A bag of pretzels lasts a really long time in my house.

When I snack, which of course happens, I choose almost anything other than pretzels by themselves. They just aren’t tempting.

Until you add chocolate to them.

This bag of pretzels, which we had because of a giveaway or something, is destined to be crushed up and mixed with peanut butter and chocolate to make peanut butter truffle balls.

This recipe looked shockingly simple. No oven needed! I regret to inform you that I found it to be a pain in the you-know-what. Keep reading though–it might still interest you!

Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles
From The Girl Who Ate Everything post and her source How Sweet It Is
Makes 20-30 Truffles

1 Cup natural peanut butter
3/4-1 Cup salted pretzels
1 Cup milk chocolate chips, or other chocolate to your liking (I do think milk chocolate works best with peanut butter)

Chop pretzels in a food processor.

Combine peanut butter and pretzels in a small bowl.

Chill in the freezer until very firm, at LEAST 30 minutes (I attempted rolling the mixture at one point and had to put the mix back).

Roll the peanut butter mixture into approximately 20 balls about 2 teaspoons each. You can try using a melon baller and your fingers or a small spoon, or two small spoons, and prepare to get messy. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper and freeze until very firm, at least one hour more more.

When truffles are hard enough, prepare chocolate by melting it in the microwave at 15-20 second intervals, stirring each time. Roll the frozen balls in melted chocolate. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.


Here’s the issue: I hate getting my hands messy. I strongly dislike stirring natural peanut butter, tahini, etc. (my friend Kristen will tell you about my struggles and groaning about tahini) because it often gets my hands message and greasy.

This time I stirred the peanut butter with the long handle part of a wooden spoon, which was an improvement of my past experiences, when I used a shorter spatula, and the stuff got all over the handle somehow.

As for the step of rolling the peanut butter mixture into balls? There was no staying clean then. And coating them in chocolate? The melted chocolate is warm! So guess what, it melted the peanut butter! It was a joke. I wish I had gloves.

Once the process was complete I determined that it is not worth it to make fancy little balls, for me at least. Sure, I have raved about other people’s homemade truffles and how cute they are in their little one- to two-bite portions. But in this case, it would be SO MUCH EASIER to make bars!

Step 1. Melt enough milk chocolate to spread on the bottom of a small square baking pan. Put in freezer until hardened.
Step 2. Spread peanut butter on top of the chocolate layer. Top with pretzels broken into smaller pieces. Put in freezer until hardened.
Step 3. Melt enough milk chocolate to spread on top of the peanut butter pretzel layer. Put in freezer until hardened. Cut into small bars. Refrigerate when not serving.

What do these bars remind me of? Take 5 candy bars!! I remember when the Take 5 came out (Wikipedia tells me it was 2004, when I was just starting the period of life when I made the vast majority of my own food and grocery purchasing decisions), and I thought they were made especially for me. This is coming from someone whose main weaknesses are ice cream and cookies, but who doesn’t dive into just any candy. Somehow, I even have the willpower to forgo the tin of chocolate kisses in the hallway at work, where I pass multiple times. The two mass-produced candies that I love are peanut butter M&Ms, and Take 5 candy bars. Those I would have a much much harder time passing up.

Feel free to take notes. It is my birthday today after all 🙂