Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Candies

Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 24

Jump to Recipe

These Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Candies are an easy, no bake treat for the holidays (or any day!)! A crisp chocolate coating is filled with creamy peanut butter filling, chopped salted peanuts and pretzels for the ultimate sweet and salty dessert!

overhead long image of pan of chocolate peanut butter pretzel candies drizzled with chocolate

Friends, I have been planning this recipe for a long time. A long, long time.

One day, quite some time ago, I recall being in a grocery store an hour from home long past my girls’ nap time. We had been in the city doing some shopping and were just about ready to head home, and the kids were not going to last much longer.

We survived — barely — and when we were on our way through the cash register I saw a bag of these chocolate peanut butter pretzel cluster type candies. I swear they keep them there for parents shopping with toddlers.

Often I feel the need to reward myself for keeping my cool at times like these (mamas — am I the only one?!?). I grabbed a bag and consumed the whole thing during the drive home while my kids were passed out in their car seats.

dark chocolate and white chocolate covered candies with a bite taken out of each

It has been on my list to recreate since then, and with Christmas and Thanksgiving and alllll the holidays and family gatherings and gifting coming up, I thought these would be the perfect treat to share!

I mean, if you can share because — I’ll be honest — it’s not easy!

white chocolate and dark chocolate peanut butter pretzel candies stacked on plate

These Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Candies are perfectly sweet and salty, and although they’re not exactly “healthy”, the peanuts and peanut butter do add a good amount of protein, and they say that dark chocolate has tons of antioxidants (<— “they” being my favorite people ever), so I say these little bites are a perfectly reasonable holiday treat!

And honestly, one of these bites post-dinner is really all the dessert you need, which is saying a lot for me because I have a major sweet tooth!

NOTES:

  • You know me. I am a recipe risk taker and rule breaker. So when I say there are rules that can’t be broken, there are rules that can’t be broken. To coat candy in chocolate, melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or a makeshift one — that’s all I use!) and do not add anything to it. Use good quality solid chocolate bars, baking chocolate or candy coating wafers. I’m not going to tell you how much seized chocolate I scraped into the garbage while testing this theory for you.
  • Feel free to mix up the add ins in this recipe! Try crisped rice cereal, puffed quinoa cereal, corn flakes, dried fruit, etc., etc., etc.. The options are endless!

*This post has been sponsored be The Peanut Bureau of Canada! Thank you for supporting the brands that help me to bring you these tasty treats!

ashley avatar

Pin this recipe to save for later

Pin this recipe to your favorite board

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Candies

5 from 1 vote
These Chocolate Peanut Butter Candies are an easy, no-bake treat for the holidays, but we love them any time of year! The crisp chocolate coating has a creamy peanut butter center, filled with
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Cuisine American
Course Dessert
Servings 24
Calories 191cal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup peanut butter I used creamy, but chunky would work just as well
  • ½ cup powdered icing sugar
  • cup cream or milk
  • cup pretzels coarsely crushed
  • ½ cup salted peanuts, chopped
  • cups dark chocolate about 150g
  • cups white chocolate about 150g

Instructions

  • In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together peanut butter, icing sugar, and cream until smooth.
  • Stir in the peanuts and pretzels into the peanut butter mixture until evenly distributed.
  • Drop the mixture by tablespoonfuls onto a wax paper or parchment paper-lined baking sheet, then freeze them until completely firm. This will take about 1–2 hours.
  • Just before removing the candies from the freezer, melt the chocolate and white chocolate with a double boiler (or makeshift one!). Place one inch of water in a small pot and bring to a simmer. Place a larger glass bowl over top (one that will sit on top and not sink down to touch the water) and add the dark chocolate. Stir over the heat until melted. Repeat with the white chocolate in a new bowl.
  • Remove the candies from the freezer and coat in the dark chocolate and white chocolate. Let them set slightly on the baking tray before drizzling with extra melted chocolate if desired. Place in the refrigerator or freezer until set.

Notes

Ingredients and Substitutions:

  • Peanut butter: I usually use smooth peanut butter for this recipe, but chunky will work as well. I have not tested this recipe with natural peanut butter; it may work somewhat, but the filling will be thinner.
  • Chocolate: choose any kind of chocolate you like! I prefer the contrast of a darker chocolate with the sweet peanut butter filling and salty crunch, but you could swap for milk chocolate or even a flavored chocolate if it melts well.
  • Pretzels and peanuts: I love the salty crunch to balance out the sweetness! You can also use other chopped nuts, crushed salted potato chips, or dried fruit in the same amount.

Storage

  • Store: Store these  an airtight container in the refrigerator, they can last for up to two weeks. However, given how delicious they are, they might just disappear faster! 
  • Freeze: You can keep your homemade candies in the freezer for up to 2 months. Let them thaw slightly at room temperature before serving them.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 191cal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 81mg | Potassium: 172mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 15IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1.4mg

Want to save this recipe?

Create an account easily save your favorite content, so you never forget a recipe again.

Register Now

Tried this recipe?

Tag @thereciperebel or hashtag #thereciperebel —
I love to see what you’re making!

Tag @thereciperebel

Meet Ashley

My name is Ashley Fehr and I love creating easy meals my family loves. I also like to do things my way, which means improvising and breaking the rules when necessary. Here you will find creative twists on old favorites and some of my favorite family recipes, passed down from generations!

Read More

You May Also Like

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mary Anne says

    W#hy can’t you just melt the chocolate in the microwave so much easier. can’t wait to try this have lots of peanut butter fans in my family!! Please reply

  2. Gloria says

    I made these today and followed the recipe exactly. The resulting mixture was very runny and they have been in the freezer now for three hours and are not frozen and still runny. Not sure what has happened…

    • Ashley Fehr says

      Hi Gloria! I’m not sure what happened. There isn’t really anything that would be added to the mixture to make it runny, unless it was very warm or you used a natural peanut butter. You are only adding dry ingredients to peanut butter, so you should end up with a mixture firmer than peanut butter before freezing.

      • Ashley Fehr says

        Oh sorry! You’re right. There is some liquid added. I’m on holidays now with limited internet. I have never had a problem with the liquid as you add some milk or cream when making a peanut butter buttercream (which is essentially what the filling is) but it shouldn’t be runny. You could try adding more peanut butter or powdered sugar to compensate if you’re running into that problem, and I would make sure your ingredients aren’t warm.

      • Linda Thom says

        I haven’t tryed this yet but I wanted to make sure the 1/2cup of milk is the right amount here as it’s only 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and the peanut butter mixed together before adding the rest of the ingredients????

      • Ashley Fehr says

        If you are using milk you may want to reduce to 1/4 or 1/3 as it will be thinner than cream. You can reduce if you want your filling firmer but since we freeze them before coating it works out just fine.

  3. Sarah @ The Gold Lining Girl says

    YES! The combo here! I love an epic sweet & salty combo like this, and peanut butter with pretzel is one of my all-time faves! These totally warrant a spot on a holiday treat platter. Can’t believe we are talking about the HOLIDAYS!!

  4. Kelly says

    Lol, yes, I definitely think they put all the sweet treats right near the check-out lanes on purpose. Love your yummy and healthier homemade version of these! The sweet and salty combo is the best! So perfect for the holidays or anytime after the kiddos go to bed 😉

  5. Dorothy Dunton says

    Hi Ashley! I send goodies to my far away friends at Christmas and these would be perfect! Classic combo of flavors and textures!

Leave A Reply

Have you tried this recipe? Leave a rating