Bride & Groom Pretzel Rods

For the past two weeks me, Nick, and Carly have been in Idaho and Utah visiting family.  The main purpose of our trip was to attend and celebrate the my sister-in-law’s wedding.  Oh my, it was a gorgeous wedding!  One thing that I helped out with was making these cute wedding favors (seen on pinterest & Etsy)… 300 Bride & Groom Pretzel Rod couples.  My mother-in-law and I (and a few other helpers here and there) worked on these for a total of about 12 hours.  We really picked up the pace towards the end once we perfected our method so if I did this again it wouldn’t take quite so long. (Contact me if you want to order some!)

K, so we did 300 couples which means we did 300 brides & 300 Grooms.  Since the Groom has both white chocolate and milk chocolate they have to be dipped twice so we really had to dip pretzel rods 900 times (and we lost count so so even did a little more than 300).  We didn’t use the really big pretzel rods because we thought that would take way more chocolate, time, and money.  The day after the wedding we used up the remaining chocolate and 1 bag of large pretzel rods for all the grand kids and we found that they did not taste nearly as good as the small pretzel “dipping sticks” probably because there was too much pretzel for the amount of chocolate.  Plus, the small “dipping sticks” pretzels are the perfect size for a little treat.

The brides were a bit easier than the grooms but here are some tips if you want to make them (recipe below):

• Lightly scrape the bottom side of the pretzel so excess chocolate doesn’t pool.
• Less is more when it comes to sprinkles.  Too many makes it tastes like those rock candy suckers.
• The large bead sprinkles do not stay on easily but just take a deep breath, try to have steady fingers, and if they start to slide just gently push them back to the middle.  (This was the most difficult/annoying part)

I absolutely love how the grooms turned out (plus they taste better since they have chocolate)!  Here are some tips for making the grooms:

• Make the white chocolate layer as thin as possible- Dip when chocolate is warm and reheat when it starts to cool and get thick; scrape the bottom side of the pretzels since it will be covered with chocolate anyway.
• When dipping the white chocolate covered pretzels into the chocolate you MUST work quickly or else the white chocolate will start to melt and mix with the outside chocolate layer (let the chocolate cool in the mug a little before dipping)
• To form a “V”, tilt the cup and press gently press the pretzel in allowing the chocolate to come up onto the white chocolate.  Quickly lift out, gently scrape the back, and place on wax paper.
• Make the buttons by dabbing on chocolate with a toothpick.
• The bow ties are a more tedious.  You can form them easily by making two dots of chocolate close together but not touching and then push the chocolate around using a toothpick to form each dot into a triangle.

Nick’s mom (with the beautiful nails) did almost all the buttons and bow ties.

Packaging the pretzels was probably the easiest part but just a few tips:

• The pretzel rods/sticks are not all the exact same size so before placing in the bags match each bride to a similar size groom.
• When placing the pretzels in, be sure to put them on top of any additional folds in the plastic.
• Make the fold right at the top of the pretzel (no extra space above) so that they are held in place and won’t roll or shift to the side of the bag.

I think I became a pretty good (pretzel) matchmaker. 🙂

Despite our miscounting, in the end we only had 3 extra grooms… they were yummy!

Print Recipe

Bride & Groom Pretzel Rods

This recipe makes 300 brides and 300 grooms which does take time just due to the quantity but it's not so bad if you make 20-30 for something like a bridal shower.

Prep Time12 hours hrs

Total Time12 hours hrs

Servings: 300

Author: Garnish and Glaze

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 pound chocolate flavored Almond Bark
• ▢ 5 bags Snyder Dipping Sticks Pretzels
• ▢ 4-5 12 ounce Wilton white candy melts
• ▢ 1 8 ounce container Wilton white sparkling sprinkles
• ▢ 1 5 ounce container Wilton white sugar pearls
• ▢ 300 small clear cellophane bags
• ▢ 300 stickers

Instructions

• Lay wax paper down on a flat surface (or large baking sheets to easily move).

For the Groom:

• Place some white candy melts in a mug (fill about 3/4 full) and microwave in 30 second increments until melted.
• Take one pretzel stick at a time and dip it 3/4 of the way into the chocolate (I like to hold the mug at an angle and then twist the pretzel while in the chocolate to get and even line). Pull the pretzel out and then shake and tap it on the inside of the mug to remove excess chocolate. Scrape the bottom of the pretzel on the edge of the mug and then place on wax paper. Repeat until you have dipped 300. (Reheat the chocolate when it starts to get thick. Melt more chocolate as needed.)
• Once the white chocolate layer is done, fill another mug 3/4 full of chocolate flavored Almond Bark and melt in 30 second increments until just melted. If chocolate is really hot, wait 5 minutes before proceeding to dip.
• Take a pretzels already dipped in white chocolate and while holding the mug of chocolate at an angle gently, yet quickly, lay the pretzel in the chocolate, pushing just the end of it completely in the chocolate so that the bottom is covered but then forms a "V" as the chocolate wraps around the sides of the pretzel. Pull the pretzel out, give it a quick shake to remove excess and then lightly scrape the bottom of the pretzel on the edge of the mug. Place back on wax paper and repeat with remaining pretzels.
• Make the buttons with the chocolate flavored almond bark by dabbing on chocolate using a toothpick.
• Form the bow tie by dabbing on two dots close together but not touching. Use the toothpick to form the dots into two touching triangles. (Add more chocolate with the toothpick as necessary.)

For the Bride:

• Pour some of the sprinkles into a bowl and set close by. Place sugar pearls in a small dish and set aside.
• Place some white candy melts in a mug (fill about 3/4 full) and microwave in 30 second increments until melted.
• Dip a pretzel into the white chocolate as done with the 1st layer for the groom. When removing the pretzel from the chocolate lightly shake off excess chocolate and lightly scrape the bottom. Hold the dipped pretzel over the bowl of sprinkles, pick up some of the the sprinkles and lightly sprinkle them over the freshly dipped pretzel (what doesn't stick will fall back into the bowl). Lay the pretzel on wax paper and then add 3 sugar pearls to the top of the white chocolate to form a necklace. (If they start to slide just push them back with your fingers or a toothpick. You may need to hold them in place for a few seconds.) Repeat until you have 300 brides.

Did you make this recipe?Tag @GarnishandGlaze on Instagram and use hashtag #GarnishandGlaze

Heidi (the bride) painted all the vases, tea light containers, and frames for her centerpieces.  They turned out so stinkin cute!  She was able to do it if for pretty cheap by getting the vases from the second hand store Desert Industries (like Goodwill).  She wasn’t able to get all the same vases but I actually really like that they were all different shapes and that she painted some gold and some with glitter.  Stunning!The Bride and Groom with all the nieces and nephews (Carly is freakin out a bit).  They are going to be great parents!
Heidi is the most beautiful bride!  Lover her dress, shoes, hair (done by her sister), and doesn’t she have the most perfect smile!?  I love this picture below where she is smiling at her husband.  They are so in love!  The other picture below with a few of the grooms men shows a little of the back of her gorgeous dress.

Love, LOVE this picture of grandma (mother of the bride) with all her granddaughters!

And then there is my little family.  So glad I married this handsome man 4 years ago!