This easy baked Thanksgiving dessert turns pantry staples into a sweet-and-salty treat with almost no prep. Using dry pretzel sticks as the base gives the finished dessert a crunchy structure that plays especially well with melted chocolate and seasonal candy, making it ideal for holiday snacking, dessert boards, or packing into little gift bags for guests.
Serve this dessert in a big bowl for casual grazing alongside coffee, hot cocoa, or apple cider, or spoon it into small cups as part of a Thanksgiving sweets spread. It also pairs nicely with vanilla ice cream if you want to turn it into a plated dessert, and a sprinkle of flaky salt can help balance the sweetness if you are serving it after a rich holiday meal.
4-Ingredient Oven Baked Thanksgiving Dessert
Servings: 8
Ingredients
8 cups dry uncooked pretzel sticks
2 cups white chocolate chips or vanilla melting wafers
1 1/2 cups candy corn
1 cup fall-colored chocolate candies
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 250°F and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or line it with parchment for easier cleanup.
2. Spread the pretzel sticks evenly in the prepared baking dish, then scatter the white chocolate chips and fall-colored chocolate candies over the top.
3. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, just until the chocolate softens. Remove the dish from the oven and gently stir to coat the pretzels as the melted chocolate begins to cling to them.
4. Add the candy corn while the mixture is still warm and stir once or twice more, being careful not to crush the pretzels too much.
5. Let the mixture cool completely in the dish so the coating can set, then break it into clusters or scoop it into a serving bowl and serve.
Variations & Tips
Add nuts: For more crunch and a deeper holiday flavor, stir in 1 cup of roasted pecans or walnuts after baking along with the candy corn. This works especially well if you want the dessert to feel a bit more like a Thanksgiving snack mix.
Use dark or milk chocolate: If white chocolate is not your favorite, swap it for milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips. The dessert will be a little richer and less sweet, while still keeping the same easy method.
Line the pan well: Because melted chocolate can cling to the dish as it cools, parchment paper makes cleanup much easier and helps you lift out the mixture if you want neat clusters instead of a scoopable snack mix.
Do not overbake: The goal is only to soften the chocolate, not to fully cook the candies. Check the pan early, because too much oven time can cause the chocolate candies to crack or turn streaky.