5 Allergy-free Breakfasts

Breakfast can be a challenging endeavor when you have multiple food allergies.  Most traditional breakfasts include either eggs, toast, or cereal - things my daughter cannot have with her allergies to dairy, eggs, nuts, and wheat.  So, I've had to mix things up in the morning.  Here are 5 allergy-free breakfasts I have served.

Allergy-free Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Again, thanks to Cybele Pascal and her wonderful cookbook, 'The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook,' I discovered a delicious recipe for chocolate sandwich cookies.  They are like old-fashioned whoopie pies - yum!  These would be a great addition to your allergy-free Christmas baking!


Like most cookie recipes, this one starts off with creaming the sugar and shortening:


The Ener-G 'egg,' applesauce and vanilla are then mixed in until the mixture is fluffy:



The dry ingredients are whisked together and stirred into the creamed mixture.  The dough is divided in two, wrapped in plastic wrap, and chilled in the fridge for 2 hours. Do NOT chill overnight -  because these are gluten-free, that will result in a very dry, crumbly mess.



Once the dough is chilled, simply unwrap, slice into 1/4-inch rounds, and bake on a parchment-covered cookie sheet.


When the cookies are cool, fill them with the cream filling.  These are like soft Oreo cookies.  You can make them festive by adding some peppermint extract to the cream filling or stirring in some crushed candy canes.  They store in a sealed container for a few days, but I guarantee they won't be around that long!


Shared on: Gluten-free Mondays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten-free Fridays

Recipe: (From Cybele Pascal's 'The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook'):



Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

(makes 24 2-inch cookies)

Ingredients
  • 1/2 c plus 1 T dairy-free, soy-free shortening (I use Spectrum)
  • 3/4 c sugar
  • 2 t vanilla extract
  • 3 T unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 1/2 T Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 2 T dairy-free milk
  • 1 1/2 c Gluen-free flour mix (I used Pamela's Artisan mix)
  • 3/4 t xanthan gum (omit if GF mix contains xanthan or guar gum)
  • 1/4 c + 3 T cocoa
  • 3/4 t baking powder
  • 3/4 t baking soda
  • 1/8 t salt
Cream Filling
  • 2 T dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening
  • 1 1/2 c powdered sugar
  • 1/2 t vanilla
  • 1 1/2 T hot water
Cooking Directions
  1. For the cookies, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, applesauce, and egg replacer and mix for about 30 seconds.
  2. Whisk together the remaining dry ingredients and add to the creamed mixture. Mix until smooth, about 20 seconds.
  3. Lay out 2 sheets of plastic wrap, each about 15 inches long. Divide the dough in half. Place half of the dough on each sheet of plastic wrap. Fold the plastic wrap over the dough, and shape it into a log 6 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Flatten the ends of the log, and wrap the plastic wrap at each end, folding it over tightly. Put the log in the fridge to chill. Repeat with the other half of dough. Let chill for at least 2 hours. It needs to be firm to slice easily.
  4. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  5. Remove one log from the fridge. Roll it on the counter to reshape, if necessary. Unwrap, and using a thin, sharp knife, cut into 24 1/4-inch slices. You can do this by cutting the log in half, then into quarters, then cutting each quarter into 6 slices. Place the cookies about 1 inch apart. Bake for 9 minutes, until just set around the edges. Remove from the oven, and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  6. Repeat with the other log of dough.
  7. To make the cream filling, combine all the filling ingredients in a medium bowl, mixing on medium speed, until smooth and creamy. If it is not creamy enough to spread easily, add a little more hot water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time. Spread the filling on one side of a cookie and cover with another cookie.
  8. Store in an airtight container.

Allergy-free Mac and Cheese

Great balls of fire, I found it!  A vegan, nut-free, delicious mac and cheese!  I have to give credit where credit is due - to Cybele Pascal in her new cookbook, 'Allergy-Free and Easy Cooking.' This recipe fits that description perfectly: Allergy-free and easy!



Allergy-free Gingerbread

I'm always so thrilled when a culinary experiment turns out to be a delicious treat.  I was wanting to make some gingerbread for my daughter, and I combined ideas from several recipes to create this allergy-free version.  It is wonderful baked in a traditional 9x9-inch pan, and it even works well as gingerbread mini-muffins - perfect for a Christmas party treat!

Paleo Shrimp Salad

This recipe utilizes the frozen, cooked shrimp you can find in the frozen section at just about any store.  It's full of protein, healthy fats, and veggies - perfect for a healthy paleo lunch!  You can use regular mayonnaise or, for an allergy-free version, try Earth Balance Mindful Mayo instead.


It takes about 5 minutes to throw it all together.  How's that for an easy, healthy meal?

Shared on: Gluten Free Monday, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Fridays

Recipe:



Paleo Shrimp Salad


Ingredients
  • 2 c frozen cooked shrimp, thawed and halved lengthwise
  • 1 c celery, finely diced
  • 1 T onion, finely diced
  • 1 T fresh lime juice
  • 2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1/4 c mayonnaise (or Earth Balance Mindful Mayo)
  • salt and pepper to taste
Cooking Directions
  1. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.
  2. Serve in a bowl or over fresh greens, topped with fresh avocado slices.

Allergy-free Carmelita Bars

Whole Foods Carmelita bars are quite a treat, unless you have food allergies.  So, I decided to create my own allergy-free version.  This recipe uses a dairy-free caramel sauce, which can be found here.  The result is a wonderful, addictive, crunchy, chocolate-y caramel bar. I adapted this recipe from the BrownEyedBaker.com.

Dairy-free Caramel Dip

Caramel sauce is a fall treat those allergic to dairy cannot enjoy - until now.  Thanks to the wide availability of canned coconut milk and cream, this simple dairy-free caramel is not only easy,  but also a delicious, allergy-free treat. It can be used alone as a dip or in other recipes which call for caramel sauce (like my Allergy-free Carmelita Bars). 

Allergy-free Graham Crackers

This allergy-free cracker is more like a cross between a graham cracker and a Biscoff cookie.  Did you ever have those Biscoff cookies on a Delta flight?  I used to hoard them when on board - that was before they were available at the store.  This recipe is slightly adapted from Cybele Pascal's 'The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook.'  It takes a little bit of work, but the results are so worth it!


Beef bone broth

I've been reading online about the health benefits of bone broth (rich in numerous vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants - especially calcium, magnesium and phosphorous, which are essential for bone health).  I order my grass-fed beef from a local farm, and the package always includes soup bones - yea!  It turns out the process is very easy.  Within 24 hours, I had 6 pints of delicious beef bone broth.

Paleo Turkey Sweet Potato Hash

Let me just say you have GOT to make this with your leftover Thanksgiving turkey.  It is beyond delicious.  I mean really, you can't go wrong with ingredients like bacon, turkey, garlic, and sweet potatoes. Plus, it's super easy, allowing you to get dinner on the table in about 20 minutes.

Allergy-free Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

My mom hosted an early Thanksgiving dinner this year, and she asked me to make a gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free version of our traditional stuffing.  She had found a great recipe on Martha Stewart's website that she wanted me to make allergy-free.  The first thing I had to do was find a gluten-free cornbread recipe to use, and I ended up using this one with the egg-replacer substitution.

Quick Paleo Spaghetti

This spaghetti recipe is a standard go-to in our house.  The sauce can be either quickly prepared or simmered all day if desired. It utilizes a store-bought jar spaghetti sauce, and I fancy it up a bit by adding meat and fresh veggies.  When it tops a bed of roasted spaghetti squash and fresh, chopped spinach, you have yourself a tasty, healthy meal.

Brown Bread

If you have multiple food allergies, one of the hardest things to come by is a decent-tasting bread.  Udi's makes some great-looking GF bread, but it contains eggs so it's not a good solution for us.  I recently found a recipe for 'Brown Bread' in one of my allergy-free cookbooks, 'The Complete Allergy-Free Comfort Foods Cookbook' by Elizabeth Gordon.


Allergy-free Aussie Bites

Have you ever had those 'Aussie Bites' they sell at Costco?  They are so addictive!  Unfortunately, they are not allergy-free.  I bought some the other day and, because they are so tasty, decided to create an allergy-free version that my daughter could have.

Allergy-free Pumpkin Spice Creamer

For those with a dairy allergy, Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte is not an option, even with soy milk, because the pumpkin spice mix itself has milk in it.  We figured this out by mistake last year when our daughter ordered one and had a reaction after the first sip.  Thankfully, Tiffany at The Coconut Mama has created a dairy-free, vegan, paleo version that is simply delicious.  



Please visit The Coconut Mama's post for the recipe. The six ingredients are combined in a saucepan over low heat until thoroughly combined.  The creamer can then be added to your favorite coffee.  


It can be stored in the refrigerator - I keep mine in a mason jar, and before adding to coffee I just give the jar a good shake.  Now everyone can enjoy a little pumpkin spice latte!



Recipe: Dairy Free Pumpkin Spice Creamer

Chocolate Cupcakes

These delicious, allergy-free cupcakes are perfect for Halloween or anytime.  The cupcake recipe is an allergen-free adaptation of Hershey's 'Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake,' and the frosting recipes come from Cybele Pascal's book, 'The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook.' 


Like most cake recipes, this one starts with whisking together the dry ingredients. The milk oil, 'egg,' and vanilla are combined and then stirred into the dry mixture.  The resulting batter looks like brownie batter.


The last ingredient to add is some hot coffee.  I keep instant coffee on hand for this.  As many of you know, coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate.  If you don't have any coffee or you don't care for it, you can also just use hot water.  Once this is mixed in, the batter becomes much thinner and pourable.



I poured the batter into cupcake liners, about 2/3 full:


Once they are baked and cooled, they can be frosted and decorated for any occasion.  I opted for chocolate buttercream, tinted with a little black frosting as well as a simple vanilla frosting.  These were decorated with simple Halloween decor for a yummy, spooky treat!



 Recipe:

Chocolate Cupcakes
(makes 12 cupcakes)

Ingredients:
3/4 c sugar
1 c GF flour mix (I use 6:2:1 Superfine brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour)
1/2 c cocoa
3/4 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 'egg' (2 t Ener-G egg replacer + 2 T dairy-free milk)
1/2 c dairy-free milk (I used coconut)
1/4 c oil (I used safflower)
1 t vanilla
1/2 c hot coffee or water

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  2. Whisk together the first 6 ingredients.  Combine the 'egg,' milk, oil, and vanilla and stir into dry mixture.
  3. Slowly stir in the hot coffee and mix thoroughly.
  4. Pour batter into cupcake liners, about 2/3 full.
  5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.


Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (from Cybele Pascal's 'Allergen-free Baker's Handbook')
(enough for 12 cupcakes)
6 T dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening
2 2/3 c powdered sugar
1/3 c + 1 T dairy-free milk
1/2 t vanilla
pinch salt

  1. Beat the shortening on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
  3. Combine the sugar mixture with the shortening, alternating with the mik.  Add the vanilla and salt.  Beat until smooth and fluffy.



Vanilla Frosting (from Cybele Pascal's 'Allergen-free Baker's Handbook')
(enough for 12 cupcakes)
1 c dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening
pinch salt
3 c powdered sugar
1/4 c dairy-free milk
1/2 t vanilla

  1. Beat the shortening and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  2. Add the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.  Beat until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes.


Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

What to do with all of those pumpkin seeds you scoop out of your pumpkins this year?  How about a healthy, delicious snack?  Pumpkin seeds are full of fiber and protein, and this recipe adds some yummy fall flavors too.  They also happen to be an allergy-free snack!


Here is the slimy, seed-filled pulp we scooped out of two of our pumpkins yesterday:


I just ran them under running water and separated the seeds from the orange slimy stuff.  It took less than 10 minutes before they looked like this:


The seeds hold quite a bit of moisture, so they need to be dried a bit.  I opted to do this with the oven (at a low temp), which took about 20 minutes.  You can also try using paper towel or simply letting them drain for a while.  As you can see here, they were not perfectly dry, but they had dried quite a bit:

I drizzled the seeds with butter and tossed them with the sugar and spices before I baked them.


To keep the sugar from burning, I gave them a stir every 10 minutes.  I took them out once they were starting to brown.  The combination of sweet and salty reminds me of kettle corn.  Delicious!


Shared on: Gracelaced Mondays, Gluten Free Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Tasteful Tuesday, Allergy Free Wednesday, Gluten-Free Fridays

Recipe:

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:
2 c pumpkin seeds (scooped out of 2-3 medium pumpkins)
4 T vegan butter, melted. (I like Earth Balance)
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t salt
1/2 t allspice
2 T brown sugar

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees
  2. Rinse your pumpkin seeds well and let drain.  Spread them out on a baking sheet and dry thoroughly.  You can do this with a paper towel or in a warm (200 degree) oven for 10-20 min. 
  3. Drizzle the butter over the seeds and toss to coat thoroughly.
  4. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the seeds.  Toss to coat.
  5. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.


Allergy-free Chipotle Coleslaw

This delicious, spicy coleslaw is not only allergy-free but Paleo too!  I found the recipe on Health-Bent.com here and substituted an allergy-free mayonnaise.



If you don't count the marinating time, this recipe takes about 5 minutes to make.  All you do is slice up the cabbage (cut down the middle and remove the hard middle part first), mix up the dressing, and combine.   Instead of regular or homemade mayo, I prefer to use my new favorite allergy-free mayo: Earth Balance Mindful Mayo.  It's the only egg-free mayo I have found that actually tastes like mayonnaise.  



The chipotle chile and cilantro are mixed in with the dressing.


Then, the cabbage is simply folded into the dressing. The result - a crunchy, spicy, flavorful coleslaw to accompany just about any main dish!


Shared on: Tastetastic Thursday, Gluten Free Fridays, Whole Food Fridays, Gluten Free Monday


Recipe: (slightly adapted from Health-Bent.com)

Allergy-free Chipotle Coleslaw

Ingredients:

1 small head green cabbage (about 1 1/2 lbs), thinly sliced
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped + 1 T adobo sauce
½ c vegan mayonnaise (I like Earth Balance Mindful Mayo)
1 lime, juiced
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T agave nectar
handful cilantro, chopped
salt

Directions:
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the chipotle, mayo, lime juice, vinegar, agave nectar and cilantro. Taste and add salt according to your preference. 
  • Toss in the sliced cabbage and mix. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate for at least 10 minutes before serving..






Allergy-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since chocolate chip cookies are probably one of the most popular baked goods, I thought I should include a post with my allergy-free version.  These cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and nut-free. They last about 2 days at my house, enjoyed by those with and without food allergies.


The first thing I do is make my 'egg' mixture with ground flax and let it sit for a few minutes and thicken.  Meanwhile, I cream together the shortening and sugars.  For some reason, I prefer mixing this dough by hand, but you could use a mixer as well. Once the 'egg' has thickened, I stir it and the vanilla into the creamed sugars until it's nice and fluffy.:



The next step is to whisk together the remaining dry ingredients and mix them into the dough.  After the chocolate chips are stirred in, I form the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place them on a cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart.  



The cookies are baked in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like them to be.  Gluten-free baked goods tend to dry out pretty quickly, so I prefer 10 minutes. I hope you and your family enjoy these as much as we do!



Recipe: (shared on Gracelaced Mondays, Gluten Free Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Tasteful Tuesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Tastetastic Thursday, Gluten Free Fridays, Allergy Friendly Friday, Healthy Vegan Friday)

Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF, V)
(makes about 36 cookies)
Ingredients:
1 c vegetable shortening (I like Spectrum)
1 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 'eggs' (2 T ground flax + 6 T water)
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 c gluten-free flour (I like 6:2:1 Superfine brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour)
2/3 c oat flour (you can grind yourself with gluten-free oats)
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t xanthan gum
2 c dairy-free chocolate chips

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • In a small bowl, combine the ground flax and water and let sit for a few minutes to thicken. Cream together the shortening and sugars in a large bowl.
  • Add the 'eggs' and vanilla to the creamed sugars.  Mix well until the dough is fluffy.
  • Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt.  Add the dry mixture to the sugar mixture until well combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
  • Form the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet about 2" apart. Bake 10-12 minutes.