Bird’s Nest Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bites

I don’t know about you but I LOVE salty and sweet treats. One of my favourite things to get at Starbucks were these long, thick pretzel sticks covered with chewy caramel and rich dark chocolate. Sadly, they are no longer on the menu. And every Easter, I love buying chocolate mini eggs. So this Easter, I decided to treat myself, and those around me with these Bird’s Nest Pretzel Bites. They are easy to make, delightful to look at AND tastes exactly like those Starbucks ones!

Caramel Sauce

As these are Caramel Chocolate Pretzel Bites, the caramel is an important component. You don’t need to make your caramel sauce from scratch but why not when it's so easy to do and results in a divine concoction that is yummy on anything?

The thing that needs practice is knowing when to take the caramelizing sugar off the heat to add the butter and cream. Too many times, I wait until a dark amber colour to appear before I cut the heat, which was always too late. That’s because the caramelizing sugar is so hot that it continues to cook even after you take it off the heat. Which means burnt sugar and a bitter caramel. So be sure to consult my video to see the precise moment where you need to lift it off the heat.

You won’t need too much caramel sauce to make these Bird’s Nest Pretzel Bites so there will be plenty of sauce left. Store it in an air tight container where it can last up to a couple of weeks. But don’t worry, this delectable sauce is good on all sorts of desserts. Spoon it over ice cream, added to a pie, drizzle over cake or even mix it into bread. It’s an instant boost of flavour!

Pretzel sticks

The pretzel sticks added the crunchy component and provide the necessary structure to the Bird's Nest Pretzel Bites. And the shorter the sticks, the more flexibility you’ll have in shaping the nests...making smaller treats in the process.

Many other bird’s nest cookie recipes calls for the use of fried, crispy Chinese Chow Mein noodles, but I think the saltiness from the pretzel sticks work so much better in balancing the sweet chocolate and caramel. And it’s because of all that salt in the pretzels that I do not add any salt to the caramel sauce.

Easy, no bake sweet treat

This is one of those simple yet perfect combinations. It’s so simple to put together, requires almost no cooking. Plus it looks fantastic! Pull a tray of these Bird’s Nest Pretzel Bites out of the fridge and you’ll make many people super content. So go make them while those chocolate mini eggs are still on store shelves!

Want more chocolate treats? Check out my traditional Swiss Carac tart recipe!

And my chocolate peanut butter teddy bear buns