Stefanie Kennon-McGill

One of my favorite Christmas “traditions” when I was young was the abundance of Christmas cookie and treat tins my family would receive from friends and members of the community. Does stuffing my face with cookies and treats count as a tradition? Regardless, every December, our kitchen was filled with metal tins decorated with pictures of rosy-cheeked Santas, snow-adorned pine trees and red and green ribbons. In those tins were piles of homemade, delicious Christmas treats. One of my favorites was always the Rolo pretzels … you know the ones, with the chocolate caramel smushed on top of a pretzel? They were never the fanciest treat in the tin, but they were usually the tastiest, with a perfect combination of sweet and salty.

This year, I found myself needing to pull together a quick platter of treats to bring to a Christmas gathering and I was stumped by what I should make. I love to bake, but I had little time to spare, and I had even less mental energy to devote to baking for a crowd. That’s when I had the idea to whip up some of my favorite childhood Christmas treats: the Rolo pretzels.

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Once I started assembling everything I needed, I wondered why I had never made them before. They are incredibly simple to make, and the only “baking” required is a quick five minutes in the oven to allow the Rolos to soften. Frankly, the most time consuming and difficult part is unwrapping an entire bag of Rolos, but I found that bribing small children with the promise of treats gets little hands unwrapping those candies at a quick pace. If you find yourself wanting to make some treats this Christmas but don’t have the time or talent to bake up a masterpiece, these are the perfect solution. And if you want to add some festive flair to your treats, they go well with sugared cranberries, which are equally simple to make and and a beautiful complement to the pretzels.

Stefanie Kennon-McGill

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Christmas Rolo Pretzels

Ingredients:

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Mini Pretzels (square or twisted)
Rolos
Assorted candied nuts

Instructions:

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

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Place pretzels on the baking sheet.

Unwrap Rolos and place one on each pretzel.

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Place in the oven for approximately five minutes.  It is important to allow the Rolos to soften, but not to melt.

Remove from the oven and immediately place a candied nut on top of each Rolo, pressing down to ensure that the caramel and chocolate adhere to the pretzel.

Allow to cool before serving.

Sugared Cranberries 

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Ingredients:

One bag fresh, whole cranberries
1 cup white granulated sugar
½ cup water

Instructions:

Stir together ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water in a medium saucepan over medium heat until dissolved.

Add cranberries to the simple syrup and stir for approximately 2 minutes until you start to hear the cranberries hiss and pop.

Remove the cranberries from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer cranberries to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and let sit for 1 hour (the leftover cranberry infused simple syrup makes a great cocktail addition).

Pour the remaining ½ cup of sugar onto a plate and roll the cranberries in the sugar to fully coat each berry. Work in batches to prevent the cranberries from sticking together.

Transfer the sugared cranberries to a fresh paper towel-lined baking sheet and allow to dry for at least 1 hour before serving.

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