Between cookie exchanges, parties, visiting relatives, and all the hustle and bustle leading up to the actual holiday, quick, easy treats can be lifesavers during the busy Christmas season. And these Christmas pretzel sticks satisfy sweet cravings for both kids and adults alike with their coating of creamy white chocolate and festive red and green sprinkles. They come together in almost no time but lend a feeling of celebrating the season with personalized homemade holiday treats.

These festive, delicious recipes for Christmas Sparklers have earned their place among my favorite Christmas treats to make every year. Their simple ingredients check all the boxes by being an easy treat to throw together with little time, offering a sweet way for kids to get involved with preparing homemade holiday treats, and never failing to impress fellow Christmas celebrators.

Customizable

While the sparkly star topping isn’t required, it’s one of my personal favorite special touches and really pushes these pretzels over the top into definite crowd favorite status. And the beauty lies in just how adaptable and customizable they are – swap out the sprinkles for dye-free red and pink hearts and they become perfect cute Valentine’s Day snacks too! These Christmas pretzel rods always impress guests and disappear quickly as a much-loved salty-sweet treat.

Easy Christmas Treat

The holiday season always brings opportunities for festive treats. With so much going on, I’m always on the lookout for cute, delicious and easy recipes like this that come together in a matter of minutes. When I only have a little bit of time but still want to deliver something homemade and delicious for my family and holiday guests, these Christmas Sparklers are one of my personal favorite things to make. With just 4 simple ingredients – pretzels, chocolate, white chocolate, and sprinkles – you can create these beautiful, salty-sweet decorated Christmas pretzel rods that are a perfect combination of Christmas cheer and tasty snacking.

Great Christmas Gifts

Not only do these chocolate pretzel rods make for a delectable salty treat to enjoy at home, they also make for wonderful homemade Christmas gifts for friends, neighbors, and teachers. Their festive decorations and adorable shape make them perfect for spreading holiday cheer. And one of the easiest ways to check some names off your gift list is to whip up a batch of these tasty pretzel sticks and package them up in cute bags or tins with bows. Between the simplicity of the ingredients and method to make them, and the delight anyone would feel to receive such beautifully decorated homemade holiday treats, these Christmas Sparklers truly shine as edible Christmas gifts anyone would love. It might be hard not to sneak one or two for an afternoon snack yourself though!

What You Need to Make Christmas Sparklers

Gluten Free Pretzel Rods – The great thing about this recipe is you can use any shape of pretzel you’d like – after all, any pretzel dipped in melted chocolate and colorful sprinkles turns out pretty amazing. But if you want to replicate the actual Christmas Sparklers as pictured, with the star-topped pretzel rods, I’ve found Snyder’s brand to be the best widely available gluten-free pretzel sticks. Our nearby grocery stores typically carry them, making it easy to get the iconic long skinny sticks to deck out into these festive chocolate-dipped treats. If you are not particular about the shape and are just going for taste, my family’s favorite gluten free mini pretzels are Snyder and Glutino. We also like Savor’s grain free pretzel twists.
Chocolate Chips and White Chocolate Chips – While most of the chocolate covered pretzel recipes call for chocolate melts, I prefer to use a combination of chocolate chips and coconut oil. This allows me to choose chocolate chips that are more compliant with my eating protocol (gluten free, dairy free). Adding just a little bit of coconut oil (avocado oil works too!) to melted chocolate creates more stability in the mixture and prevents the chocolate from seizing up and turning thick and grainy. You can use dark chocolate, milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips. Enjoy Life or Hu chocolate chips are my favorite brands. You can use milk chocolate or dark chocolate depending on your preference!
Toppings – The recipe below calls for sprinkles, but you can get so creative and add any of your favorite toppings to these sparklers. We’ve tried Heath bits, mini marshmallows, crushed peppermint, mini M&M (or the dye-free equivalent) and nuts. If you decide to go the sprinkle route, here are some stores where we find our favorite dye-free sprinkles: Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Sprouts, Supernatural on Amazon. You can also use crushed candy canes, peanut butter chips, or other Christmas sprinkles.
Dye-Free Food Coloring – Check your local grocery store. They usually have a few options. Just like the sprinkles, my favorite places for dye-free sprinkles are: Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Sprouts, and Supernatural on Amazon

How to Make Christmas Sparklers

Yellow Stars – Use a package of white chocolate chips with coconut oil and melt chocolate on a double broiler or using a microwave-safe bowl. Stir frequently to avoid burning the chocolate. Add the dye-free yellow food coloring and stir to combine. Adding any water to melted chocolate will cause chocolate to seize up and get grainy. It’s an easy fix by just adding in some oil (I use coconut or avocado oil). Just add a teaspoon or two at a time until your desired consistency is achieved. You’ll need to stir thoroughly for this to happen. Fill the star mold and set in the freezer for about 30 minutes until set.
Melt – Melt chocolate chips with coconut oil (or avocado oil) using the method above. Pour the chocolate into a tall glass for dipping. I used a 12 ounce, skinny mason jar. Dip each pretzel rod and gently shake off the excess chocolate. Lay on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper. You’ll want to dip pretzels about two-thirds of the way into the chocolate to give it the look in the picture. Pro tip – To prevent the puddle of melted chocolate look under the dipped pretzels, let the pretzel rods sit on the parchment paper for 5minutes and then transfer to a new, fresh sheet of parchment paper leaving behind the pool of excess chocolate. Then, set the chocolate in the refrigerator or freezer.
Drizzle/Toppings – Melt the other package of white chocolate chips with coconut oil (or avocado oil) and transfer to a piping bag. If you do not have this, you can use a quart or gallon sized plastic bag. drizzle the chocolate over the pretzels and immediately add the toppings. At the top of the pretzel stick, add some extra white chocolate and affix one of the mini yellow stars. Transfer to the refrigerator or freezer to finish setting or allow the chocolate to set to room temperature and enjoy!

Storage

Chocolate-covered pretzel rods will stay freshest when stored in the refrigerator or freezer within an airtight container. Make sure the chocolate coating has fully hardened and set before placing in storage containers. Lay sheets of parchment or waxed paper between layers of pretzels to prevent the chocolate from fusing the pretzels together while in storage.

For refrigerator storage, store chocolate covered pretzels for up to 1 week in an airtight container. Use freezer storage for longer term; chocolate-covered pretzels will keep frozen for 4-6 months. After thawing frozen pretzel rods, let them come to room temperature before serving for best texture. Maintaining chilled storage temperatures preserves the tempting chocolate coating on these easy chocolate-covered treats so they’re ready to enjoy!