Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

Hope y'all are hungry today because this is one of the easiest and tastiest recipes I have ever "baked."  I found this recipe on Pinterest, obv, and it originally comes from the Brown Eyed Baker (go show her some love!).  Literally, when I saw this pin I was like oh man, those look tough, but it's Christmas so I'm going to give it a go.  And seriously, I think I spent like 15 minutes on these babies and they are awesome.

Here's what you need:

1½ cups pretzel pieces
½ cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 cup milk or semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Here's what you do:

1.  Crush up your pretzel pieces so they are pretty tiny.  This works best by putting the intact pretzels in a baggie and then crushing them.  (The original recipe says use a rolling pin, but I believe it or not, do not have a rolling pin.  I used a bottle of wine instead since I obviously have plenty of those handy.  Whatever works for ya.)

2.  Mix together the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and salt.  Using a mixer would make this way easier, but if you're in the mood for a little arm workout, go to town.

3.  Once it's all nice and creamy, stir in your pretzel bits (don't use a mixer for this step), and then mix in your powdered sugar.

4.  Using a regular spoon or an (small) ice cream scoop, scoop out the mix and roll into little balls (about an inch each).  Place on a covered cookie sheet.  Once you have formed all of your truffles, put the cookie sheet in the fridge for at least half an hour (longer is better).

 

 5.  When your half hour is up, go ahead and prepare your chocolate for dipping.  Put your chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave safe bowl.  I started out with a minute, and then switched to thirty second increments, stirring in between each round.  Once your chocolate is melty, you've got to dip the truffles pretty quickly or the chocolate will start to harden.  I used a fork to roll the truffles around in the chocolate and scoop them out.  Once they are all covered, put them cookie sheet back in the fridge for at least another half hour.

6.  If you are fancy, which I am not, you can drizzle the truffles with caramel or melted peanut butter, but I decided to just leave these guys plain.  

Here's the finished product.  Super yummy and totally addicting.

These guys are a great way to make it look like you are a super talented pastry chef without having to actually have much skill!  Enjoy!