Pretzel M&M Hugs {Christmas Style}

Published December 11, 2018. Updated December 13, 2018

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These Pretzel M&M Hugs are the perfect little festive treats for Christmas parties or gifts. They only need 3 ingredients, they take no time at all to make, they look so pretty and festive and of course they’re incredibly delicious!

Pretzel M&M Hugs in a red snowflake bowl. The consist of square pretzel base, hug chocolate and red and green M&M's.

Easiest Chocolate Pretzels!

It’s been six years since I first shared these so I thought in case you’ve missed them I better re-share them. Every year at Christmas these easy treats are always one of the most popular things on my blog!

We love to make these fun chocolates when the holidays roll around because they are they’re amazingly simple, so fun and festive, and so addictive!

Who can resist that sweet and lightly salty combo? And you just can’t go wrong with chocolate. Ever.

And thanks to the Hugs you get both white and milk chocolate in these (since their centers are filled).

Holiday treats don’t get any easier than this! They are perfect for gifting and it’s a treat everyone will love.

Pretzel M&M Hugs in rows on parchment paper lined baking sheet.

You Only Need 3 Ingredients for This Easy Christmas Treat!

The best part about this recipe – you only need 3 ingredients!

  • Square Pretzels (not butter flavor!)
  • M&M’s
  • Hersey’s Hugs Chocolates

Ingredients for pretzel m&m hugs shown here.Pretzel M&M Hugs

How to Make These Chocolate Pretzels

  • Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
  • Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Showing how to make easy christmas treat. Putting square pretzels lined up in rows on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

  • Align pretzels on cookie sheet in a single layer then top each pretzel with one Hershey’s Hug chocolate.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 4 – 6 minutes, until the chocolate is shiny and soft, not totally melted!

Adding hugs to pretzels on baking sheet.

  • Remove from oven and carefully place one M&M in the center of each soft Hug and press down on M&M to spread the chocolate.
  • Place in freezer or refrigerator and allow to rest until chocolate has set, about 5 – 15 minutes (freezer will be fastest).
  • Store in an airtight container.

Adding M&M chocolate over melted hugs in center.

I love to wrap them up in cellophane bags and tie  with red ribbon, or place in festive tins and give to friends and neighbors. Just be sure to save a stash for yourself!

I highly recommend making a double batch which is what I did this time around.

How Many More Bags for More Batches?

  • One 12 oz. bag of Hugs will have about 75 chocolates (enough for one batch).
  • Then you should be able to get about 5 batches from an 11.4 oz bag of M&M’s and a family size bag of pretzels.

Tips for This Recipe

  • Don’t melt chocolates fully. They should still be standing, they might droop slightly but no puddles. Test one M&M then return to the oven if needed.
  • If your oven doesn’t totally cook even you can rotate the sheet halfway through if the back of the oven cooks hotter.
  • I love to use silicone liners here because then they don’t slide around. Parchment will work too though. Just be sure to line with one or the other so they don’t stick to the baking sheet.
  • Be sure to let the chocolate set fully before you package or store them otherwise they’ll smudge and stick.

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Pretzel Hugs
4.87 from 37 votes

Pretzel M&M Hugs

These Pretzel M&M Hugs are the perfect treats for Christmas gifts or parties. They only need 3 ingredients, they take no time at all to make, they look so pretty and festive and they're dangerously delicious!
Servings: 70 pretzels
Prep15 minutes
Cook5 minutes
Chill5 minutes
Ready in: 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 70 square pretzels (do NOT use butter snaps)
  • 70 Hershey's Hugs chocolates (from nearly 1 full 12 oz package), unwrapped
  • 70 Milk Chocolate M&M's , I used the red and green Christmas package

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Align pretzels on cookie sheet in a single layer then top each pretzel with one Hershey's Hug chocolate.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 4 - 5 minutes, until the chocolate is shiny and soft (but NOT melting, the chocolates should still hold their shape).
  • Remove from oven and carefully place one M&M in the center of each soft Hug and press down on M&M to spread the chocolate. 
  • Place in freezer or refrigerator and allow to rest until chocolate has set, about 5 - 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container.
Nutrition Facts
Pretzel M&M Hugs
Amount Per Serving
Calories 31 Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Cholesterol 1mg0%
Sodium 17mg1%
Potassium 1mg0%
Carbohydrates 4g1%
Sugar 3g3%
Calcium 10mg1%
Iron 0.1mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.
Recipe adapted from g*rated

 

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194 Comments

  • Gale

    Just made some of these last night and another batch this morning. So simple and yummy! I have some candycane kisses that i may try too!

  • Donna Cook

    i dont know what happened to mine- i am not a baker but i attempted these, with regular kisses, they didnt melt all the way, and look like volcanoes :{

    • Laura

      Me too! I think we Overcooked the HUGS. Kisses take longer, I found out. Hugs take less time. Experimentation is the key!

    • Jaclyn

      Jaclyn Bell

      I hate the artificial flavor they have especially with these, it would be really overpowering I think.

  • Maggie

    I just made these and of course they do not look like the picture :( I followed directions to the ‘T’ but didn’t turn out so pretty. Was there a step I was missing? Help!

  • Amazonite

    Seems like everyone’s oven works a little bit different, you need to just experiment and figure out what works best for you. I need to use a 250 degree oven and heat regular milk chocolate kisses for 5 minutes. I’ve heard that different types of kisses take different amounts of time.

    Re: the butter snaps, I used them the first time I made these because that’s all I could find, and ugh. Will never do it again. The faux-butter flavor just comes through as NASTY with the chocolate. I found the regular ones and that’s where I’m heading for my next batch.

    I found some Brach milk chocolate stars, which I remembered from my childhood and didn’t even know they still made; my next batch is going to include some of those. They’re cheaper than kisses, you don’t need to unwrap anything, and being slightly smaller, I think they’ll work well.

  • becca

    i just made these, and had to buy more hugs, so while i was at it i bought some wilton peppermint candymelts too. they look so cute! try it!

  • Lisa

    Hi! I have seen these on so many sites and thought they looked like something I would be able to do (I’m not a baker). When I took them out of the oven to put the m&m in, it was harder to press down than I thought it should be & the chocolate hug kind of cracked. I put them back in the oven for another minute to soften them some more, but they became even harder – almost like they were drying out. Does anyone have an insight? I have enough to make another batch but want to make sure I get it right!

    • Cindy

      I had the same problem last year, but I had baked them too long and/or at a higher temperature. Try baking them for less time and/or a slightly lower temperature and see if that works. Maybe try just a couple to experiment and see how long and the right temperature for your oven as ovens can vary! Merry Christmas!!

      • Lisa

        Thanks Cindy! I tried it at 160 degrees…and did one at a time…took me a few attempts to figure it out but it seemed to work best heating them for only one minute! When I put the m&m on, it would easily push down the top, but wouldn’t go down far enough. I let them sit like that for a minute or two as it seemed the chocolate continued to melt even though they were out of the oven, then pushed them down a little bit more so they would flatten out the rest of the way, and popped them in the freezer. A few melted down a bit too much and spilled over the edge, but not many. They certainly don’t look quite as good as the ones in the photos but pretty close – and MUCH MUCH improved over the first try! Thanks so much for the advice!!

  • Susan H.

    Jaclyn- I just made these- super easy (hardest part was the tedious unwrapping.)! I didn’t see this in the comments, but I used some Pumpkin Spice Kisses when I ran out of the Hugs. They’re probably seasonal & not in stores now, but I had snagged several bags around Halloween. I used the red & green M & M’s, but they probably would look better with another color. Regardless, they’re pretty tasty.