Advent Activity--Day 15--Reindeer Bites

Making reindeer bites is an annual event in our home. I found the recipe a few years ago and have made it every year since. Oftentimes this is called "Holiday Pretzel Treats"; I am not sure why I call it reindeer bites, but I do. This is a really yummy and easy treat to make. This year we made up a bunch to give to Sunday school teachers, bus drivers, etc. Both boys were involved in helping out. Their main job was to remove the wrappers from all the Hershey's kisses. Then they placed the kisses onto the waffle pretzels. It is essential to use the waffle type of pretzels. I don't think these are always available year-round in grocery stores, at least not where we live. However, I've always been able to find them at Christmastime. Below is a photo of the brand we use.



Like I said, the boys both helped to peel wrappers from the kisses. They stuck with this for a long time as we used three bags of kisses: dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and peppermint. I like to use a variety of types of kisses. However, I have found through experience that the melting times of the kisses varies. For example, the peppermint ones melt fastest, followed by the dark chocolate, then the milk chocolate. For this reason, I would recommend putting each type of kiss on a separate tray when baking.




Basically what you do to make these is place one kiss on each waffle pretzel. Then you bake them in an oven at a low heat. We baked ours at about 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Check them after 5 minutes. When they are ready to come out, they should be shiny and you should be able to easily push an M&M into the top of them. If they are too melted they will spread out too much. If they aren't melted enough, the kiss won't be soft enough to stick to the pretzel and will then pop off easily, which you don't want.

As soon as you remove them from the oven, gently press an M&M into each one. You can see from the photo below that the candy cane (peppermint) kisses melted faster and thus spread out more.

We packaged these in tissue paper in some little treat boxes I had bought at Hobby Lobby. These make a great little gift and they are GREAT to snack on, so be sure to make extra for yourself!

Here is what the little treat boxes looked like after they were all made up.

I am sure we'll be making these again next year. I like having special food we make every year. It creates nice memories for the boys. I remember, with fondness, two treats that my mom always made at Christmastime. She made these totally awesome peanut butter balls. She also made (and still makes) rice krispie marshmallow balls. She is the only person I have ever met that makes these. They are really yummy. I also remember my dad mixing up a HUGE bowl of hot chocolate mix almost every year. I think my parents gave this as gifts to their friends. I have some vivid memories of him sitting at our kitchen table patiently mixing all the dry ingredients together. He wasn't often found doing things in the kitchen other than eating, so perhaps that is why I really remember him doing that each year!!

What are some favorite food traditions in your family? I'd love to have a bunch of you send me a comment sharing your memories. It's so fun to hear about other people's traditions.