When you mix together chocolate, pretzels, and a handful of kids, there is bound to be lots of fun. We certainly enjoyed this Pretzel Molding Kit on a lazy Saturday morning! Add a bag of pretzel rods to this kit and you are ready to mold your own pretzel pops. Just think of cute (and yummy) pretzels dipped in chocolate and decorated with swirls or stripes of white and dark chocolate. While these would make a great summer treat created with one or more of your kids, they also look great wrapped in a plastic bag and tied off with a ribbon as a gift. The kit comes with two pretzel molds for swirls or stripes, two bags of Candy Melts (white and dark chocolate), and ten treat bags with twist-ties.

The instructions are easy to understand and additional ideas are given if you desire to add even more pizzazz to your pops. Just melt the Candy Melts, roll your pretzel in chocolate, place it in the mold, and fill with additional melted chocolate. I was surprised that there were no instructions for melting the chocolate, however. If someone has never worked with chocolate before, they might ruin it like we did by cooking it too long. We tried one batch in the microwave by putting it in for 30 seconds, stirring, and repeating several times; it turned hard and pasty. The other bag of Candy Melts did much better in a double boiler on the stove (nest a smaller pan inside a larger one, then fill the bottom pan with an inch of water, being careful not to let the water touch the small pan. Place chocolate in small pan and cook on low heat until smooth. Don't let the water boil).

Next, place the filled molds in the refrigerator until set and pop out the pretzels. To give your pops the swirled or stripe design, use a decorator brush, which is not included, to paint features and details in the mold before filling them as already described. We tried small paint brushes and they did OK; no professional looking pops like on the box, but they tasted just as good! Additional candy can also be drizzled with a contrasting color, or dip pretzels in more melted candy before rolling in sprinkles or crushed peanuts. We tried sprinkling nuts on before placing in the fridge. This worked fine. Serve them in the clear treat bags as favors and gifts, or eat them right away like we did.

This kit was so much fun, my kids actually thanked me. You know you've been a good mommy when they thank you of their own initiative for letting them do something fun and messy. The chocolate smiles would have been enough thanks, but it sure was a surprise that such a simple activity could elicit such a rewarding response. It was also nice to see my oldest help a younger child "paint" with chocolate in the mold.

The price seemed fair, although you will need to purchase additional chocolate to use the molds again. We were able to make six pretzel pops, with a few more also dipped in leftover chocolate to eat right away. I can see this becoming a favorite in our home for simple gifts and favors, treats to sell at our yard sale, or just for fun on a lazy day.

Product review by: Andrea Jones, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July 2008.