Since giving up dairy, one of the treats I miss most is M&Ms, specifically pretzel M&Ms. These are by far my favorite flavor. The sweet and salty combination is amazingly delicious and I eat far too many of them every time I have them. I haven’t found a vegan alternative for my favorite guilty pleasure so I decided to make a similar snack, chocolate covered pretzels. While they don’t have the candy coating that M&Ms have, they are still delicious and just as hard to resist eating.

There are two ways to make these pretzels. One is a little more labor intensive but definitely worth it if you have the extra time. They only take slightly longer to make and are worth it in my opinion. I’ll list the shorter version in the notes below and the version I like best in the printable recipe.

You can probably guess how to make the first version of this recipe. You only need two ingredients: pretzels and sugar-free vegan chocolate chips. Lily’s chocolate chips or Hu Kitchen chocolate chips are great choices. Lily’s is sweetened with stevia and will keep this recipe sugar-free; whereas, Hu Kitchen chocolate chips are sweetened naturally with dates and will keep this recipe added sugar free. Obviously, if you don’t care about the sugar content, you can always use regular vegan chocolate chips.

Ingredients

Pretzels – Any type of pretzels will do. I find that it’s easier to use twists instead of rods but rods work too. If you’re gluten-free, make sure to use gluten-free pretzels.

Cacao butter – You can find this in your health food store or online. I like to get mine from nuts.com.

Cacao powder – I like the richness of cacao and the taste but you could also swap this for cocoa powder or carob powder depending on preference.

Powdered monk fruit sweetener – This is what keeps the pretzels sugar free but still adds sweetness. Make sure to use powdered sweetener or it won’t dissolve in the cacao butter. Monk fruit sweetener is a natural sugar free sweetener so I like to use it. It does have an interesting aftertaste but I find it much more pleasant tasting than stevia.

Instructions

1. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Melt cacao butter in a double boiler over medium heat.
3. Once melted, add in cacao powder and monk fruit sweetener and stir until mixed. Remove from heat.
4. Dip half a pretzel in chocolate mixture and place on baking tray to set. Repeat with remaining pretzels until all the chocolate is gone.
5. Chill in fridge or freezer for 30-60 minutes until set.
6. Enjoy!

Storing Instructions

Store pretzels in an air tight container in the fridge.