Biscuits - Dairy free, Egg free, and Delicious!

I know you can't tell in this picture, but they're still warm here.  Are you drooling yet?

I love a good biscuit.  I just do.  There's something really satisfying and nostalgic about watching butter melt between the layers of a biscuit still warm from the oven.  *Sigh*  It took me a while to settle into a biscuit recipe that could meet that nostalgia and become a staple at our dinner table.  I'm pleased to share this one with you, and I hope that you find it as comforting as we do on a chilly day! Pair it with my "Chicken Pot Pie-less" or with your favorite stew, or chili....or soup...really with anything! (In our kitchen, the butter has been replaced with Soy-Free Earth Balance Spread!)

This biscuit recipe is peanut-free, tree nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, fish-free, and shellfish-free. As always, check this ingredient list and your local products to make sure that this recipe is allergy safe for your family and/or friends!

Steps marked with an asterisk (*) are child friendly!  

Click HERE for more information! 

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
4 Tablespoons cold butter flavor vegetable shortening (I rarely                        recommend the butter flavor shortening, but, in my opinion,  it makes difference in this recipe.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (organic if possible)
1/2 cup flax milk*
1/4 cup Seltzer water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. *In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. 
3. *Cut shortening into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter, or your fingertips.  Be careful not to make the mixture too warm with your hands. 
4. *Slowly add the flax milk and seltzer water, stirring just until a soft dough is formed.  
5. *Turn dough mixture out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead together BRIEFLY, just until the dough comes together enough to roll out.  Too much kneading will make the biscuit tough, you don't want to develop the gluten. 
6. *Roll the dough gently to 1/2 inch thick, and cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter. 
7. Bake on a baking sheet for 12 - 15 minutes. 
8. Serve while still warm!

You may substitute any other non-dairy milk of your choice here, although, I have not had great results with rice milk in this particular recipe. 

 As always, from The Allergy Safe Kitchen, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!

Kitchen Tip Tuesday! Egg Replacement

There are specialty egg replacement products out on the market, but if you don't want to buy a whole box, what can you do?  Or maybe, you and your family aren't egg-free, but you want to make a cake for a friend, or relative with an egg-allergy.  Well, awesome!  Bake away!  Here's an easy egg replacement that you can make with ingredients that you already have in your pantry!  

1 1/2 Tablespoon Water
1 1/2 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil (I prefer canola)
1/2 Tablespoon Baking Powder (I prefer Rumford Aluminum Free)

Mix these three ingredients together, vigorously, in a mug, and use immediately.  This will replace 1 egg.  Double to replace 2 eggs.  

 As always, from The Allergy Safe Kitchen, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!

Photo Credit: Aidan Van Horn

Kitchen Tip Tuesday! Wet and Dry Measurements

Cooking is an art.  Baking is a science.  Baking requires that all of the elements in a recipe work together to get the right lift, moisture, and density.  When eggs and dairy are removed from a recipe and are replaced with other leavening agents and liquids, a recipe can go south, fast.  

One way to combat recipe failure, and ensure great, consistent results is to measure carefully.  Use dry measures for dry ingredients and wet measuring cups for liquid ingredients.  

             

There is a slight difference in calibration between wet and dry measures. Keep a set of both in your kitchen to turn out perfect egg-free, dairy-free baked goods every time!  

 As always, from The Allergy Safe Kitchen, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!

Dessert Hobo Pies

Ok, ok...wipe the drool off your face, and start gathering up the firewood for this camp classic!

At least once a summer, we break out the pie irons, and make pizza hobo pies.  We use homemade sauce, Earth Balance to grease the irons, safe bread, turkey pepperoni or sliced Al Fresco chicken sausage, and Follow your Heart Vegan Cheese Alternative.  Delish!

This year, we really wanted to make dessert pies too, and here's what we came up with:

*This recipe is peanut-free, tree nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free,  fish-free, and shellfish-free. As always, check this ingredient list and your local products to make sure that this recipe is allergy safe for your family and/or friends!

"Not S'mores"  (we couldn't come up with a better name, it was late...)

Ingredients: (makes 2 dessert pies)

4 slices white sandwich bread
Earth balance bars
graham crackers
enjoy life chocolate chips
Sunbutter - creamy
Dairy-free mini-marshmallows
Cinnamon Sugar
Cast iron pie iron (ours is a double, so that's how I'm writing this recipe)

Directions:

1. Make a campfire!  Let it burn down a little.  You won't need a big flame, but you will need hot coals. Also, make sure you have a safe place to put the iron down when it comes out of the fire, and also a potholder or "Ove' Glove". 
2. Heat the pie iron in the fire.
3. Pull the iron out and open it.  Grease the inside of both sides of the iron with Earth Balance.
4. Place two pieces of bread in the cavity of one side of the iron.  
5. Place a graham cracker on each piece of bread.  Top generously with mini-marshmallows chocolate morsels.  
6. Spread a layer of Sunbutter on the remaining two slices of bread and top off the sandwiches in the iron. 
7. Carefully close the pie iron and place among the hot coals of the campfire.  Do not put the iron in the direct flames, it will burn the bread. 
8. After a few minutes, flip the pie iron.  
9. Cooking time will vary depending on how hot your coals are! Check after 5 minutes.  The pie is done when both sides are golden brown.
10. Remove pie irons to your heat safe surface.  Open the irons and slather just the top side of the pie with Earth Balance.  Then, sprinkle on a generous amount of cinnamon sugar!
11. Serve and enjoy!!!

 As always, from The Allergy Safe Kitchen, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!

Kale Chips

So simple.  So healthy.  So yummy!  The joy of kale chips!  We got a LOT of kale in our CSA box this week, so we made some kale chips instead of popcorn for our family movie night! Get your kids in the kitchen to help rip some kale!

This recipe is peanut-free, tree nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, soy-free, fish-free, and shellfish-free. Top 8 Allergen Free! As always, check this ingredient list and your local products to make sure that this recipe is allergy safe for your family and/or friends!

Steps marked with an asterisk (*) are child friendly!  

Click HERE for more information! 

Ingredients:

Kale
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. *Remove kale leaves from their tough stems, and roughly chop into large bite sized pieces. 
3. *Toss with olive oil, sprinkle moderately with kosher salt. 
4. *Spread onto baking sheets in a single layer.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes. 

It really couldn't be easier to make this healthy snack!  My 10 year son is getting braces, and popcorn will no longer be on the movie night menu for him.  I felt so proud when he exclaimed (with genuine excitement): "At least I can still have kale chips on movie night!"

 As always, from The Allergy Safe Kitchen, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!

Snow Day Muffins


We are in the middle of a blizzard today!  The wind chills are in the negative 30s and it is snowing sideways!  To celebrate our family snow day, we made Snow Day Muffins!  Just make your favorite muffin recipe and dust the top with powdered sugar (snow!), it's that simple to make the little ones feel special!  We made cranberry sauce muffins and used some leftover snowman cupcake picks to really make it feel like a spectacular winter holiday. 

*This recipe is peanut-free, tree nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free,  fish-free, and shellfish-free. As always, check this ingredient list and your local products to make sure that this recipe is allergy safe for your family and/or friends!

Top Ten Stocking Stuffers! All under $15!

Stuff the Stockings With Kitchen Gear!

We're getting very close to Christmas and I know that some of you are looking for awesome stocking stuffers. Here are 10 of my favorites that just might make Christmas a little more merry for the cook in your household!  And here's the bonus: they're all under $15!

 

Number 1: My book, of course!  "Love Letters from My Kitchen"

                  is a wonderful gift for anyone in your family, or in your

                  life who bakes, or wants to bake, for someone with food

                  allergies. Cookies, breads, cakes, waffles, brownies, and

                  more, it's all in here!

 

 

 

 

Number 2: Unique measuring spoons!  Add some charm or color to

                  the baking experience. This double-sided, rainbow-

                  colored set nests and clicks together, so I'm never       

                  searching through the drawer for the elusive 1/4   

                  teaspoon. The elongated bowl of the narrow end is

                  perfect for fitting into spice jars!

 

 

 

 

 

Number 3: Microplane! I adore my microplane.  I use it most often

                  for zesting citrus, grating nutmeg, and grating fresh

                  ginger.



 

 

Number 4: Silicone baking mats!  These are a must for a budding

                  or serious baker.  Cookies slide off easily no matter how

                  sticky or delicate.  Eliminate the need for parchment

                  paper, and make clean-up easier with these mats. The

                  mini-marshmallows in my "Mega-Mash-Up

                  Cookies" (page 42 "Love Letters from My

                  Kitchen") stay perfectly gooey and manageable when I

                  bake them using my silicone mat!   

 

Number 5: Curious Chef products!  Do you have a young chef-in-
                  the-making in your home?  Curious Chef products are
                  durable and perfectly sized for little helpful hands.  The
                  line includes mixing spoons, spatulas, knives, aprons,
                  measuring spoons and cups, peelers, whisks, cookie
                  cutters, oven mitts, and more! My kids love to help me
                  cook dinner and make dessert, they each have their own
                  little knife and spoon set of Curious Chef tools.  Kids
                  with food allergies need to know how to cook, so get
                  them in the kitchen with you!

 

 

Number 6: Non-stick spatulas!  Choose a set that has one larger and

                  one smaller spatula.  You'll use both for different

                  applications in baking and cooking.  I like that these

                  sturdy red spatulas are one piece construction, because I

                  have been known to snap the tops off of cheaper ones

                  with my vigorous stirring! 

 

 

 

Number 7: Glass bottles with rubber stoppers! These beauties are

                  perfect for making and storing homemade salad

                  dressings, and making your own extracts.   

 

 

 

Number 8: Cookie scoops!  My kids love these scoops almost as

                  much as I do. My favorite sizes are 3 Tablespoon (size

                  20) for muffins and cupcakes, and 2 teaspoon (size 60)

                  for any manner of drop cookie.  Ensure consistent

                  results by using scoops for uniform baked goods!    

 

 

 

 

Number 9: Off-set spatula!  Get a few in a variety of sizes!  Perfect

                  for smoothing frosting, or gently moving rolled out

                  dough to a baking sheet.  

 

                          

 

 

 

Number 10: Organic Vanilla beans!  I always try to have a few high

                    quality, organic vanilla beans on hand for making

                    "Honey Vanilla Spread" or just boosting vanilla flavor

                    in my baked goods.  Buy a glass bottle and some

                    vanilla beans, then package as set for

                    making homemade vanilla extract.  (You can find a

                    recipe for both "Honey Vanilla Spread" and vanilla

                    extract in my cookbook, "Love Letters from

                    My Kitchen"!) 

 

 

 

Happy Shopping!  Now, go fill some stockings!

 

 

 As always, from The Allergy Safe Kitchen, I wish you "Good Cooking, and Safe Eating"!