Today is National Vanilla Milkshake day and we found the perfect way to integrate CHOCOLATE with this Chocolate Covered Pretzel Milkshake!!
A chocolate-covered pretzel milkshake really is just what it sounds like. It starts with a handful of chocolate-dipped pretzels (homemade or store-bought) in the blender, chopped into small pieces. After adding some milk and ice cream, it’s all blended together to form an ultra-thick shake with small chunks of chocolate and salty bits of pretzels. The texture is similar to that of a cookies & cream milkshake, but the more savory flavor of the pretzels and the hit of salt make it a nice change from more traditional milkshake flavors.
Since I’m all about gilding the lily (or dipping the pretzel, if you will) I added a few finishing touches, like streaks of fudge sauce and caramel in the milkshake cup, and a topping of whipped cream and chopped chocolate-dipped pretzels.
RECIPE:
For the Chocolate-Covered Pretzels:
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
10 large salted pretzels
For the Milkshake:
1 cup (about 10 large) chocolate-covered pretzels, store-bought or homemade
1 quart (4 cups) vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
1/2 cup milk
Optional garnishes, like whipped cream, fudge sauce, or caramel sauce
Make the Chocolate-Covered Pretzels:
Chop the semi-sweet chocolate into small pieces. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Use a fork to drop a pretzel in the chocolate, and push it down until it’s submerged. Take it out of the chocolate, let the excess drip back into the bowl, and then place the pretzel on the baking sheet. Once all of the pretzels are dipped, refrigerate the tray to set the chocolate, for about 15 minutes.
Make the Milkshake:
Place the chocolate-covered in a blender. Blend them on medium speed until they’re broken up and in small chunks. No need to blend them to fine crumbs for now.
Add the vanilla ice cream and the milk, and blend everything together. Stop the blender a few times and scrape down the sides with a spatula, to encourage even blending. Stop blending when the ice cream is no longer in chunks, and your milkshake is nice and thick. Pour into two large glasses and garnish with toppings of your choice, like whipped cream, fudge sauce, caramel sauce, or chopped pretzels.
Recipe Notes: I’ve included optional instructions for making your own chocolate-dipped pretzels. Since they’ll be blended into the milkshake, there’s no need to temper the chocolate—regular melted chocolate will work just fine. But if you want to double or triple the batch and have extras for munching on, you might consider tempering the chocolate! Tempering the chocolate will give the pretzels a nice shine and will make the chocolate more stable at room temperature.
Photo and recipe shared from: http://www.sugarhero.com/2013/05/chocolate-covered-pretzel-milkshakes/
