EASY KID ACTIVITY: Caramel Pretzels!

Posted by Ethne~

Shaun is out-of-town this weekend and I’ll be spending the weekend with the girls –Thrifty Nana (my mom) too.  Typically we go shopping and do all of the things we love to do (which we did), but I wanted to have an activity that would be fun for 3-year-olds.  I don’t think I’m too far off when I say that 3-year-olds have enough energy to fuel a whole city, and the attention span of a knat.  Seriously!

Blur-city - slow down KD!

I called Lori up and asked if she could think of any activities I could do with the girls.  Sure as shootin’, all Lori had to do was call up Crafty Grandma (her mom) – and success!  Crafty G-ma suggested that we make a snack that has caramels melted onto pretzels.  Perfect!  And only three ingredients!

Crafty Grandma and Mur-Man!

I headed to my trusty Super Target to pick up the following items:

--Old Dutch mini pretzel twists

--Bag of dark chocolate M&M’s

--Several rolls of Rolo chocolate caramels

But wait!  I was shocked to discover that my ST didn’t have Rolo caramels (what?!?), so I picked up 3 rolls of Rolos at the gas station by my house.

Crafty G-ma was right – this is a good activity for little kids – it doesn’t take too much time or effort to do, and the girls could grasp the technique to actually HELP me cook, rather than just WATCH.

STEP ONE:  Pre-heat the oven to 350˚.

STEP TWO:  Lay pretzels onto a baking tray/cookie sheet that has been lined with waxed paper or parchment paper (for easy clean-up).

One for the tray, two for my mouth!

STEP THREE:  Place one Rolo on each pretzel.  If you can keep the Rolos out of the girls’ mouths, they loved this step, and could do it well!

One Rolo left!  Don't eat it Easy Mac!

STEP FOUR:  Place pretzel-caramel baking tray into the heated oven and bake for 5 minutes, until the chocolate and caramel have melted.

Time to melt!

STEP FIVE:  Take out of oven, place on protected surface, and push one or two M&M’s into the center of the warm, melty chocolate.  The girls got that the tray and caramels were hot, but they figured out how to push the M&M’s into the warm, gooey center with no trouble.  They thought this was great!

Only DARK CHOCOLATE M&M's will do!

Sneaking M&M's under the table - Thrifty Nana isn't fooled!

STEP SIX:  Allow caramels to cool completely.  (KD tried to sneak one and eat it before it was fully cooled and it dribbled all down her face and shirt.)

Yum-o!  Thanks Crafty Grandma!  As to this treat’s snack potential – the pretzels are small, so the girls are not eating too much candy, but they were completely satisfied with eating only 1 or 2.

Tomorrow – the girls can spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa D.  I need a rest!