Stuffed with a creamy peanut butter filling and dipped in melted chocolate, these chocolate peanut butter pretzel bites are the perfect marriage of sweet and salty. Only 6 ingredients and 1 hour stand between you and a batch of the tastiest afternoon snack.
One reader, Michele, says: “I have made these before for two different parties. They are such a hit, they disappear within minutes and people are begging for the recipe! This one is a winner every time! ★★★★★“
An ode to pretzels. I’m not talking about soft pretzels (although I’ll never turn down a batch of those), but the bag pretzel twists you find in the snack aisle. Besides being a crunchy snack, pretzels happen to be a totally unassuming baking ingredient! They shine as an add-in in these chewy chocolate-covered pretzel cookies and butterscotch pretzel chocolate chip cookies. When they’re all crushed up, pretzels make for an incredibly tasty crust in my strawberry no-bake cheesecake pie. And let’s not forget about these mega-popular seasoned pretzels. So good!
Pretzels can also be the “bread” in chocolate-dipped peanut butter sandwich snacks. Who knew?! Talk about versatility!
Tell Me About These Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites
- Sweet and salty
- Crunchy and creamy
- Simple and quick recipe with only 6 ingredients
- Easily doubled (a necessity when they disappear as quickly as these do!)
- Delicious peanut butter cup-like filling, just like the filling in my peanut butter stuffed brownies
- A fun kid-friendly baking recipe (but there’s no baking involved) and bite-sized party snack. Serve alongside Oreo balls for a full spread of sweet snacks!
- Your new favorite no-bake recipe
Best Ingredients to Use & Why
These chocolate peanut butter pretzel bites could not be easier. The next time you’re at the store, grab these ingredients:
- Pretzels: Square pretzels (pictured here) or mini pretzel twists work best. Use your favorite brand.
- Peanut Butter: The peanut butter filling in these bites is very similar to the filling I use in these peanut butter balls and peanut butter eggs. For best taste and texture, I recommend using creamy processed peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. Avoid natural-style peanut butter—the filling will be drier and crumblier that way.
- Butter
- Confectioners’ Sugar
- Brown Sugar: The combination of confectioners’ sugar and brown sugar gives the filling a similar texture to a peanut butter cup’s filling.
- Baking Chocolate: Grab two 4-ounce baking chocolate bars for dipping. I usually use semi-sweet, but you can use dark, white, or even milk chocolate if preferred. Ghirardelli or Baker’s brands are my top choices (not sponsored, just a genuine fan!). Candy melts, chocolate dipping wafers, or almond bark will also work, but avoid chocolate chips. They contain stabilizers, which prevent them from fully melting—that’s why they work great in chocolate chip cookies, but aren’t ideal as a melted chocolate coating.
Success Tips for Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites
- After sandwiching the peanut butter filling with the pretzels, place them on a baking sheet and pop them in the freezer (for 20–30 minutes) or the refrigerator (for an hour). This chill time will prevent the filling from getting too soft while handling them during the dipping. Use this time to chop and prepare your melted chocolate.
- Once the pretzel bites have been dipped in chocolate, return them to the refrigerator to help set the chocolate. I recommend the same process for regular chocolate-covered pretzels, too.
- Make a double batch. These disappear before your eyes!
If you love salty-sweet pretzel snacks, you might enjoy these cookie dough pretzel bites and pretzel hugs as well.
Print
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 30 bites
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Stuffed with a creamy peanut butter filling and dipped in melted chocolate, these salty-sweet chocolate peanut butter pretzel bites are completely irresistible. I’ve never regretted making a double batch!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250g) creamy peanut butter
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 60 small pretzels (square or mini twists)
- 8 ounces (226g) semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside. Make sure you have enough room in your freezer for the baking sheet or use the refrigerator in step 3.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the peanut butter and butter together on medium speed. If you don’t have a mixer, just use a spoon and some arm muscle. Stir or beat in confectioners’ sugar and brown sugar until a thick dough forms.
- Roll peanut butter dough into 30 small balls. Mixture can be sticky, so do your best. If it seems impossibly sticky, mix in 1/4 cup (30g) confectioners’ sugar.
- Sandwich peanut butter balls between two pretzels and place on prepared baking sheet. Freeze for 20–30 minutes, or refrigerate for 1 hour.
- While the pretzel bites are chilling, melt chopped chocolate in a double boiler or in 20-second increments in the microwave, stopping and stirring after each increment until smooth. Dip the pretzel bites halfway into the melted chocolate and place bite back on baking sheet. Refrigerate pretzel bites for at least 10–20 minutes to set the chocolate.
- Cover and store pretzel bites in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. Bites can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Double Boiler or Glass Mixing Bowl
- Peanut Butter: For best taste and texture, I recommend using creamy processed peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. Avoid natural-style peanut butter—the filling will be drier and crumblier that way.
- Chocolate: For the best results, use the bars of pure baking chocolate, not chocolate chips. I prefer Baker’s or Ghirardelli brands. You can use semi-sweet, bittersweet, white, or even milk chocolate. Candy melts, chocolate dipping wafers (such as Ghirardelli brand), or almond bark work too. Do not use chocolate chips, as they contain stabilizers preventing them from melting into the proper consistency for dipping/dunking.
Would this recipe work using Nutella?
Hi John, we haven’t tried it, but don’t see why it wouldn’t!
I am dying to make this recipe. I am want to make them for my son’s 5th birthday party. His friend is allergic to peanuts. What can I use instead?
Thanks,
Mia
Do you have to refrigerate these? Making these for a treat at the shore with a house full of folks…. I was hoping to leave them out on the table for the purpose of grazing
Hi Susan, They should be fine if left out for the day. However if it’s warm in the house the chocolate may begin to melt/get soft but you can always just pop them back in the refrigerator if that happens. Enjoy!
Can semi-sweet chocolate chips be substituted?
If frozen and thawed, will the pretzels taste stale? I need to make a dessert for a very large crowd and want to start on them a few days early. I need to impress and don’t want them to end up soggy or stale.
Hi Tiffany, If you thaw them overnight in the fridge rather than leave them out at room temperature to thaw, they should still taste great! Going from frozen right to room temperature could cause condensation which could make them soggy.
It calls for unsalted butter. Can u use regular butter ??
Unsalted or salted butter is OK for these peanut butter pretzel bites. No changes to the recipe needed.
I hunted and hunted for this recipe. One of my coworkers frequently brings in treats, and he has brought these in twice. So delicious. I will make for holiday treats, and know my family will love them.
Just made these for afterschool treats…amazingly yummy!! I followed the instructions and they turned out perfectly. Definitely going into my “Tried and True, Make Again” pinterest board!! Thanks!
Hi! I’ve made these several times now, and they are always a hit. Thank you for sharing this recipe 😀
The only change I made the first time was to use already-chocolate-coated pretzels, because I had no chocolate to melt at the time. :/
But it turned out so great that the next time I experimented and used the vanilla-yogurt-covered pretzels instead!
We couldn’t decide which way we liked them more so we finally settled on a chocolate pretzel on one side and a yogurt pretzel on the other.
Bonus: two colors makes the plate so pretty!
Thank you again.
These were fab! I hate to be “that” person trying to make everything healthy 🙂 but I have to share what I tried cause it worked out super well! My hubby and I have been trying to avoid processed sugar so instead of adding any sugar, I just added about 4-5 tablespoons of pure maple syrup. I remember reading somewhere that mixing it vigorously with natural peanut butter makes the pb harden up. And it worked! It definitely was still too soft to roll into balls, but I just scooped it on a pretzel with a spoon and it held really well. I continued following the recipe as written and they were fantastic! Just had to share in case anyone’s looking to cut down on some sugar. Thanks!!
In the process of making these now, I cheated a little and added 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips in with the pb
Just made these and they are DELICIOUS. Going to hide them from my family and keep them all for myself! 🙂 Another amazing recipe, Sally. You’re the best!
Made these today but with a twist. I added 3 shots of jack Daniels whiskey to the peanut butter mix. Taste great and has a kick.
I have made these before for two different parties. They are such a hit, they disappear within minutes and people are begging for the recipe! This one is a winner every time!
I’ve made them today and let me say, it’s definitely one of the most delish things I’ve ever eaten!!! I love pb and I think the combination with chocolate and pretzels is just PERFECT! Thanks for this awesome recipe!!!
I made these last night for post tree decorating treat…so delish and easy! Thank you!
These make a great treat – for anytime! Happy you loved them. Thanks Beth!
we made a version of this with white chocolate and light blue sprinkles for a Bridal Shower…they were gone before we knew it…then was asked to make some for the wedding…again…gone, so this is a winner, winner.
Oh I just love them with white chocolate Elaine!
Made these today. Quick easy yummy!! I dipped some in skor bits
Love that idea!
These were amazing! They were gone in 2 days. I only used 1 cup of chocolate chips, and it was fine. It was the perfect amount actually. I definitely will be making these in the future!!
Glad you love these! We can never get enough of them. I love the salty/sweet!
I made these for our high school jazz band and they were a huge hit! One thing I did differently was I used the normal pretzel and dipped it in the other way instead of dipping half of its side i just dipped the front pretzel… if you undertand what i mean… I dipped the face of one pretzel instead of the side and they turned out perfectly! Thank you for posting this recipe because it was really easy and extremely yummy! 🙂
I understand how you did it – and it sounds amazing. 🙂 You can’t go wrong with peanut butter, chocolate, and pretzels. Thanks Ashley!
I’m making these today-can’t wait to try them! Thanks for your delectable recipes. My Pinterest page is full of them!
Wonderful to hear Andrea! Thank you so much.
I’ve made these twice now and they are so so good, I was worried that refrigerating the pretzels would make them soft and stale, but nope, tasty peanutty goodness. The only change I made was decreasing the sugar a tad and replacing the butter with cream cheese.
Thank you for this lovely recipe!
Hi Jennifer! I’m happy to hear that. Keeping them chilled does nothing whatsoever to the pretzels besides make them cold. I like your idea of using cream cheese instead. Will keep that in mind the next time I make these. Thanks so much!
I ate something similar made with Bugles a few weeks ago. The peanut butter was added to the open end and then that end was dipped in chocolate. Bet you can’t eat just one….more like a dozen. I can’t wait to try this recipe. I was thinking of putting some of these in a decorated mason jar as a Christmas or party gift. Thank you from another food addict named Sally too 🙂
OMG! I made these for my daughter’s preschool teacher’s end of school gift. These treats almost didn’t make it t school. They are so divine. Seriously to die for. Sweet and salty. I love the peanut butter chocolate combo. I made mine with dark chocolate – so good!
Sally – I am hooked to this site! Also made the funfetti granola for my daughter’s bday party – yum! The kids loved them!