Coconut and Chocolate Covered Heart Pretzels

“I’m in the mood for love, simply because these pretzels are near me…”See what I did there. Ok so, who loves pretzels? Ok now who loves chocolate? And one more, who loves whipped cream? If you answered “Me Me Me” then you have found yourself on the right website. Hello Hello.

Valentine’s Day is approaching. (No duh really Jenn?) I know I know it’s clearing obvious with all the corny love commercials, people getting engaged, singles complaining about how they don’t need anyone to celebrate the day and of course how it’s a stupid holiday. With all that aside it’s a perfect day for some chocolate. Well any day is really. But Valentine’s day is a solid excuse. Oh did you eat that whole chocolate cake by yourself? Do you know how much sugar is…Oooh it’s Valentine’s Day never mind enjoy. Can I get some laughter up in here!?

This is a lengthly blog post only because I’m giving you two ways to decorate pretzels and also a recipe on how to make healthy whipped cream. Which is made with coconut! Yes coconut. I don’t know if any of you have been following me on Instagram but I love coconut whipped cream. I use it to ice cakes, frost cupcakes and also to dip fruit in such as strawberries. Oh Yum!

Let’s get started. You’ll need a can of full fat coconut milk not light, a hand mixer, essence of choice so for this I used vanilla and maple syrup. I use rice malt syrup too sometimes. Other options would be agave nectar or honey.
Leave the can(s) of coconut milk in the fridge for at least 24 hours. But don’t go buy a can of coconut milk and plan to use it the very next day. Sometimes they just don’t solidify and the cream doesn’t separate from the water. You’ll then find yourself in a little pickle now wontcha. What I do is every time I in the grocery store I pick one up and keep it in the fridge so I’m always stocked up. The longer it stays in the fridge the better. Don’t try freezing either to speed up the process. That is a big NO NO. Trust me. You’ll end up with a mess and some serious curse words.

(This is not an endorsement for the coconut milk. It’s just what I use and my recommendation!)

This is what it will look like when you open up a can of full fat coconut milk that has solidified.Scoop out all of the cream from the top but not the cream that is still submerged in the water. That will just make your whipped cream not so whipped. Man down aisle 5 situation
You can save that water for future smoothies. DeeelishAdd in your sweeteners (measurements will be in the recipe below) and mix until peeks form. You want it nice and fluffy with a whipped consistency. Hence the name. Once you get that out of the way the real fun begins. The dipping of the pretzels. I used organic spelt pretzels for this. I do have a sweet tooth but I do try to be responsible most of the time (sometimes).I didn’t put the coconut whip in the fridge when I was done whipping it up. I just went ahead and dipped my pretzels right away. Any leftover whipped cream (which you will have) just place in the fridge for perhaps a future cake or cupcakes, muffins maybe, you get it. Dip the pretzels in about half way and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper just to contain the sprinkle mess.

Be creative with the sprinkles you use. I used white pearls, pink pearls, pink and red hearts, and red sugar rocks. You don’t have to use any if you prefer. You can either roll the pretzels around in the sprinkles or use your fingers to sprinkle it on top of the pretzels. Place on a clean dish and throw them in the freezer for 5 minutes just to firm up. You can even do 10 minutes if you want to.

I used coconut whipped cream because I am seeing a lot of white chocolate and yogurt covered pretzels. I’ve been so in the mood for something like that so I opted for the coconut because it’s the closest thing to the other two I mentioned and I knew the texture would work great.

The only thing that isn’t healthy are the decorative sprinkles. But I just couldn’t help myself. They are too cute and they go with the whole Oooh La La theme. Enter batting eyelashes hereSee! How adorable right! These pretzels scream Valentine’s Day. I switched up the sprinkles to have more of a variety. I think they are totes cute. And not because I did them but because I did them and they are totes cute. hahaha I swear if you guys knew me lets say five years ago I would not be elected person most likely to be frosting some pretzels.

Be creative with the sprinkles you use. I used white pearls, pink pearls, pink and red hearts, and red sugar rocks. You don’t have to use any if you prefer. You can either roll the pretzels around in the sprinkles or use your fingers to sprinkle it on top of the pretzels. Place on a clean dish and throw them in the freezer for 5 minutes just to firm up. You can even do 10 minutes if you want to.

But wait stay with me, there’s more! The title does say chocolate right.
For my other batch of Valentine’s Day pretzels I melted up some of my favorite dark chocolate, lined my cooling rack with parchment paper and gots ta work on these gems. These took a lot less time and were done in a jiff.

I don’t own a microwave because I don’t like that radiation all up and around my family and myself. I turn my oven on, stick my dark chocolate in an oven safe bowl and it melts within 5 minutes. We can get into the details of why I don’t have a microwave another time.

When the chocolate is done melting I put it in a zip lock bag, cut a little corner off and dab each pretzel with chocolate right in the center. (As shown above) While it’s still wet I placed the candy hearts square in the middle. So easy and festive. Like seriously, the most romantic pretzels ever! Pop them in the fridge or freezer to harden up the chocolate or just eat them right away. There is no right or wrong way to eat a pretzel that has been danced by chocolate.I think I got this one covered. Something on the healthier side, totally adorbs and of course kid (mommy) approved.