
- Once the desired temperature is reached, your chocolate is now tempered and you can mix in the crumbled pretzels and goji berries. You can also add nuts or seeds if you desire! 😌
- By now, your chilled maple butter should be hardened. Roughly chopped them into small pieces and mix them into the chocolate mixture. Leave some for topping.
- On a baking tray lined with parchment paper, spread the mixture evenly to your desired thickness. Gently press your toppings to the surface of the chocolate bark. Leave untouched and let it set at room temperature to 2-3 hours or until it fully hardened. Chop them into bite size (this recipe yields around 15 pieces) and store them in an air-tight container.
- Make From Scratch
- First, blend sugar in a high-speed blender until it becomes super fine powder. This step is crucial as otherwise the sugar will not melt in the chocolate.
- Place 1/3 cup of maple butter (if you are using) in the freezer.
- Shave the cacao butter and place them inside a metal bowl. Place the metal bowl on top of a pot of simmering water. Be careful not to let the bottom of the bowl touches the water.
- Stir constantly until the temperature of the mixture reaches 46°C.
- Immediately remove the bowl from the pot.
- Now, mix in cacao powder and the superfine coconut sugar. Stir and mix well, while allowing the temperature to drop to 26°C.
- When the temperature reached 26°C, slowly bring the temperature back to 32°C by putting the bowl back on the double boiler. But this time with the heat turned off.
- Once the desired temperature is reached, your chocolate is now tempered and you can mix in the crumbled pretzels and goji berries. You can also add nuts or seeds if you desire! 😌
- By now, your chilled maple butter should be hardened. Roughly chopped them into small pieces and mix them into the chocolate mixture. Leave some for topping.
- On a baking tray lined with parchment paper, spread the mixture evenly to your desired thickness. Gently press your toppings to the surface of the chocolate bark. Leave untouched and let it set at room temperature to 2-3 hours or until it fully hardened. Chop them into bite size (this recipe yields around 15 pieces) and store them in an air-tight container.
Notes
- * The amount of sugar depends on how sweet you like the chocolate to be. The darker you want, the less sugar you use. ☺ Bear in mind you will be adding caramel chunks in the final product, so you may want to add slightly less sugar than you think you need.
