Recipe: Pretzel M&M Candy Bites

Today I've got a quick, super easy, deliciously addictive "cookie" recipe for you.  These are great for the holiday candy bowl but are quite good year-round.  :-)

I've seen similar recipes to this that use a Hershey's kiss for the chocolate component but that seems like a lot of unwrapping work.  I've always made these with candy melt discs and they turn out perfectly, just the right balance of salty and sweet, creamy and crunchy.

Pretzel M&M Candy Bites

Ingredients
- candy melts
- plain M&Ms
- waffle weave pretzel squares

Directions
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment and preheat the oven to 350*.
2. Place pretzel squares in a single layer on the parchment and top each pretzel with a single candy melt.
3. Bake in the oven for 3 minutes, just long enough to soften the candy melt.
4. Remove baking sheet from oven and quickly press a single M&M into the top of each candy melt.  Pressing down slightly will ensure the candy melt fills in the holes of the pretzel as well.
5. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

Notes

• feel free to make these using any color or flavor candy melt as well as any color variety of M&Ms.  At Christmas time, I use the red/green M&M mix but for Easter I like to use the pastel variety.  All choices taste great.
• check the serving size and number of servings on the back of your bag of candy melts and pretzels to see how much you'll need of each.  As reference, one 2lb bag of candy melts matched perfectly with one family size (16oz) bag of pretzel squares.  Combined they made three half-sheet pans worth of 'cookies'.
• I usually buy candy melts at the craft store (think JoAnn's or Michael's -- don't forget your coupons!).

Prevent a Headache -- Use Click-N-Ship

It's that time of the year -- I see my mailman making the rounds in the neighborhood no less than three times a day not to mention the assortment of FedEx, UPS and contract delivery trucks that are making stops left and right.

Not much compares to the pain of having to go to the post office in person, usually with a little person in tow, and stand in line, waiting for who knows how long, to mail off Christmas presents.  The solution can be found at USPS.com and is known as "Click-N-Ship". 

I've been using it for a couple years now and I am still quite shocked when I discover that there are people who have never heard of this truly magical service; hence, why I am writing about it today.  You could say that is is a bit of a #momhack ;-)

Using it is simple -- create an account on USPS.com, enter in the return address, recipient's address, check the box on what type of package you are sending (small, medium, large, priority, express, etc), enter your payment and print the postage label.  Super simple! 

The next best part is that you can schedule a FREE carrier pickup at your house.  Just use the website, tell when and where to expect the package and an estimated weight.  This usually means that at 9pm I am printing postage for a package to sit on my porch and get mailed the very next day!

So you say, well, you'll still need to go to the post office to get the flat rate boxes.  Not true, you can order those online too!!  Or if you do have to go inside, you don't have to wait in line to get the flat rate boxes all you need to do is find the display and get what you need.

Just sayin' but the US Postal Service has really upped their technology game and you can do so much through the website, especially if you plan on shipping flat rate.  Save yourself the time, trouble and headache of having to wait in line and just do it yourself! 

Happy Mailing :-)