This has been the year of Grinch at our house! It’s the first year we’ve really done a Grinchmas celebration, and it’s so much fun! From the Grinch gift exchange we did at my son’s classroom party to this Grinch themed Christmas punch game, it’s just been an absolute blast! I’m pretty sure a Grinch themed Christmas is going to be an annual thing, complete with the who pudding! Out of all of the Grinch treats (even the Grinch sugar cookies) I’ve made this year, these caramel Grinch snacks may just be the easiest yet. They’re as easy to make as laying out some pretzels, topping with caramel, baking, and dipping! These bite-sized treats are a fun addition to any Christmas treat plate or just to snack on all holiday season long! Plus, kids will love the fun look of the Grinch green coating with the little hearts on top!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Four ingredients – this recipe only needs four ingredients, including the candy hearts on top! It doesn’t get much easier unless you’re just going to eat plain pretzels!Festive – the fun Grinchy green color plus the hearts on these pretzel snacks makes them a fun and festive treat!Delicious – if you’ve never had caramel pretzel sandwiches before, they’re a personal favorite! Sweet, salty, and the perfect amount of texture!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
How to make Pretzel Grinch Snacks
These are seriously so easy. They can be a bit time consuming simply because you have to lay out all of the pretzels and caramels, but they couldn’t be easier. Start by preheating your oven to 375°F and lining two baking sheets with parchment paper. You could also do silicone baking mats, but I prefer parchment paper simply because cleaning the mess up is much easier. To begin, lay 24 pretzels out on the baking sheets. Make sure they are in a single layer and not touching. I like to space them out about an inch apart. Now unwrap the caramels and cut each one in half. Once they’re cut in half, place half a caramel on top of each pretzel on the baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven until caramels are soft, typically about five minutes but it may be a little longer depending on the heat of your oven. Check them starting around four minutes to see if they’re soft. Once caramels are soft, remove the baking sheets from the oven and quickly place another pretzel on top of each caramel. Press it down slightly so that they stick together but not so much that the caramel goes oozing everywhere. Allow the pretzels to cool completely on the baking sheet. While caramel pretzels are cooling, melt your candy melts. You can do this either by placing them in a microwave safe bowl and microwaving for 30 second increments, stirring in between increments, or by using a double boiler on the stove. If you’re doing this in a double boiler, boil a couple of inches of water in and a pot and once boiling, place the double boiler with the candy melts over the water and allow the candy melts to melt completely. Stir the melts continuously until fully melted and smooth. Take your cooled pretzels sandwiches and dip each one into the melted chocolate until you have about 2/3 of the pretzel covered and return to the baking sheet. Immediately place a heart shaped sprinkle on the melted candies, pressing gently so that it sticks. Let the dipped pretzels cool completely before serving then enjoy immediately or put them in an airtight container until you’re ready to enjoy later. Storing them in an airtight container will ensure that the caramel stays nice and soft rather than getting hard and chewy.
Expert Tips
Store in an airtight container for up to five days before discarding.
Place a bunch of these in a fun Christmas container with one of these Christmas gift tags for a fun holiday surprise!
Switch it up. Instead of doing Grinch snacks, switch up the colors and try Valentine’s Day pretzel bites (pink candy melts and hearts), St. Patrick’s Day with green candy melts and rainbow sprinkles.
Serve with these Grinch brownies and these Grinch cupcakes for a really fun Grinch Christmas spread!
More Easy Christmas Recipes
If you like these Grinch snacks, make sure to try out these other Christmas recipes! They’re all fun and festive treats inspired by favorite Christmas characters, movies, and more!
Reindeer cake – this fun chocolate chip reindeer cake is not only delicious, it’s cute too! Elf cupcakes – fun cupcakes inspired by the movie Elf that include all of Buddy’s favorite food groups! Try these then play these fun Christmas movie games for a great holiday movie night!Reindeer balls – these brownie balls get a Christmas makeover with the addition of antlers and red noses!Christmas tree cake dip – a deliciously creamy Christmas dip make out of Little Debbie Christmas tree cakes!Melted snowman cookies – soft sugar cookies get topped with royal icing and a marshmallow snowman (kind of like this roll a snowman game!)
