Hot Cacao (DF SF NF GF)

Normally, I would make hot cocoa with almond milk, but until we evaluate almonds in Witt's diet again, they are out.  And I always try to avoid soy.  He's tried chocolate rice milk and doesn't like it. So that leads me to coconut milk.

This recipe is thick, rich and delicious... a real treat! Unfortunately only one of my three boys agreed, and it wasn't the food-allergy kid. :(

However, I really enjoyed it so I'm keeping the recipe for me. :)

*A few notes first:

• I would not recommend substituting 1:1 on the sugar. To me, sucanat has a completely different flavor and isn't as "sweet" as regular white sugar. If you are going to use plain, white sugar, add slowly and taste as you go. 
• Cacao powder and cocoa powder taste different to me as well.  Cacao has more of a dark chocolate taste. I don't know if a regular cocoa powder (like Hershey's) would substitute exactly.

Ingredients

1 can unsweetened coconut milk (I use Thai organic)
1 can water
3 Tbsp cacao powder (I use Navitas organic)
4 Tbsp sucanat
1/8 tsp sea salt (I use pink Himalayan)
1 tsp vanilla extract, gluten free


Directions

Combine entire can of coconut milk and can of water in a pot. Warm over medium heat.

Whisk in cacao powder, sucanat, and sea salt. (Remember to taste as you go with the sugar!)

Once well combined and warm, remove from heat and add vanilla extract.

Serve warm.  Makes approximately 3 1/3 cups.



Recipe linked on Allergy-Free Wednesday

Chocolate Chip Cookie (GF DF SF)

Cookies

This recipe is altered from a previous one (DF, EF) now that Witt cannot have wheat, but can have eggs.  The following recipe is gluten free, dairy free, and soy free.  I made about 24 cookies, 24 mini-muffins, and one 9" cookie cake to see how the recipe handled different forms.

These may not be the most perfect looking desserts, but everyone loved them! Even the non-allergy folks.  YUM!

Mini-Muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/4 c GF flour (I used Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Mix)
1/4 tsp Xanthan gum
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 c coconut oil
3/4 c white sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp GF vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 - 2 cups Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

To get your eggs to room temperature more quickly, cover them with warm water.

In a bowl, combine flour and xanthan gum, baking soda and salt.

In a mixer, cream the coconut oil and sugars together.  Then add vanilla and eggs.  Mix well.

Slowly add flour blend to the oil blend. Stir until just combined. (Small chunks of coconut oil are fine.)

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Cookie Cake

For cookies:  

Drop SMALL amounts of dough onto cookie sheet. These spread and flatten. Bake 9 - 11 minutes.  Allow to cool on sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Yield: approximately 60 cookies

(Note to self: Try refrigerating dough before cooking to see if it helps lesson spreading.)


For mini-muffins: 

Fill muffin tin with cup holders. Do not grease. Fill cup 3/4 full.  Bake 9 - 11 minutes.  These sunk in the middle which made a perfect place for frosting! Turned out great! Yield: approximately 60 mini-muffins


For cookie cake:

Use a non-greased 9" round pan. Use 1/4 - 1/5 of the dough per 9" round pan. Bake 10-13 minutes. Yield: 4-5 9" cookie cakes.  Allow to cool in pan.  Recommend serving from the round pan; do not transfer.

(Note to self: I was very pleased with the cookie cake. The sides of the pan helped contain the spreading.  Will try with a pizza pan to see if the recipe can handle a larger size.)

Strawberry Frosting DFSFGF

Looking for some kind of cupcake container for my son to bring to school, led me to the Push-Pop Dessert Maker. Cute, huh? :)

Ingredients

2 large strawberries
1 tsp sucanat (or plain sugar)
1/2 cup earth balance natural buttery spread (soy free), room temp
1/2 cup Spectrum organic vegetable shortening, room temp
1 tsp gluten-free vanilla extract
2 - 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar


Directions

Cut each strawberries in to 8 pieces and place in a small bowl. Sprinkle sucanat over the strawberries. Set aside for 5-10 minutes. When most of the sugar has been dissolved, mash or puree the strawberries until there are few to no chunks (unless you like the chunks... then you can leave them) :)

In a large mixing bowl (I use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer), combine the buttery spread, the shortening, and the vanilla. I mix it on high until well combined.

Add the mashed strawberries and combine again.  You may need to scrape down the sides of your bowl to help the strawberries combine.

Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Mixing completely before adding the next cup.  (I liked the sweetness of 2 cups, but I wanted it a little stiffer so I added an extra 1/2 cup.)

If you need a thinner frosting, add a tsp of water or milk-alternative.

Refrigeration is recommended to maintain best consistency.

Rice Treats

This is an oldie from back in 2008, but I've updated the ingredients a bit to fit our new needs. These  treats were individually wrapped and labeled for my boys' Fall Festival at school. Now the allergy kids can have a treat, too! :)

 

I made a batch with Earth Balance and another with coconut oil. I, personally, like the coconut oil batch better. Enjoy!

 

Ingredients
10.5 oz GF miniature marshmallows (eg. Kraft)
1/4 cup coconut oil (preferred) or DF/SF margarine (eg. Earth Balance buttery spread)
5-6 cups GF crispy rice cereal (eg. GF Rice Krispies)

Directions
Line a 13x9 pan with wax paper and grease with coconut oil.

Melt coconut oil in a large bowl in the microwave (If you have time, you really should do this over low heat on the stove top to preserve the benefits of coconut oil. But... I was in a hurry and this is what I did.)

Add marshmallows to melted oil and mix to coat.

Microwave marshmallows and coconut oil until melted, stirring after each 1 minute. (Or if using the stove, just stir continuously until everything is melted and well combined.)

Add cereal to melted marshmallows slowly, stirring to combine well. Pour mixture into pan and press down with greased fingers.

Cool in the refrigerator. Cut into squares.

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Side note: I didn't realize until after I had stuck my labels on that I forgot to add soy-free. And to make these Top 8-Free, these are of course fish and shellfish-free, too. ;)

GF DF SF Baked Oatmeal

I tweaked this recipe from Urban Nester who tweaked it from someone else. :) After reading the many, many comments on Urban Nester's post, I realized this is a great adaptable recipe because so many people have made it to fit their own dietary needs and it worked! So, I tweaked it a bit for us and this is what 2 out of 3 of my boys ate and ate and ate. And then asked that I make again next week. (One boy doesn't like oatmeal...period. Even with chocolate.)


Ingredients

Dry:
2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1/3 cup sucanat
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup walnut (or pecan, flax, etc), ground (optional)

Wet:
1 cup strawberries (any berries work)
2 cups rice milk, original (or other DF milk alternative)
1 large egg (or egg replacement. We can do eggs now.)
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ripe banana, peeled

 Fold in:
1/3 - 1/2 cup EnjoyLife chocolate chips

Side Note: If you have time, let the milk, egg, and fruit come to room temperature first so that the coconut oil doesn't clump too much when you mix them all together.

Another Side Note: My kids don't like crunchy stuff in their oatmeal, so I ground the walnuts first, but you can leave them in pieces if you prefer... or leave them out all together.  Easy peasy. :)

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DIRECTIONS


Lightly grease 11x7 pan with coconut oil.

In a bowl combine oats, sucanat, baking powder, cinnamon, sea salt, and walnuts (if using).

In a food processor, combine strawberries, rice milk, egg, coconut oil, vanilla, and banana until well combined. The coconut oil may clump back up into solid form a little, but that should be ok.

Combine wet and dry ingredients and pour into greased pan.


To bake immediately:
Fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.

To bake later (Preferred method for a thicker oatmeal):
Cover the dish and place in the refrigerator overnight.

(Mine was in a glass baking dish, so I removed it from the fridge about 30 minutes before baking. I placed it on the counter to allow it to come closer to room temperature first.)

Fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.


Store covered in the refrigerator. Reheated nicely in the microwave. Serves at least 6.


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Notes to self for next time:

• Reduce to 1/3 chocolate chips (we preferred it this way)
• Compare reheat in microwave vs. toaster oven.

Homemade Mint Chocolate/Carob Chips

Haven't tried this yet, but yummmm.... looks so good!

Homemade Mint Chocolate/Carob Chips

• soy-free
• dairy-free
• refined sugar-free option
• caffeine-free carob option

Chocolate Cake Brownies

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Soy-Free, Peanut-Free

This recipe was adapted from the March edition of Guideposts Magazine.  You could substitute regular flour for the rice and amaranth flour if gluten is not a concern. 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup honey
1 1/4 cup milk substitute
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 t sea salt
2 t baking powder
1 cup organic walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate baking chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease the inside of a 9x13 pan with coconut oil.  Combine oil, honey, milk substitute, flaxseed and vanilla in order, then mix 1 minute on medium.  Gradually add flours and cocoa powder - mix one minute on medium.  Add baking soda, salt and baking powder in order, then mix 1 minute on high.  Add walnuts and chocolate chips - mix well.  Pour into pan and bake 17-20 minutes.  Store in fridge. 

Makes 12 brownies.

Dairy Free Chocolate (Avocado) Pudding

Ok, this is going to sound strange, but here are your ingredients:

avocados
cocoa powder
vanilla extract
maple syrup


(not so scientific) Directions

Place desired number of avocados in food processor. (Three regular sized ones give a nice sized portion for four people.)

Start processing. Add cocoa powder by the tablespoon until the green turns brown like chocolate. You may need to stop the processor and scrape down the sides. Add a dash of vanilla. Then begin adding the maple syrup while processing and do several taste tests until it is sweet enough.

Enjoy!

PS. My kids have been known to make a mess while eating this! :)

~I found this recipe at Green & Crunchy

No Bake Cookie Bars

adapted from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures


Ingredients

1/2 c honey
1/2 c coconut oil
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c Sunbutter
1 1/2 c oats (I used "old fashioned")
1/2 c dairy free chocolate chips


Directions

Melt honey, coconut oil, and cocoa powder on low stirring well to combine. Whisk at least 1 minute once melted as the honey really likes to settle on the bottom. Remove from heat.

Stir in vanilla and Sunbutter. Add oats and chocolate chips. Stir to combine.

Transfer to a brownie pan and refrigerate until hardened (approximately 1 hour or more).

Homemade Dairy-Free, Nut-Free Chocolate Candy

With Valentine's Day coming up, I struggle with chocolate candy for my dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free daughter. You can buy expensive allergy-free chocolate or you can make your own. Here's what I came up with to make some fun chocolate candies.

Use a mold or silicon ice cube tray. I bought mine at the dollar store, but I've also seen them at the dollar spot at Target. Simply melt dairy-free chocolate chips, such as Enjoy Life chocolate chips, and pour into the mold. Chill and pop out.

Here's another recipe to change it up a little. Yummy!

Chocolate Sunbutter Hearts

1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life)
1/4 cup Sunbutter (or Soybutter)
2 Tbsp daiy-free butter (I use Earth's Balance)

1. Melt in microwave for 30 seconds.

2. Pour in mold

3. Chill in freezer for an hour or longer.

4. Once chilled, pop out and eat!

**Use more or less of the ingredients depending on how many you want to make. You really can't do it wrong.*

(This recipe is featured on Mallergies.)

Getting to know us and birthday cake!

I am so excited to be a part of this blog! For me recipes need to be easy to follow and easy to make or I wont touch them lol! This blog has given me many ideas on ways to cook for my 1 yr old daughter with many food intolerance's. We finally did allergy testing and all tests, except for grass, came back negative as we thought, because there is no testing to check for GI response allergies (or intolerance's as they like to call them). We have a plan to slowly introduce dairy/soy/rice/bananas and a variety of other foods that our daughter has reacted poorly to but for right now I will be learning to cook free of all of these.

Our first obstacle....Birthday Cake and frosting!

Since I am fairly new to cooking with many restrictions I visited our local Whole Foods and found many birthday cake mixes. One that I especially thought looked promising is a yellow cake mix by Cherrybrook Kitchen (most all of their products are dairy/egg/peanut/soy free.) It does call for butter so i picked a tub of Earth's Balance dairy/soy free butter and brought it home to make. It was so easy as it only calls for butter, water and the cake mix, and tasted GREAT! Its a bit more dense then your average cake but well worth it to be able to let my daughter have cake on her birthday.

To frost it I made a very simple frosting that required powdered sugar, "safe" butter,almond flavoring and a bit of water to smooth it out. I first melted the butter (the amount of butter depends on how much you want to make. I used about 1/2 cup of butter.) I then mixed in powdered sugar to make it clumpy and added about a teaspoon of water just to smooth it out. If you want it thicker you will want to add more powdered sugar. After I got it to the consistency I wanted I added 1/4 tsp of almond flavoring and 3 drops of pink food coloring. It turned out great and my daughter loved it! You can tell it tasted good by how she dug into it! For everyone else I made mini cupcakes with the same cake mix and frosting mix.

Everyone loved them and couldn't even tell they were allergy free!

Dairy Free Fudge

Speaking of fudge... we were speaking of fudge, right? Well, I was thinking about it anyway...

:)

I ran across this fudge when I was searching for a recipe to get more coconut oil in my boys because of their eczema AND wanting to get some local honey in them for their environmental allergies.

I found a perfect recipe for that!!! Original from amanda123ns at allrecipes.com.



HALF recipe:

1/2 c coconut oil (I used extra virgin)
1/2 c cocoa
1/4 c honey (local to you if possible)

Gently melt the coconut oil to liquid if it's in the solid state. Combine liquid coconut oil and cocoa until smooth. Mix in honey. Refrigerate for at least one hour (or until preferred hardness) in a lightly greased container. (I greased a stainless steel bowl with coconut oil.)

Add some almonds and you'll have a Mounds Bar! I'm also wondering if a little Sunbutter might be good mixed in? Maybe next time!

Forgot to take a picture as it was eaten too quickly. :)

White Cake RECIPE HELP NEEDED, PLEASE!!! :)

Nathan turns 4 this Friday! He wants a green cake with green frosting. My standard birthday cake is chocolate... which I can't turn green! Thankfully, I can handle the frosting.

I checked our local grocery store today for boxed mixes, but all the white cakes have milk and/or eggs listed as ingredients. None of the local stores sell Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes.

Do you have a DFEF WHITE cake recipe? I'm usually up for just substituting in a regular recipe, but I've heard that doing that with white cake mixes doesn't make for a good cake.

Maybe I should make a yellow cake and add blue?

Suggestions... PLEASE! :)
Thank you!!!

Dairy Free Chocolate Squares (S'mores!)

We are fortunate enough that Witt has not had any reaction to food that carries the warning of "Created on a line that process dairy, etc." That means we can use Ghirardelli Semi-sweet chocolate chips! Yummm....

To create chocolate squares, I melt the chips with a little bit of coconut oil (you could also use DF margarine). Then I pour the melted chocolate onto a wax paper lined tray. Smooth it out to the thickness I want and refrigerate.

Since coconut oil is solid above 77, it doesn't take long to harden. Then you can take it out and cut it into squares with a knife.


Then if you want, add some roasted marshmallows and a couple of graham crackers! :)

Jeff's Favorite Cobbler

I think I've only actually made this a couple of times, but Jeff has made it many times over. He's used fresh peaches, fresh blueberries, and for his last creation shown here, a combination of fresh cherries and blueberries. YUMMMmmmmm.....

Cook time will vary depending on how you like your breading. I personally like my cobbler a little gooey, so I take it out a little sooner than most. These pictures show it completely cooked, almost like a cake, but it was still oh. so. good! Let me say it again: YUMMMMmmmmm...... :)



2 large peaches, peeled and sliced (or equivalent amount of other fruit)
1 1/2 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup DF margarine, melted
1 cup AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
dash ground nutmeg
3/4 c up almond milk (or other milk substitute)

In a bowl, combine peaches and 3/4 cup sugar; set aside. Pour margarine into an 8" square baking pan. In a bowl, combine flour, baking poser, salt, nutmeg and remaining sugar. Stir in milk until just combined. Pour over the butter. Top with peaches.

Bake 375 for 45 - 50 minutes until golden brown.

Healthier Breakfast Cookies

Although we've enjoyed the previous breakfast cookie recipe I've posted, I wanted to make it a little healthier. I had already reduced the sugar amount from the original, but now I've changed a few more things. I may even try to reduce the sugar further the next time I make them.

Here's our current recipe:

1 cup margarine or coconut oil
1 cup sucanat
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce (not sweetened)
1/2 cup peanut butter substitute
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup dry cereal (your choice)
1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS
2 Tablespoons wheat germ
2 Tablespoons hemp seed
2 Tablespoons milled flax
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruit
1/2 cup nuts


Directions

Melt together the margarine or coconut oil. Add sugars and cream thoroughly.

Mix remaining ingredient and stir in any or all of the optional ingredients.

Drop by rounded Tablespoons onto lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 11-13 minutes. Makes 3 dozen.


***Just a few notes:

These cookies do NOT turn a golden brown, but they continue to crisp up after cooking. I have found that I get best results when they are still just a little gooey coming out of the oven and leave them on the cookie sheet to cool for at least 5 minutes. Then I transfer them to a cooling rack.

However, if I do over cook and they are just too crispy to enjoyably eat, they are WONDERFUL broken up into a bowl of almond milk and eaten like cereal in the morning for breakfast! They are practically oatmeal and cereal after all!

For the cereal, we use Lucky charms or Fruit Loops to add some color, but I'm sure something healthier would work, too. :)

For the peanut butter substitute, both almond butter and sunbutter gave good results, but I prefer Sunbutter for it's stronger taste.

When using this much coconut oil, it will be necessary to refrigerate these cookies or they will fall apart easily.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

***************

This month's Daring Baker's Challenge was a bit of a stretch for me. The original flourless cake recipe they gave us had 5 eggs in it! I almost opted out, until a recipe link was posted for a flourless chocolate cake that used black eyed peas and tofu!


I used her recipe, and received similar results... an extremely moist cake with a sunken middle.


Granted this isn't a recipe I would normally choose and probably won't make again, but it was a challenge and I worked with some ingredients I wouldn't normally pair together. As for taste, I could certainly taste the black eyed peas and although I do like BEP's, I'd rather have them as a side dish than a dessert. :)

Now, my BEP-loving son (who will drink the BEP juice!) enjoyed the crusty outside of the cake; he didn't like the moist inside.

As a secondary part of the challenge, we were to pair it with homemade whipped topping, ice cream, or a fruit puree. I chose a berry fruit sorbet... YUM!

Dairy Free Sorbet

I adapted this recipe from The Minimalist.


1 cup frozen fruit (I used a combo of black berry, blue berry, and raspberry)
2 Tbsp white sugar
3 Tbsp Silk vanilla creamer
4 - 5 Tbsp water

Put the first three ingredients in your food processor and pulse to break up the frozen fruit. Add water slowly so it stays in a sorbet consistency and doesn't turn into a smoothie.

The boys and I ate this immediately, so I haven't experimented with putting it back in the freezer for a later time... if you try to, let me know how it goes!

Enjoy!

Daring Bakers: Tuiles

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Baking Soda and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf.
They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

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This is my first month as a Daring Baker! I've seen this around the blogosphere and thought this would be so much fun! Once I qualify, I'll be listed as an Alternative Baker as all my recipes will be Dairy-free, Egg-free and Peanut-free due to my son's allergies.

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The original recipe was taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

I halved the recipe and converted it to Dairy-Free and Egg-free. My final recipe follows:

1/8 c dairy free margarine, softened
1/4 c confectioner's sugar, sifted
slightly less than 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c all purposed, unbleached flour

I also sprinkled blue sugar crystals on one prior to baking, just to see how it would turn out.



We were also instructed to pair these cookies with something light. I sprinkled on some powdered sugar and added a thin slice of lemon including the rind. Then I made some coconut "whip-cream" (recipe from GO DAIRY FREE). I think a raspberry on top would have finished it off nicely, but I'm to cheap to buy them just for presentation! LOL!


My husband and boys LOVED these! In fact, Nathan requested "star cookies" just the other day!

I'm not much of a photographer, but these cookies were good and I'll certainly be making them again!

Chewy Non-Peanut Butter Brownies

Have you tried SunButter? Oh my word, it's good. At first it tastes like peanut butter, but then you get the sunflower seed in the aftertaste. Yum.

The original recipe is here, but I've altered it to fit our needs. Also, if you don't want to use whole wheat flour, just use a full cup of all-purpose. (I just like to try and sneak some better flour in where I can! {grin})

I could not tell that these were not peanut butter. So moist and tasty. This will easily become a family favorite!


1/2 cup Sunbutter
1/2 cup dairy free margarine, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together sun butter and margarine. Gradually blend in the brown sugar, white sugar, applesauce, and vanilla; mix until fluffy. Combine flours, baking powder, and salt; stir into the sun butter mixture until well blended.
3. Bake for 35 minutes in preheated oven, or until the top springs back when touched. Cool, and cut into squares.

(This recipe is featured on Allergy Sense.)