Winter themed treats - Frosty Snowman Pretzels plus a Giveaway

We hopped on a plane on Christmas eve and headed for southern California and although it was unseasonably cold there during our stay, we were happy to miss the first big snowstorm of the season back home. Upon our return, our exchange student couldn't wait to get outside to build a snowman, and did her best to craft a very small little guy with what was left of the ice crusted snow.

It's still early in the winter season, and she may have another opportunity to build a snowman with freshly fallen snow. I may bundle up and help her, or I may just stay inside my warm kitchen building snowmen of the edible variety instead like these ...

Frosty Snowman Pretzels

You'll Need:

pretzel rings (I found these round pretzels at Aldi)

white confectionery coating (CandiQuik*)

Fruit Roll-Ups

mini chocolate chips

orange candy coated sunflower seeds or other small orange candy

pizza wheel or knife

baking sheet lined with parchment paper

spoon

optional - tweezers

black food coloring marker

*I tried CandiQuik for the first time for this project and really enjoyed the flavor and the ease of melting in the microwave tray that is included in the packaging. I did have to reheat the coating several times while making my Frosty Snowmen Pretzels, and would highly recommend using my electric skillet method to keep the coating warm throughout the process. 

Instructions:

Melt white confectionery coating (Candiquik) according to the package instructions or read my Chocolate Making Tips for detailed melting information.

Cut 1/2 inch wide strips from Fruit Roll-Ups. Lay a strip down on your parchment paper lined baking sheet. Add a dab of melted white candy coating (CandiQuik) to the center of the strip. Press two pretzel rings on top.

To really secure the two pretzel rings, add another dab of candy coating in between and on top of the two pretzel rings.

Spoon some of the white candy coating into the center of the top pretzel ring.

Note: Fill one or two of the pretzels at a time. You need to add the candy decorations while the candy coating is still wet. Once the coating hardens you wont be able to add the decorations as needed.

While the candy coating is wet, add two mini chocolate chip eyes and one orange candy nose.

Note: I use tweezers to help me easily place these candies in the wet coating. Just make sure you use tweezers that are only used for food.

Spoon some white candy coating into the bottom pretzel ring then add three mini chocolate chip buttons.

Fold both ends of the strip of Fruit Roll Ups over to create a scarf. Place your pretzel snowman in the freezer for 2-3 minutes, just until the white candy coating hardens.

Create a nice assortment of Frosty Snowman Pretzels, reheating your candy coating as needed. Then allow the snowmen to warm up to room temperature and use a food coloring marker to add a mouth. Just draw on a curved line of dots under the nose.

If you want, you can add some pretzel stick arms by adding a dot of white candy coating to the end of a piece of pretzel stick and pressing that onto the edge of a pretzel ring. I preferred them without arms, plus they were easier to make and move without the arms, but my exchange student loved the arms. It's your choice.

You may even opt to just create snowmen heads using the pretzel rings and candy coating. These are so quick and easy and look great in a candy jar.

These sweet little treats can be stored in an airtight container for a few weeks.

If you'd like to win some CandiQuik to make your own Frosty Snowman Pretzels plus lots of other fun goodies, enter now ...

Giveaway

Enter to win this Celebrate Crate from Celebrations.com

A few weeks before Christmas, Celebrations.com sent me one of their new Celebrate Crates. My box was filled with CandiQuik candy coating which I used to create my Frosty Snowmen Pretzels, as well as, lollipop sticks, cake ball forms, chocolate flavored envelopes and some cupcake toppers.  I was happy to finally try CandiQuik coating and am excited to experiment with all the other products in the box. I'm sure I will soon.

Celebrate Crates are monthly subscription boxes filled with supplies to make crafts or edible crafts for all your special celebrations. Each month, a crate filled with surprises will arrive on your doorstep and you can use Celebrations.com tutorials to help you make any number of festive projects for that month's special occasions. You pay $20 a month which includes shipping and handling for each box. That is a great deal for craft lovers.

One lucky reader will win the same celebrations crate that I received. If you want to subscribe and receive crates monthy, you can sign up at Celebrations.com by clicking here.

Enter to win One Celebrations Crate (pictured above)

Mandatory Entry: 

Leave a comment below. That's it. It's that simple. 

Do you have any fun memories of building a snowman?

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Rules: Giveaway begins 1/9/2013 and runs through 1/17/2013. If you have trouble leaving a comment, you can send your entry to beth@hungryhappenings.com and I will add your comment. Winner to be drawn at random from all valid entries. Entrants must reside in the United States and be over 18 years of age. (I'm so sorry to all of my world wide readers. Hosting an international contest has become too difficult due to all of the laws around the world.) Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. Odds of winning are based on the total number of valid entries (maximum of four entries per person.) Winner will be notified and have 72 hours to respond. If the winner doesn't respond in that time frame, another winner will be chosen. This contest is in no way sponsored by Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest, but it is sponsored by Celebrations.com. I did receive a free Celebrate Crate and will receive a commission for any sales generated from this post, but all opinions expressed here are mine. 

Items used to create this project that are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales)