December is a weird time for college students. One half of the month is super stressful and filled with long nights at the library, while the other half is spent relaxing at home, probably by a cozy fire. During this crazy month, it’s important to take time for yourself, decompress, and remember to celebrate the holidays. And what’s a better way to do that than DIYing Holiday gifts and decorations!? I found some inspiration on Pinterest and decided to try my hand at them over the course of the next week. Here are the first two: Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sticks and a fun Gift Jar for them!
Gift: Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sticks
What you’ll need:
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Slow cooker or rice cooker
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Long pretzel sticks (Available at the Bookstore!)
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Chocolate chips
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Mason jar or mug
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Spoon and/or a stirrer
Step 1: Fill up the rice cooker or slow cooker with water. Enough to cover up to half of the mason jar or mug.
Step 2: Add the chocolate bits.
Step 3: Since I used a rice cooker, I put the setting on ‘steam’ for 20 minutes. For slow cooker instructions, go here. Keep the lid open during the whole time because you don’t want any water droplets to get onto the chocolate. It’s important to note that any water in the chocolate will absolutely ruin it. (I had to learn that the hard way…)
Step 4: Periodically stir the chocolate.
Step 5 (Optional): While you wait for those 20 minutes to be up, you can go ahead and do the other DIYs in this article!
Step 6: Once the chocolate is completely melted, take out the pretzels and put them onto plates.
Step 7: Dip each pretzel stick into the melted chocolate.
Step 8: You can leave the stick with just chocolate or you can cover it in sprinkles, crushed nuts, or marshmallows. I did a batch with and without marshmallows.
Step 9: Place the plates in the fridge for 15 minutes, checking on them periodically to loosen them so the chocolate doesn’t make the pretzels stuck onto the plate once it completely hardens.
Step 10: Now you have to decide if you want to eat them as is or wrap them up to give to your friends. Maybe you can do a bit of both!
To wrap these bad boys up took a lot of creative thinking, since neither the market nor the bookstore sold plastic bags that are long and skinny enough. But I found a way!
You’ll need:
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Sandwich bags
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Scissors
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Ribbon
Step 1: Place the Chocolate-covered Pretzel stick into the bag diagonally.
Step 2: Cut the green plastic part and the excess plastic on the sides like this:
Step 3: Wrap the plastic around the stick and secure it with ribbon.
Step 4: Share the wealth and give to friends!
Gift: Fun-Filled Mason Jar
If the optional wrapping for the pretzel sticks is too much to handle, consider making one of these mason jars!
Assorted Candy
Hot Chocolate Mix
Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Sticks
Hope you enjoyed these! Stay tuned for our next installments coming next week!