Allergy Friendly Friday 12/28/12

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I’m feeling a wee bit cranky this morning, as the garbage trucks woke me up at 4:30.  I call them urban whales.  Or elephants. They really do moan and groan and make a God awful racket.  Meanwhile, everyone else in my house was slumbering peacefully. In fact, they’re all still asleep, and it’s almost 10 PST!

What should I make these sleeping beauties for breakfast?  How about my Allergy-Friendly Pancakes?

Thank you for contributing to last weeks Allergy-Friendly Friday! Here are the recipe highlights from last  roundup. Remember, the featured  recipes  are also being featured on my Allergy-Friendly Friday Highlights Pinterest board, so check them out there, along with other featured allergy-friendly recipes from weeks past. If you have been featured, I encourage you to grab the Allergy Friendly Friday badge from my right sidebar and share it on your blog, so others know you’ve got a featured recipe on Allergy-Friendly Friday.

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Allergy Free Eggnog

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Every year I get asked to come up with a recipe for eggnog without eggs, dairy, refined sugar, you name it. And every year I get too wrapped up in holiday cookie baking. But luckily this year, I’m strarting early with beverages.

The tricky part about concocting an allergy-friendly vegan eggnog is that you must avoid the eggs. Most recipes rely on tofu instead, but that wasn’t an option because I wanted to be sure this recipe was safe for those with soy allergies, too. The other substitute for eggs? Nuts. But given my allergy-friendly cooking mandate, those are out, too.

I did see a pretty nifty recipe from Living Without, but it called for young fresh coconut, which is hard to find and potentially allergenic—and it also called for almonds. I decided the time had come to whip up a nog that avoided the top eight allergens and could be toasted by all this holiday season, food-allergic or not.

I soon discovered the key to creating a thick, creamy custard base (without eggs or heavy cream) is tapioca starch. (If you don’t eat tapioca, you can easily substitute cornstarch, potato starch, or arrowroot starch.)

The other trick is simplicity. There is no need to over-spice to compensate for the missing richness of eggs and cream. Less is more with eggnog. My kids and I had a grand old time standing around the kitchen drinking the entire jar of this recipe (I put rum in mine, and left theirs without!).

For cookies that go well with this eggnog recipe, check out my Gluten-Free Hemp Seed Wedding CookiesGluten-Free Allergy-Friendly Old-Fashioned Gingersnaps, or Gluten-Free Allergy-Friendly Double Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies.

 

Allergy-Friendly, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free “Eggnog”

Serves 4

A delicious “creamy,” rich eggnog that’s much lower in fat and cholesterol than the traditional beverage—and allergy-friendly to boot! It’s also free of refined sugar. This recipe may be made with or without rum.

3 cups rice milk (or other vegan milk of choice)

2 Tbsp. tapioca starch

1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

¼ cup maple syrup

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (preferably freshly grated), plus more for garnish

¼ cup dark rum (optional)

Rice Whip topping (optional)

1.   Combine ½ cup of the rice milk with the tapioca starch. Whisk well until frothy. Add vanilla extract. Whisk well to combine.

2.   Combine 1 ½ cups of the rice milk with the maple syrup in a heavy pot. Whisk. Add nutmeg and whisk well to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Add tapioca starch mixture to pot. Heat, whisking continuously, until it reaches a simmer. Once it’s slightly thickened, add the remaining cup of rice milk. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring continuously, until rich and creamy, about 4 minutes.

3.   Pour into a pitcher or large mason jar. Chill for at least four hours and up to 2 days. When ready to serve, stir or shake eggnog, mix in rum, pour into glasses, top with Rice Whip, and garnish with ground nutmeg.

Allergy-Friendly, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free “Eggnog”
© 2010 by Cybele Pascal

(Please note that all my recipes are completely free of all top allergens (wheat, dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish, shellfish, and gluten), so as many people as possible can enjoy them. Additionally, all the ingredients are available at Whole Foods, and online at Amazon.com. If you have trouble finding something, let me know and I’ll help you find it.)

SAFETY NOTE: Because each person’s food sensitivity and reaction is unique, ranging from mild intolerance to life-threatening and severe food allergies, it is up to the consumer to monitor ingredients and manufacturing conditions. If manufacturing conditions, potential cross contact between foods, and ingredient derivatives pose a risk for you, please re-read all food labels and call the manufacturer to confirm potential allergen concerns beforeconsumption. Ingredients and manufacturing practices can change overnight and without warning.

Gluten Free Allergy Friendly Double Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

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chocolate

Gluten Free Double Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

(Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Soy-Free, Nut-Free, Vegan)

Makes 24 2-Inch Cookies

These double chocolate sweeties are a perfect fudgy treat for the Holidays. Bake them up with your kids for an extra bit of fun. My boys love making the thumbprints, and then gobbling up their handiwork, with a tall glass of rice milk.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4cups my Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix (see recipe below), or Authentic Foods GF Classical Blend
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup plain-flavored rice milk
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips*

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Combine flour mix, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Mix thoroughly, being sure to work out any lumps of cocoa powder.

3. Using an electric mixer set on medium speed, thoroughly combine canola oil and rice milk. Add vanilla extract and sugar. Mix well.

4. Add the dry ingredients to wet and mix on low speed, scraping sides of bowl.

5. Scoop out dough by heaping teaspoonfuls and place on prepared cookie sheets, 12 per sheet. Wet hands with a little water and roll dough into balls.

6. Bake in preheated oven on center rack for 5 minutes.

7. Put chocolate chips in a microwave-safe dish and melt. This will take about a minute; check chips every 15 seconds and stir. Once chips are melted, set them aside.

8. Remove cookies from oven. Wet your thumb slightly with cool water and, working quickly, make thumbprint marks in the center of each cookie. Fill thumbprints with 1/4 teaspoon melted chocolate.

9. Return cookies to oven and bake an additional 8 minutes.

10. Let cookies cool 5 minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack.

*Tip: Allergy-friendly chocolate chips are available from Enjoy Life Foods (enjoylifefoods.com).

Each cookie contains 104 calories, 5g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 52mg sodium, 16g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 1g protein.

Gluten-Free, Allergy-Friendly Double Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies © 2009 by Cybele Pascal

This recipe was first published in the December/January 2009 issue of Living Without magazine.

Cybele’s Basic Gluten-Free Flour MIx
MAKES 6 CUPS

4 cups superfine brown rice flour**
1 1/3 cups potato starch (not potato flour)
2/3 cup tapioca flour/starch

Measure out flour by spooning into a dry measuring cup, then leveling off with a straightedge. Combine all ingredients. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

**Tip: Superfine brown rice flour is available from Authentic Foods (authenticfoods.com). To make your own, process brown rice flour in a clean coffee grinder.