Chubby Hubby truffles

Chocolate + pretzels + peanut butter = delish.  I thought that that went without saying.  Case in point:

See, a few days ago I went grocery shopping for the ingredients for these.  I bought a bunch of other things, but among the goodies I bought were pretzels to make these truffles.  Of course I used those pretzels to make the 4 flavors of chocolate covered pretzels and the chocolate pretzel treats before I even sat down to make these.  Luckily I had enough pretzels leftover from those two treats in order to make these truffles!

 

Chubby Hubby Truffles

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups pretzel pieces
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 cup milk or semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
(I chose to use CandiQuik chocolate coating instead of the chocolate chips and shortening)

Extra peanut butter and crushed pretzels for decoration

Directions:

Put the pretzels into a resealable plastic bag and crush into very small bits (a rolling pin works great for this) - I found this part confusing.  I wasn't sure if it was 1.5 cups of pretzel pieces, or 1.5 cups of crushed pretzels....my filling mixture was a bit dry and I wonder if it's because I used the 1.5 cups of crushed pretzels

In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and salt.
Stir until all of the ingredients are completely blended and smooth.
Add the pretzel bits to the peanut butter mixture and mix thoroughly.
Add the powdered sugar and mix until completely combined.
Line a small baking sheet with wax paper.
Using a small cookie scoop, or about 2 teaspoons worth of peanut butter mixture, gently shape into a ball with your fingertips.
Place the ball on the wax paper-lined cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining peanut butter mixture.
Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.

When ready to dip the truffles, microwave the chocolate chips and vegetable shortening together in a small bowl in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until completely melted and smooth.

Working one at a time, dip one peanut butter-pretzel ball into the melted chocolate and use a fork to roll it around, making sure that it is completely coated with chocolate.
Let any extra chocolate drip off and place back on the wax paper-lined sheet.
Repeat with all of the peanut butter-pretzel balls.

Return the baking sheet to the refrigerator and again chill for at least 30 minutes.
Garnish with a drizzle of melted peanut butter and crushed pretzels, if desired (I desired.)
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.