Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Need a quick, fun, and free of yucky ingredients - dish for an event this holiday season? 

Try these chocolate dipped pretzels. Use your own toppings but always aim for no high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, or artificial sweeteners and dyes. 

Ingredients that I used:
Pretzels (free of hydrogenated oils); Harvest Road brand (see more information below)
Chocolate, semi-sweet & melted (I bought 70% from Trader Joe's)
Coconut oil, cold-pressed & organic (added to the chocolate and to the shredded coconut)
Sugar (preferably organic & naturally dyed - I use Maggie's Naturals)
Shredded coconut (unsweetened)
Sprinkles (free of artificial dyes); Edward & Son's brand
Almonds, slivered & crushed

I found Harvest Road's Trussetts at Big Lots in my town. They carry some international foods and if you can believe it, Certified Organic foods, too! I wanted to make chocolate dipped pretzels for a night out with the girls. I later learned the event was cancelled but had already told my son what our plans were. You know how kids are - they have a memory like an elephant (so they say!). 

Ingredients in the Trussetts: Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, malt, vital wheat gluten, sodium biocarbonate, and yeast.  110 calories, 260 mg sodium, and 23 carbs per 10pcs. 

Combine melted chocolate of your choice with a little coconut oil (this helps it harden). 

Combine sugar of your liking with an all-natural food dye.

With the unsweetened shredded coconut, I added a tad of coconut oil to this as well. It helps adhere to the wet chocolate and it stays put as the chocolate hardens. 

Sprinkles! What kid doesn't like or want them!? I recommend Edward & Son's. You can find them at almost all health-food stores or online. 

Follow me on Facebook and learn more about Dr. Sears Traffic Light Eating among other topics on nutrition and wellness. These pretzels are considered a red-light food (special occasion, not eaten very often). The last time we made these was in April 2012. The chocolate used earlier this year is almost free of artificial junk. It had vanillin, an artificial flavor. If this is the only ingredient in your 'treat' that is artificial, especially if you may be used to much worse, consider this okay. After awhile, you'll graduate up to melting a chocolate bar of your choice, void of all yucky stuff, and dipping the pretzels in! Buon Appetito! 

Choose, eat, and live well! =)