Happy St. Patrick's Day Treats {Shamrock Pretzels}

Simple to make with just three basic ingredients, these Shamrock Pretzels will be ready in under 15 minutes and are easy enough to make with the little ones!

Let me start by saying my family loves St. Patrick's Day (especially my kids).   I mean, my last name IS Kelly, right?

What a fun excuse to celebrate!

I found this one on Pinterest.  Can you stand how cute these Pretzel Shamrocks are?

They are ridiculously easy to prepare and perfect for St. Patrick's Day!  Mine aren't perfect but that's because my kids made them (with my assistance of course).  

But who wants perfect shamrocks when your kids are proud of their creations?

Just keeping it real here, these babies are also portion controlled. They have the perfect combination of sweet, salty and crunch.

I am always looking for a sweet and salty treat.

So let me show you how simple these were to make! And yes, my 5 year old made this one.  

I promise these are fool proof.

These are fun to make and a great way to get your little people involved. They always (well, usually) love to help out and feel good about it too.  

Wait until you see how simple they are to prepare...

First step, arrange like this and preheat your oven to 200 degrees. A low baking temperature is exactly what is needed to slightly melt the chocolate without "baking" it.

Let that sit in the oven for 4 minutes so the hershey kiss softens.  Remove from oven.

Place a pretzel stick in the middle of the hershey kiss.

Then you simply place the m & m on top of the Hershey kiss and gently press down, being careful not to press too hard to break the shamrock. BAM!

That's it!

I told you they were easy. I like to put the baking sheets with the pretzel shamrocks in the refrigerator for them to harden.

They are super easy to make and just store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

Just be careful when you put them away to store them. The shamrocks are delicate so I like to layer parchment paper in between.

You don't need to do that if your airtight container is large enough for them to spread out without being stacked up.

They are simple to take out as a fun dessert and easy enough to put in your kid's lunch box. When my kids were younger I would pack a few of these treats for him to share with his friends.  

I also used to make them for the St. Patrick's Day parties too. Sigh....that feels like ages ago...

They were always a huge hit at the St. Patrick's Day parties.  Except for one kid who cried because his shamrock was "crooked" but that story is for another day...

Every parent out there gets it, I told him that crooked shamrocks still taste delicious. He wasn't buying it though.

Simple to make, fun and yummy. What's not to like?

And I promise you don't need to be Irish to enjoy these shamrocks. You only have to like treats!

You can easily substitute gluten free pretzels and dairy free chocolates if you have any allergies. I haven't tried those substitutions myself, so if you make it like that please come back and let me know.

I am curious how they come out.

Snyder's makes really delicious gluten free pretzels. My kids love them even more than the regular pretzels because they are so crunchy.

Now the next treat is nothing fancy, just fun and delicious.  We all love a chocolate chip cookie, right? How about a chocolate chip cookie BAR?

It tastes exactly the same, it's just thicker and more dense.  And maybe just a tad more delicious, but that's just me.

Cookie bars are easier to make because you just pour the dough in one pan. Easy clean up too.

Here are my St, Patrick's Day Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, recipe from Eating Well (love Eating Well!) They were thick, rich and chewy, just the way I love them.

I omitted the cocoa powder and added 2 tablespoons ground flax seed (for some added fiber) and changed the temperature to 375 degrees and baked them for 25 minutes until golden brown. Oh and how could I forget I added some green M & M's for some festive color.

Before you email me saying that you can't believe I used these candies with artificial colors, relax. You only use one little candy per shamrock.

Everything in moderation, right people?

And yes, in case you are wondering, I did get comments about the artificial colors on my facebook page. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Ok, back to the bars...

These cookie bars are so simple to make and they also store perfectly in an air tight container in the refrigerator. I have also frozen these too and they taste delicious.

I love just taking them right out of the freezer and into my kid's lunch box. By the time he's ready to eat lunch, they are defrosted!

And let's be honest, storing them in the freezer helps prevent you from overeating. We are all guilty of that at times, right?

Check out these other delicious St. Patrick's Day recipes that are ridiculously fun and simple to make!

Easy Pretzel Wands from Mom on Timeout

Homemade Shamrock Shake from Wishes and Dishes

St. Patrick's Day Cake Pops from Foodness Gracious

Shamrock Quesadillas from Lauren Kelly Nutrition 

This might be an old picture, but aren't they adorable? These are cute and simple to make for your kid's lunches. These are plain old cheese quesadillas, but you can fill them with whatever you'd like.

Also, let's not forget my Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread!

I used to be intimidated by making my own bread, but it really is simple to do. And homemade breads are soooo much better than the ones bought at a store.

I am sure you can all agree with me on that. But this one contains no yeast at all.

Please let me know if you made any of the recipes, including these Easy Pretzel Shamrocks. I always looking forward to hearing from you!

Hope you all have a Happy St. Patrick's Day.  May the luck of the Irish be with you~