Dark Chocolate Caramel Clusters

a few weeks ago i spotted these skinny cow "dreamy clusters" on the shelf at Kroger.  Guilt-free chocolate? sign me up!  they were so yummy, but as with all good things...they could get a little expensive.  instead of depriving myself of these sweet treats, i figured why not make them.

and so i did.

then i ate them.

and they were...good :)

  

do you want to make them too?

i thought so.

here's what you'll need:

-pretzels

-caramel

-1-2 tablespoon water

-chocolate ( i prefer dark, but you could always use milk or white)

i'll be honest, i'm not much of a measurer.  i kind of eyeball things and get them to a consistency that i like.  so if i had to guess, i'd say i used 1/3 of the pretzel bag.  Chop them up into itty bitty pieces. (to make it hassle free, put your pretzels in a ziploc bag and crush them with a hammer or rolling pin).    next, i melted about 1/2 the bag of caramel bits in the microwave.  add 1-2 tablespoons water to the caramel to help thin it out.(don't trouble yourself with a double boiler, oddly enough it won't melt)  

next, i mixed my caramel and pretzels together.  basically i wanted the pretzels to be covered in enough caramel to bind them together.

start forming little balls out of the caramel.  don't worry about getting them perfectly round.  once they've set on the wax paper for a few minutes they are easier to mold.

after you've molded all of your clusters, use a double boiler to melt your chocolate.  then, simply dip each cluster into the chocolate to give it a nice even coat.  my trick for easy dipping is to use a plastic fork (break off the two middle probes, leaving the outer two intact).

after that voila..you've got a yummy and healthy treat that you made all by your bad self.

bon appétit!