Caramel Apple Dip (gluten, dairy, egg and nut free)

One of the things that I wanted to do with the boys for Halloween was this DIY caramel apple bites I found via Pinterest:

Photo: Ellie’s Bites Decorated Cookies

How cute is that? Unfortunately, I have to mail-order allergen safe sprinkles and didn’t get around to it in time. Candy corn is out because of either egg or nut in every brand I’ve found, and  marshmallows that are safe for us don’t come in a mini size.  Also, food on a stick:  I’m just not sure my one and four year old are ready for it. So, I decided to dial it back quite a bit and just do apples with caramel sauce for a snack.

Order of Business No. 1: Find a safe caramel sauce recipe.  I found a vegan recipe that called for two cups of sugar, AND corn syrup. Yikes.

Order of Business No. 2: Find a safe caramel sauce recipe that doesn’t make me feel like a bad mother. I found this paleo recipe from Paleo Parents. I feel much better about honey and maple syrup. It’s still sugar, but at least it’s not super processed, and it is a cup versus 2 1/2 cups. But it bothered me that this recipe had no butter in it. I mean, every caramel sauce recipe I have read (and I read a lot, looking for a safe one) had either butter or heavy cream. So I decided to tweak the paleo recipe and throw  in some Earth Balance margarine (if you use pastured butter instead, it would still be paleo – I just can’t do that with my kids’ dairy intolerance.)

Are you worried that paleo caramel just won’t taste like “real” caramel? Don’t be. The four-year old asked if he could drink the caramel. The one-year old didn’t ask – he just did it anyway. Yeah, it’s good.

*If you are making this and can’t tolerate dairy (butter) or the soy in Earth Balance sticks, you could use the soy free Earth Balance formula that comes in a tub. Or, possibly a bit of coconut milk. I think that will be what I try the next time I make this.*

Safe Caramel Apple Dip (gluten, dairy, egg and nut free)

Adapted from PaleoParents, original recipe here.

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup honey

1 1/2 Tbsp. Earth Balance margarine

1/2 tsp. baking soda

You have to keep an eye on this one. It involves medium low heat, and lots of patience and whisking. It’s worth it.

In a medium saucepan, combine the maple syrup and honey, heat over medium heat until it starts to bubble, stirring frequently. After it is bubbling, turn heat down to medium low, and whisk constantly, cooking for about 10 minutes, until the maple syrup and honey come together. Remove from heat, and stir in margarine and baking soda. The combination will turn it from a clear liquid to an opaque color, but more stirring will make it clearer.

411 Granola – gluten, dairy, egg and nut free

Store bought granola is too expensive. Store bought granola that is gluten/dairy/nut free is even more expensive, and I have found that the taste is hit or miss.

This is a really basic granola, which happens to be my favorite kind. The last time we made this, it disappeared so fast  I didn’t have time to photograph it. It’s that good.  We like it with milk for breakfast, out of hand for snacking, or layered with fruit and yogurt for a parfait.

I call it 411 granola to remind me of the amount of each ingredient. Truthfully though I usually double this recipe and make 822 granola. It really goes that fast around here.

This is a great recipe for cooking with your kids. Monkey helps me make this all the time.

411 Granola (from Feeding My Kid)

4 cups certified gluten free rolled oats

1  cup coconut oil, melted

1 c. maple syrup

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.Mix the  ingredients and pour onto two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to keep the outer edges from burning.

After this cools, you can add dried fruit or raisins if you so desire.

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars – gluten, dairy and egg free

One of the things that had to go away when Bulldog was diagnosed with a peanut allergy were the boxed granola bars from the market.  There is a cross contamination risk, as the box says they “may contain peanuts.” The kids couldn’t eat them anyway, because they also contain gluten and dairy, but Mr. FMK really missed them. These are not the same thing, but they help fill the gap. They are sort of like a chocolate chip cookie with lots of extra goodies.

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (from Feeding My Kid)

1 cup  brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp  agave nectar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg (or Ener G Egg Replacer equal to one egg – 1 1/2 tsp.)

1 cup gluten free flour mix

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups certified gluten free rolled oats

1 1/2 cups gluten free Rice Crispies or puffed rice

1 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (or you could use their mega chunks)

In a large bowl, cream together sugars and butter. Add agave, vanilla and egg. (If using Ener G Egg Replacer, add with dry ingredients). Mix well. Blend in flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir in oats, rice cereal and chocolate chips.

Using clean hands, press into a well-greased  9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes*.

* My egg allergic kid can tolerate egg in baked goods as long as they are baked at 350 degrees for at least 30 minutes. I let these go a little longer in the oven so that he can eat them too. Your edges will be a little more crisp, but if you have an egg allergic kid that you are trying to desensitize through baked goods, you can try it too. Otherwise, stick with 20-25 minutes.

Recipe Round Up – Other People’s Recipes

These are links to other people’s recipes that have been a hit at our house recently.

These first two are from Parents Magazine. The recipes are free, but yes, you do have to register with their site to get to them. It’s a bummer, but these recipes are worth it, I promise.

Crispy Coconut Chicken (Parents Magazine) Chicken strips that you dredge in mango chutney and lime juice , then bread with bread crumbs and coconut. This calls for multigrain crackers that you then smash up to make breadcrumbs. You could use gluten free crackers, but why bother? I used Glutino brand bread crumbs. That way the work is already done.  Breadcrumbs were the only substitution necessary to make this gluten, dairy and egg free.

Rainbow Rotini - (Parents Magazine) If you have ever eaten at Carraba’s restaurant, and had the Tag Pic Pac (Tagliarini in Picchi Pacchiu sauce) this dish totally reminds me of that, only with chicken too! The name is misleading when you make it with gluten free pasta, because that doesn’t come in the rainbow variety. That’s too bad. Someone should do something about that. Substituting gf pasta was the only change to make this one gluten, dairy and egg free.

Avocado Smoothie - (Family Fun)  I know, right? Sounds weird but is actually tasty. My three year old actually does think it is kindof weird, but the baby likes it. Use the dairy free milk of your choice in this one.

Rachel Ray’s Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage  - (Food Network) Awesome! I subbed gluten free pasta for the regular penne, and soymilk for the heavy cream.

Crockpot Teriaki Chicken – I borrowed this recipe from a friend via a pin on Pinterest. So very delicious. The sauce is amazing. We served this with hot cooked rice and some microwaved frozen stir fry veggies.

Sun Dried Tomato Dip

This recipe is from Cooking Light. So says the yellowing newspaper clipping from whence I make it. But the recipe is so old they don’t have the recipe online. Which is really a shame.  They do have a Roasted Garlic, Sun Dried Tomato  and White Bean Dip, but it requires you to roast a head of garlic and who has time for that? This one is much easier and probably just as tasty.

Cooking Light’s Sun -Dried Tomato Dip

1 -3 oz package sun dried tomatoes (not in oil)

1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

2 Tbsp basalmic vinegar

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/8 tsp each salt and pepper

1 – 15 oz can white beans, drained

1 garlic glove, minced

In a small bowl, combine tomatoes with 1 cup boiling water and let sit for 15 minutes. Drain tomatoes, reserving 1/2 cup liquid. Place tomatoes, reserved liquid, and all remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. This dip gets even better after it sits in the fridge for a while. I put it on Glutino Brand Veggie Crackers. Mmmmmm.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins – dairy, gluten, egg free

My three year old son and I are doing a five week parent/child class at the local Waldorf school. One of the kids in his class just turned four, so there was cake. Luckily, the instructor was very thoughtful to let me know ahead of time that the cake would be an apple cinnamon cake.

When I have to make a substitution, I like it to be as much like the original as possible. Here is what I came up with. It is based on the Apple Spice Cake in Carol Fenster’s book, Gluten Free 101. I made it dairy and egg free, and dialed the spices down to appeal to a three year old (the original had ginger, nutmeg, cloves and molasses in it.)

Apple Cinnamon Muffins (from Feeding My Kid)

3 cups gluten free flour mix

2 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your flour blend already contains xanthan or guar gum)

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cinnamon

3 tsp Ener G Egg Replacer

1 1/2 cups dairy free milk (almond, rice, soy)

2 cups packed brown sugar

3/4 cup Earth Balance spread

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup peeled grated Granny Smith apples

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour mix, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and Egg Replacer.

3. Combine milk and brown sugar in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and add the Earth Balance and vanilla. Stir to melt butter.

4. Add butter mixture to flour mixture and mix until well blended.

5. Pour batter into muffin tins. Bake 25 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test.  Makes 18 muffins. Let cool, then drizzle with glaze.

Powdered Sugar Glaze (from Feeding My Kid)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp dairy free milk (coconut, soy, almond)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix ingredients together and stir to get rid of any lumps.

Gluten Free Dairy Free Travel Snack Mix

This is our go-to kid snack for the car.

We never leave the house for anywhere without a “snack bag” full of this. Here is Monkey enjoying some on our recent road trip.

It’s a sure thing.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Travel Snack Mix (from Feeding My Kid)

1 cup Pirate’s Booty veggie flavor (only the veggie flavor is dairy free)

1 cup Glutino brand gluten free pretzel twists

1 cup Rice Chex cereal

1 cup Corn Chex cereal

Combine, mix, enjoy. Double or even triple the recipe if you like.

Creamy Chicken Salad (dairy, egg, gluten free)

It’s a real bummer having a kid who is allergic to eggs, because they are in so many things. Like mayo. I have tried vegan mayo and find it gag-worthy. And I have a policy of not making my kids eat things I find repulsive. So, when I started thinking about a chicken salad recipe that would be A) tasty and B) that my kids could eat, I was sort of at a loss.

Until I found this tuna salad recipe at Aprovechar. What? Use avocados instead of mayo? GENIUS!

My recipe is an adaptation of that tuna salad recipe. Obviously, I made chicken salad instead of tuna,  and also simplified it – dumbed it down, if you will- to make it more kid friendly.

Creamy Chicken Salad (from Feeding My Kid)

2 ripe avocados

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp dijon mustard

pinch dried parsley

1  – 12.5 oz canned gluten free chicken breast. I used Hormel brand.

Mash your avocados well. Add the salt, dijon, and parsley. Rinse and drain the canned chicken, and mash well. Add to avocado mixture and mix well. Refrigerate for an hour or so before serving to let the flavors marry.

Gluten and Dairy Free Granola Bars

These are based on a recipe by Emeril Lagasse that appeared in Martha Stewart Living. I adapted it to make it dairy and gluten free. I also replaced the honey with agave nectar – we only use honey raw and uncooked. And I decreased the amount of slivered almonds and made them smaller to avoid arousing the suspicions of my three year old.

 These are super tasty. To me, they taste just like a commercial granola bar, only better. For some reason, I have run across a lot of granola bar recipes that are more like cake or bar cookies, but these are the real deal.  I also love the use of almond butter, especially since some of us can’t do peanut butter.

Update: Because of my son’s peanut allergy, we also avoid nut butters due to the risk of cross-contamination. However, I found one brand of almond butter, Barney Butter, which is processed in a dedicated facility. I use Barney Butter for this recipe. I now leave the slivered almonds out of this recipe, since I cannot find a source for almonds processed in a peanut free facility.

 Emeril’s Nutty Granola Bars, adapted to be gluten and dairy free

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, original recipe here

 ¾ cup agave nectar

2 Tbsp Earth Balance spread

3 cups certified gluten free rolled oats

2/3 cup slivered almonds, roughly chopped (optional)

¼ tsp sea salt

1 cup raisins

1/3 cup creamy almond butter

¼ cup light brown sugar

1. First, you need to make the “granola” and then turn it into bars. I hate extra steps in cooking, so I thought long and hard about whether or not this was necessary, and it really is. Unlike some granola bar recipes, the toasting of the granola is the only time they spend in the oven – you don’t bake them after adding all the other ingredients. So, suck it up and make the granola first. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

 2. In a small saucepan, combine ¼ cup of the agave nectar and Earth Balance spread. Cook on low until margarine melts.

 3. In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds and salt. Drizzle the cooked agave mixture over the oats and stir to combine. This is a great step to let the kiddos help with. Spread on a baking sheet that you have coated lightly with non-stick spray. Bake 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool completely.

 4. Wipe out the large bowl that you mixed your granola in. Return the cooked granola to the large bowl and add raisins.

 5. In a saucepan combine ½ cup agave, almond butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Cook about 10 minutes. It will boil and the sugar will dissolve.  Watch this closely. Don’t go change a diaper during this step. Just sayin’. I had to do it twice.

6. Drizzle the agave/sugar mixture over the granola and raisin mixture and mix well. Transfer to a greased 8×8 pan and use your hands to press to an even width. Refrigerate until firm. Serve at room temperature.

Sunbutter Cookies

These cookies are awesome enough to make my 15 month old son point at them and go, “ehhh” – which means “hand it over right now and no one gets hurt.”

They taste like peanut butter cookies, but kids with peanut allergies, and small kiddos who can’t have nuts yet  can have them too. But wait, there’s more. They are also gluten free, dairy free, and egg free. And they are grain free, if you care about that.  Score.

Sunbutter Cookies (From Feeding My Kid)

These use a product called Sunbutter – hence the name. Sunbutter is a nut butter, except instead of being made with nuts, it is made with sunflower seeds. I buy it at my regular grocery store.

1 cup creamy Sunbutter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp Ener G brand Egg Replacer

2 Tbsp water

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp gluten free vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together the sugars, egg replacer, water, baking soda and vanilla. Beat in the Sunbutter. Using a teaspoon or a cookie scoop, drop dough onto baking sheet. Use a fork to lightly press a criss cross pattern on the top of each cookie, flattening it slightly. Bake for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.