Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Mousse

 

 

 

OH MY GOODNESS! 

There are some things you just don't need to know!  Having figured out this dish is just way to dangerous to my dress size!  I have the great fortune to get to travel to St. Louis frequently and this is my favorite dessert at a downtown restaurant.  I normally get this early in the week and nibble on this nightly to make it last - and man - is it worth it!  This has that perfect combination of chocolate sweetness and pretzel salty that I just can't resist!

 

I made two big batches of this to take to the office tomorrow.  From start to clean up - 40 minutes flat with no oven time!

 

You'll need: 

8 oz crushed pretzels
1 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
6  oz melted milk chocolate
1 Tbl canola oil
caramel sauce (store bought ice cream topping)

2 small boxes instant chocolate pudding

4 cup cold whole milk

1 large tub of  whipped topping
extra whole pretzels for garnish

 

 

Make the crust first, mix crushed pretzels, melted butter and sugar and put in the bottom of a greased 9x13 dish.  Place the dish in the freezer for 10 minutes to "set" your crust.  Microwave the chocolate chips with a tablespoon of oil - 30 seconds per session until melted and smooth (stir well between sessions).  Drizzle the chocolate over the pretzel crust and return the crust to the freezer. 

 

Make the mousse next - there are tons of ways to make mousse - I took the simplest route possible.  Add two small boxes of chocolate pudding mix to your large mixer bowl then add 4 cups whole milk.  Using the whisk attachments, beat until smooth and lightly thickened.  Add 1/2 large tub of whopped topping, mixing on slow speed to gently fold into your mixture.  You want your mousse to be smooth so no lumps! 

Remove your crust from the freezer and drizzle with caramel sauce, then top with chocolate mousse.  Return to refrigerator until the mixture has a "set" consistency.  Top with the remaining whipped topping. Cover and keep refrigerated until time to serve.

The garnish on this dish is simply additional pretzels and another drizzle of caramel sauce.

Grab some spoons and get ready to make everyone happy!  This dish got two thumbs up at my house from everyone between the ages of 1 1/2 to ...... well  - let's keep that cap number a secret shall we?  Let's just say the photo op is all gone and we are super happy this Sunday afternoon!

I hope you like this as much as we do - it was totally worth taking a photo of my dinner and playing around with options to figuring out the path to this deliciousness!