How To Make Gluten-Free Bird’s Nest

I’ll show you How To Make Gluten-free Bird’s Nest with easy step-by-step instructions. Gluten-free pretzels, nut butter and chocolate melted together to form cute bird’s nests. Topped with dye-free jelly beans they make the perfect Easter treat for kids with or without allergies.

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I absolutely love Spring! It is by far my favorite season. The little bits of green popping up everywhere, flowers blooming, baby animals and best of all, Easter. Easter is such a special holiday for multiple reasons. First and foremost, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and secondly we have announced two of our pregnancies at Easter and the other two kiddos were born within a week or two of Easter.

It’s just a fun and special time for our family. However, like other holidays, it can also be challenging to partake in all the festivities and Easter Egg hunts with candies and treats when you have a kid with food allergies. I’m sure a lot of you can relate!

Over the years I have found some fun, simple little treats we can make together that are both a fun activity to do as a family and a special treat they can enjoy. Allergy friendly ingredients have really come a long way over the years! There are so many more options. I’m happy to get to share them with you!

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Bird’s Nest

• Gluten-Free Pretzels– For our recipe, I used gluten-free pretzels instead of the traditional chow mein noodles. We were unable to find them at our local grocery store, but I know that they do have a gluten-free version if you would prefer them instead. The pretzels will be the ‘branches’ for our birds nest. I think the pretzels worked out great instead and the little bit of salt with the sweetness of the chocolate was a perfect balance.

• Peanut Butter– Peanut butter is the binder that helps hold our nests together. We do not have any peanut allergies over here so I just used our favorite natural peanut butter. You can substitute any nut butter for this recipe: Almond butter, Sun butter, Cashew butter whatever you prefer.

• Melting Chocolate– The melted chocolate along with the peanut butter help the nests hold their form while adding delicious flavor. I used Enjoy Life Dairy Free Chocolate Chips but feel free to use milk chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips or any kind of almond bark.

• Dye-Free Jelly Beans– The jelly beans act as the eggs in our bird’s nest. This step is totally optional but makes it more fun for the kiddos. Of course, our jelly beans have to be gluten and dye free but you can use regular or even mini Cadbury eggs if you’d like!

Variations

• Gluten-Free Chow Mein Noodles in place of the gluten-free pretzels. This is what is most traditionally used. My kids don’t prefer the taste, but if you like the look or taste of the noodles better-they do have a gluten-free option available!

• Coconut Oil, Almond Butter, Sun Butter or Cashew Butter in place of peanut butter.

• Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips or Chocolate Almond Bark in place of dairy-free melting chocolate.

• Cadbury Eggs or large Jelly Beans in place of the dye-free jelly beans. These are delicious and my husbands absolute favorite Easter treat!

How To Make Gluten-Free Bird’s Nest

Now that we know the ingredients needed and different variations you can make-lets get cooking!

Step 1. Start by melting the chocolate chips in either the microwave or double boiler.

Step 2. Once the chocolate chips have completely melted add in the peanut butter or nut butter/coconut oil of choice and stir until smooth.

Step 3. Break the gluten-free pretzels in half and add to the chocolate and peanut butter mixture. Stir carefully until all of the pretzels are well coated.

Step 4. Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, scoop out ~ 2 TBS of the mixture and gently form into a ‘nest’ shape and place onto parchment paper to cool. You can also scoop out the mixture and place into a well greased muffin tin, gently pressing down in the center to leave room for the ‘eggs’.

Step 5. Let the nests cool completely and top with dye-free jelly beans or ‘egg’ of choice. Enjoy!

Looking for more gluten-free recipes? Find them here!