Force Friday may be over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still be a Jedi. And you can’t be a Jedi without a Lightsaber (or two!) We show you how to whip up these customizable pretzel stick lightsabers, perfect for your fave lunchbox or an epic Star Wars themed party with your fellow rebels.
Here’s what you’ll Need:
. Some Pretzel Sticks
. Candy Melts: White, Black, Red, Blue
. Large microwave-safe cups
. Parchment paper
. A Cooling rack
. Vegetable Shortening (Optional)
. Colored tootsie rolls or white/black fondant
You can use any colors you’d like for the blade or your lightsaber—or take some inspiration from your favorite jedis. We went with the classics: Obi-Wan Kenobi’s blue lightsaber and Darth Vader’s red. But you can customize your lightsabers with any colors you’d like! Try purple candy melts for Mace Windu’s iconic weapon of choice, or even yellow, green, sliver, or orange. The great thing about candy melts is the huge variety of colors in which they’re available. You can even combine colors to make endless combinations.
To Make the Lightsabers:
Start melting your candy melts. Candy melts can be hard to work with if you’ve never encountered them before. Like the name implies, candy melts are closer to candy than chocolate. It makes them very temperamental. Too little time in the microwave? You’ll end up with a clumpy mess. Too much time, and they’ll burn in the middle making them unusable. Use a deep bowl, or a microwave-safe cup. You can also melt in a bowl and transfer over to a cup afterwards.
Tip: Melt the candy melts in 30 sec intervals, barely stirring in-between. Too much stirring can make candy melts clump together.
Get your pretzel sticks out; we used large pretzel rods, which work great for edible lightsabers. You can make your own pretzel sticks using your fave recipe, but we found a store bought brand works best as they’re nice and straight.
Starting with the grey base first, we melted white candy melts and then added just 3-4 candy melt disks in black. Light grey candy melts can be hard to find, so this is an easy solution. You can adjust the color of your lightsaber hilt by adding more black candy melts. Dip the end of a pretzel stick into the grey, tapping gently to remove excess candy melts and getting a smooth base.
You’ll want to tap the pretzel stick onto the cup, but don’t! You’ll end up with a pool of pretzel stick dust in your melts. Instead, tap your hand holding the dipped pretzel gently with your opposite hand. This will keep your melts dust-free and smooth. Lay length-wise on a cooling rack with parchment paper underneath to catch drips. Let dry for several minutes before handling.
Now to melt your candy melts for your lightsaber blade. Same as with your grey melts, melt in a tall microwave-safe cup. We thinned out our red and blue candy melts using shortening.
Tip: Shortening is a great shortcut to smooth, easy-to-dip candy melts! Scoop up about 1/4 of a cup of vegetable shortening and melt for about 30 seconds. Once it’s cooled, you can add this to any color stubborn candy melt batch and get awesome results.
Dip same as before, meeting up to your grey lightsaber hilt with your melt color. Tap off excess, and shake side to side. Be sure to do this step quickly—candy melts dry fast! Set aside on your cooling rack until the ‘blade’ sets and you can handle it without getting chocolate on your hands.
Finish off your lightsaber with some hilt decoration. We used grey-colored fondant to add buttons to the front of our lightsaber and black fondant to finish off the bottom edge. You can add whatever lightsaber controls you’d like to make it yours.
And now you’re ready for a sweet battle! Whether you’re a Rebel or a Sith, these simple and tasty Lightsaber treats make for fun addition to your Star Wars: The Force Awakens party- Or average tuesday.
What other sort of Star Wars sweets would you like to see become a reality? Let us know in the comments!
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