Quick, Easy, and Kid-Friendly! Valentine Pretzel Hugs and Kisses

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As meticulous as I am, I love baking with my kids. It’s one of the only times where a big mess doesn’t freak me out and I don’t feel the need for perfection. I learned about these easy-to-make, sweet and salty Pretzel Hugs and Kisses during a MOPS meeting when a fellow mom gave us the recipe for Halloween. I tried it with my girls and they were a hit! They were so easy to make and so delicious that we adapted the recipe for Christmas and my kids made them all by themselves while I took photos. Talk about low-stress! I thought it would be fun to re-create the recipe for Valentine’s Day and share it with the SMB readers. My girls eagerly agreed and so once again, my 3-year-old and 6-year-old were the chefs while I played photographer. We even made up our own special variation using Hershey’s Cupcake Kisses and Mega M&M’s! We hope you’ll love making these Valentine Pretzel Hugs and Kisses as much as we do. XO

Valentine Pretzel Hugs and Kisses

What you’ll need:
Cookie sheet
Parchment paper 
Small pretzels (We used traditional pretzels, but you can also use square.)
Hershey’s Hugs (See below for variation ideas.)
Valentine M&M’s

Place a Hershey’s Hug on top of each pretzel.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 250°
2. Place pretzels on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
3. Place one Hershey’s Hug on top of each pretzel until all pretzels are “hugged”
4. Place in oven for 3-5 minutes until the Hugs are shiny and appear softened. You want them to keep their shape or to be slightly flattened, not totally melted. Not to worry- I stopped taking pictures long enough to be on oven duty!

After removing the cookie sheet from the oven, place an M&M on top of each Hug.

5. Remove from oven and immediately place an M&M on top of each Hug. The Hug will soften and melt down, spreading out over the pretzel. Although these are heated at a low temperature for a short time, the cookie sheet is still hot so definitely remind the kiddos of that. 
6. Place cookie sheet in the refrigerator to let the chocolate set. I leave mine in for about 15 minutes. (Unless I forget about them!)
7. Remove from parchment paper, gobble some up, and store the rest in an airtight container. 

Valentine Pretzel Hugs and Kisses

I particularly love this recipe because the end result doesn’t need to look perfect to be tasty and it’s so simple that my girls are able to take ownership of it and make the treats themselves. I also love it because it allows for some fun, creative, and delicious variations! You can use any flavor of Hershey’s Kisses, although we prefer the white chocolate flavors since the darker chocolates don’t soften as easily. You can swap out the M&M’s for candy corn, Reese’s, Skittles… whatever you want to try! When the girls and I were raiding the Valentine section at Target (which should come as no surprise to anyone who read my Target vs Costco post), we stumbled upon some Hershey’s Cupcake Kisses. We remembered how tasty our Candy Cane Pretzel Hugs and Kisses were at Christmas, so we grabbed a bag of Cupcake Kisses and some Mega M&M’s to make some extra special Valentine Pretzel Cupcake Hugs and Kisses. The results of our sweet experiment are in the photo below. The bits of “cupcake” added extra crunch and the Mega M&M’s gave us more chocolate in every bite! Definitely give this version a try and let us know what other Pretzel Hugs and Kisses you’ll be making! XO

Valentine Pretzel Hugs and Kisses using Hershey’s Cupcake Kisses and Mega Valentine M&M’s.

 

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