Pretzel Raccoon Craft

If you've been searching high and low for an edible raccoon craft, I have good news.

I was sketching a pretzel (as one does) when I noticed that the little nubs at the ends of the arms (do pretzels have arms?) looked like ears. So I dropped what I was was doing and made some raccoons. You'll notice I experimented with different ways to make whiskers on two of them and left the whiskers off the others. I prefer the no whiskers, while Steve says the white whiskers are best. Rather than a tutorial with one or the other, you get both. Affiliate links below. 

Edible Pretzel Raccoons

Materials:

• parchment paper
• pretzels
• Wilton Candy Melts (black and white)
• Wilton sugar pearls (black and white)
• scribe tool

Steps: 

Follow the instructions on the package to prepare the Candy Melts. I used 10 white discs and 3 black to make grey. Dip each pretzel in the melted candy, then transfer it to a sheet of parchment paper. Fill the holes of the pretzel with more melted candy. If the ears aren't prominent, add a little extra candy to emphasize them. Let the candy set. 

Follow the package directions to melt the black candy. Dip the scribe tool into the black, then lay it across the face (angled downward) to make one side of the raccoon's mask. Add a white pearl eye, the repeat on the other side of the face. 

Use more black to color the inner ears. 

If you want to make whiskers, do it now. For the white whiskers, I tried to use the same technique as with the marshmallow bunnies, but it didn't really work (since the marshmallow was convex and the pretzel surface concave), so I just drew them on. I used a clean scribe tool to etch whiskers from the solid grey, but it was really hard to get clean lines. Ultimately, I decided I preferred the raccoons whiskerless. Your call. 

Put a tiny amount of black candy onto the scribe tool, then touch it to the white sugar pearls to add pupils to the eyes. Add a dot at the bottom of the face to adhere the black sugar pearl nose. 

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If you're looking for more raccoon crafts, I have two others: a cardboard tube raccoon, inspired by The Kissing Hand, and a Valentine's Day raccoon that you could make with any box of treats, not just conversation hearts. 

Fun Fact: Tennessee named the raccoon its official state wild animal in 1971.