Yummy Valentine's Day Chocolates

For my Valentines this year, I needed to figure out something that I KNEW was safe!  I needed to be frugal since the budget was tight, so I just used what I had on hand at home.  I decided to make my own chocolates - yummy!  Michael came home from work and could not believe I had made these all by myself.  He even called me his little Betty Crocker (I am not sure what that meant...either I am a scary cook normally or this was such a brilliant idea it COULDN'T possibly have come from me (ha ha), but I will take it to mean he was just plain impressed!)

I use Guittard chocolate chips (real semisweet chocolate chips) which are made in a peanut and gluten free facility and they contain no milk.  The ingredients are semisweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter), soya lecithin and real vanilla.  It does have a note that says it is processed on equipment previously used to process milk chocolate, but Silas is ultra sensitive to all dairy and this has not bothered him one bit.

I then proceeded to grab all the gluten, dairy, peanut, almond, egg, and soy free things I could find around the house.  Those of you allergic to corn will not be able to have the marshmallows (we used the campfire brand, I think...whichever ones specify gluten free) or the Glutino Gluten Fee Pretzels because both contain corn starch, but for everyone else, those are great options.  We used marshmallows, raisins, dried mangos, coconut, walnuts and cashews (which those of you with nut allergies will want to avoid, obviously!)
So, here is an ingredient list:
Guittard chocolate chips (or other dairy free ones of your choice)
Olive Oil (or coconut oil or something to smooth the chocolate)

(Here are some ideas of what to dip into the chocolate)
Marshmallows (Campfire or other gluten free)
Nuts
Coconut
Raisins
Pretzels (Glutino Gluten Fee Pretzels)
Your favorite gluten/dairy/allergy free cereal
Any dried fruit of your choice
Fresh fruit like strawberries or bananas

I poured one 12 oz bag of Guittard chocolate chips into a small pan and I put that inside another pan filled with water. Heat the water slowly (on low) and make sure that none of the water splashes into the pan with chocolate. I poured a couple tablespoons of olive oil into the chocolate to smooth it. Stir constantly once it starts melting. When the chocolate is ready, have your prepared goodies all ready to dip! I just used a few forks & dipped the items in the chocolate, then placed it on a sprayed pan to cool (I sprayed the pan with canola oil so the chocolates wouldn't stick.) With the leftover chocolate, I poured it into about 6 cupcake holes in my cupcake pan with some of the items (I used cashews & coconut which turned out really yummy!)


This was a hit with my whole family!  I think we will be making a lot of these in our future!  Enjoy, and please share any ideas with me that might make this even more enjoyable!  (For those of you who don't have tons of allergies, things like sprinkles might be fun to add to the top!)