How We Made Holiday Pretzel Candies

Never, never will you find a holiday baking project easier than this.  So easy, in fact, that a preschooler and a kindergartner (for the most part) did them all by themselves.  Of course, I was the one to work the oven (I'm not that insane),  but the rest was all them. Oh sure, I hung around to make sure no one pirated too many M&M's.

I got the idea to make these from my next door neighbor.  For two Christmases in a row, she's given us some of these along with a plate full of other yummy baked goodies.  This year, I begged her to send me the recipe and VOILA, there it was in my e-mail yesterday.  So...what do you need to get started?

1 bag of lattice square pretzels (Snyders are my favorite)

1 bag of plain Christmas colored M&Ms

1 bag of Hershey's Kisses (the original recipe calls for Hershey's Hugs, but I decided to go with the Candy Cane Kisses.  They are minty good and look so festive)

That's it.  Period.  Next, pre-heat your over to 175 degrees.  Line a couple of cookie sheets with foil, then lay out your pretzels...

Once the pretzels are all lined up, unwrap your Kisses (you'll end up with a small mountain of foil wrappers!) and put them on top of the pretzels....

All that's left after that is to pop them in the oven for about 4-5 minutes.  The type of Kiss you use will determine how long you'll have to leave them in.  The milk chocolate ones melt slower than the white chocolate ones.  It's best go on the low end of the time and then test one of the chocolates out by pressing an M&M into it when you think it's done.  If it's melted enough, it will press flat.  Once soft enough, press M&Ms into your candy covered pretzels, then put them in the refrigerator to cool for 30-45 minutes.

Then...they are ready to enjoy!  Have some fun with your little ones and try this out.