Gluten Free Good Luck

I, Nutrimom, do not have one iota of Irish blood. However, this did not stop me from wanting to
share this gluten free treat with all of you for St. Patrick's Day. The shamrock is a symbol of good luck so I felt the need to offer you a good luck treat for the day (or, for any day really). Not only good luck but gluten free good luck! Gosh, now if I could have figured out how to make green chocolate....

Before I explain, I also want to send a shout out to Rosie Reeves ( one of my Facebook page members) who put the idea into my head after I posted a picture of my product swag from Glutino. Rosie- because you inspired this shamrock recipe, please email me at Nutrimom@yahoo.com and I will send you a thank you prize.

If your family is like ours, we love Glutino Pretzel Chips. If you haven't tried them yet, they are a thinner version of a pretzel, like someone sliced a pretzel in half and made it into a wonderfully light and crunchy chip. As much as we love to eat them plain, smear them with SunButter or even use them to make a mini slider (yup, no bread just a pretzel chip) I do have to comment that, well, they don't seem to ship very well. As delicious as they are, the bags often look as if the delivery people have played hacky sack with them. It doesn't effect the taste as all but they do tend to look like this upon opening. Gasp! Do you think it's because people are fighting over the bags?! I have no doubt ;)

What I DO know is that what one person may see as broken pieces, Nutrimom sees as new recipe ideas. For say, I don't know, maybe the perfect shamrock stem!!!

Gluten Free Shamrocks

Glutino Pretzel Chips (broken)
Glutino Sesame Rings
Enjoy Life Foods chocolate chips

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper.

Using broken Pretzel Chips, remove excess pieces of them and keep the curved sections of the chips (to use as a shamrock stem). For each stem, set aside 3 Sesame Rings for the shamrock itself. Make piles ahead of time and place them aside.

Melt the chocolate chips on low heat, stirring frequently to avoid clumping or burning. Optional- for a shinier finished treat, add a squirt of Winona Pure Oil to the chocolate while melting.

Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and add 3 rings and 1 stem, coating evenly. With a fork, gently flip to cover equally with chocolate. Place the rings onto the lined baking sheet first followed by the stem wedged in between the bottom rings. Add another dab of chocolate over the connecting areas of all of the pretzels as a "glue".

Let cool completely to allow the chocolate to set. For a faster process, you may place them into the fridge or freezer to cool.

Serving sizes will vary depending on how many product items you use.

Not enough chocolate? Try this option that combines the pretzel crunch with a stuffed chocolate covered SunButter filling (like those Easter eggs everyone wishes they could have).

For an added bonus, fill in the empty holes of the shamrock (the sesame rings) with more chocolate while it's on the lined baking sheet. Cool completely.

While cooling, prepare the filling by following THIS recipe by Jazzy Allergy Recipes. Once the shamrock bases are cooled and formed, fill the loops with the filling and top with additional melted chocolate. Cool completely to avoid chocolate wastage.

The finished product will have be allergy-friendly, crunchy, chocolaty and may even become your family's newest St. Patrick's Day treat. Enjoy!

Wishing all of my friends a happy, healthy St. Patrick's Day ~

"Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers-

Miles and miles of Irish smiles-

For golden happy hours-

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life though!"