I Made the “Pretzel Bows” Everyone’s Loving on TikTok, and They’re So Cute for Valentine’s Day

Bows have been trending in fashion and home decor for a while now, but they’ve recently made their way into the culinary world, too. (Crescent roll bows, anyone?)

There’s a special place in my heart for sweet and salty treats, so when I saw adorable chocolate-covered pretzel bows pop up on my social feed, I knew I had to give them a try. I first spotted the pretzel bow hack on TikTok in December, and now people are making them for Valentine’s Day. Talk about the potential for a perfect Galentine’s Day party snack!

After discovering I have celiac disease two years ago, I’ve had to find gluten-free alternatives or get creative myself when it comes to preparing food. So I was immediately excited about these treats because I could easily substitute my favorite gluten-free pretzels. 

The first step to making pretzel bows is a whole lot of breaking. Essentially, you break apart the traditionally shaped pretzel to get the curved D shapes. In Precious Simons’ (@bakedbyprecious) video, the TikToker broke a small stick pretzel in half to create the ties of the bow. But I just broke apart another looped pretzel to make my ties curved.

For the chocolate coating, I got white melting chocolate chips and added food coloring to make it pink. (If you want the shade of pink I made, stir three drops of red food coloring into about a cup of melted white chocolate.) Next, I transferred the melted chocolate mixture to a zip-top bag, snipped the corner, then piped the melted chocolate onto the pretzels. The last and easiest step: sprinkling pretty shimmery decorating sugar on top.

When I say I struggled in the beginning, I mean I struggled. Simons made the pretzel bow hack look so easy, but it was a very tedious process. After breaking several pretzels and not getting the shapes I needed, I grabbed a small sharp knife to cut the pieces. That was key. Afterward, the breaking process moved surprisingly quickly. 

But then came piping the chocolate. Because I cut too big a hole in the bag, my dainty pretzel bow turned into a massively inflated bow blob during my first attempt. I discovered it was easier to pipe a small amount of chocolate first and then go over the figure-eight shape until the pretzel was covered. Putting a little extra in the center glues all the pieces together. 

All in all, this was a fun treat that I may make for special occasions, but I definitely won’t be making dozens of these at a time. Eight was enough!   

• Try it with GF pretzels. Whether or not you’re gluten-free, I recommend using GF pretzels because they add an extra crunch to the sweet treat! (Seriously, they’re better!)
• Use all parts of the pretzel for the ties. If you don’t want to have an excessive amount of pretzels left over, I recommend breaking the bottom curve of the pretzels to create the bows’ ties (rather than buying a separate bag of pretzel sticks). 
• Instead of breaking the pretzels, use a knife. In the TikTok video above, Simons breaks the pretzels easily, but I found using a knife to cut each piece was better to get the shapes I wanted. 
• Less is more. If you’re using a small plastic baggy as your piping bag like I did, cut the corner extra-small in the beginning. You can always cut off more later. 

This post was a collaboration between Dorm Therapy and The Kitchn and originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: I Made the “Pretzel Bows” Everyone’s Loving on TikTok, and They’re So Cute for Valentine’s Day