Leprechaun Hugs

For dessert, I wanted to make something simple but tasty. The idea of melting Hershey's Hugs onto square pretzels and pushing M&Ms down into them has been floating around the internet for a while now. Since I was making Irish Stew and Cheesy Soda Scones for dinner, I decided to make these vaguely Irish and use green M&Ms only. And the name? Well, I'm just a dork. An actual leprechaun hug could quite possibly be the thing that nightmares are made of, but these leprechaun hugs are the perfect balance of sweet, salty and addicting. That's a good, albeit dangerous, thing. These are very easy to make, but it takes a while to unwrap all of the hugs. I took them out of the oven after 4 minutes and they weren't quite melted enough, so I popped them back in for a few more minutes. They harden best with a quick blast in the fridge. These were a big hit, and would be great at any St. Patrick's Day party!



You'll need:
Hershey's Hugs, unwrapped
Green M&Ms
Square pretzels (I used Snyder's of Hanover Snaps)

Preheat your oven to 200°F.

Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Lay out pretzels on top of the prepared baking sheet. Stand a Hug up on the center of each square. Bake for 3-6 minutes, until the Hugs are soft enough to press the M&Ms down into the tops, but not so soft that they're melted all over the place. Remove from the oven and press one M&M down into the center of each Hug.

Let the tray cool to the touch, and then pop it into the refrigerator for a few minutes until the chocolate is set. Enjoy straight out of the fridge or at room temperature.

Big Flavors Rating: 5 Stars