Because I love you all so much, I thought I’d share my top 5 favourite treats. These have been heavily adapted from various sources so that they are safe from: eggs, milk, mustard, peanuts, crustaceans and molluscs, fish, sesame seeds, soy, sulphites, tree Nuts, wheat and triticale. They should also be dairy-safe, gluten-safe, and, depending on the type of safe butter or milk you use, vegan. Please feel free to comment below if you need ideas on how to adapt them to make them safe for other allergies too!
- Fried Granola
No time? This takes less than 14 minutes.
Simply melt over medium heat:
3 Tbsp coconut oil or butter alternative
¼ cup (c) raw sugar or sulphite-free brown sugar
Then add and brown:
2 cups of Gluten-Free (GF) oats or puffed rice
½ c optional toppings (chocolate chips, coconut, pumpkin seeds, dried fruit etc.)
Serve with your favourite allergen-friendly milk.
- Tapioca Gummies
You’ll need silicone candy moulds for these, and a bit of time, but they’re well worth the effort! Mix together:
1 ½ c tapioca starch
½ c coconut flour or rice flour
½ c white sugar
1 can of coconut milk
½ c of allergen friendly milk
This will make a goopy liquid. Split it into plastic bags, and add flavourings or colour as desired.
Pour it into the moulds in thin layers, about 1/8” at a time. Steam them for 2-3 minutes, then add the next layer and repeat. Different colours/flavours can be put into the gummies as you’d like. Once the mould is full, steam an extra 2 minutes, then chill for at least 30 minutes before removing from the mould. If they’re not coming out peacefully, freeze them 10 minutes before removing from moulds. These last about a week, and are even better if dipped in chocolate.
- Coconut Macaroons
Preheat oven to 350°F, and prepare a silicone cookie sheet (or a greased cookie sheet)
Blend 3 cups of shredded sulphite-safe coconut, until it is not quite butter.
Mix in 2 Tbsp of thick syrup (Like golden syrup, rice syrup, or agave syrup)
Using a round tablespoon, pack firmly and lay on a cookie sheet. Silicone or parchment paper helps.
Brush with ½ Tbsp melted coconut oil or butter alternative, and bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown.
Dip into melted chocolate if desired.
- Pizza
Haven’t found a pizzeria that caters to your allergens yet? Make some of your own!
Crust: In an insulated mug, mix:
1 Tbsp dry yeast
1 Tbsp sugar or honey
2/3 c lukewarm water
Once the yeast is frothing up to the top of the mug, combine it slowly with:
1 ½ c GF all-purpose flour (Or ½ c tapioca starch, ½ c GF oat flour, ½ c rice flour)
¼ tsp salt
Oil the inside of a large zippered plastic bag, and add your dough.
Leave it somewhere warm to rise until doubled in size- this will even work under your shirt if you don’t poke it.
Knead again until smooth.
Press onto pizza pan, add toppings, and bake at 350°F for 20-30 mins.
Topping Ideas: Can’t eat tomato sauce?
Blend equal parts cooked sweet potato and beets with a dash of rice vinegar. Or try just using mashed butternut squash!
No cheese?
I had a hard time finding safe allergen-friendly cheese for me, so I used to make a roux. I would melt allergy safe butter, add GF flours (rice or oat works well, but if you add tapioca starch too it gets stretchy!), then add allergy safe milk.
- Tempered Chocolate
Once you have finally found allergen-friendly chocolate, the secret to making any chocolate-based Valentine’s treat for your sweetheart is to temper the chocolate first. Once that is done, you can pour it into a chocolate mould (silicone makes it easy to get it out again!) and make truffles, or simply draw chocolate on wax paper and freeze it. You’ll need a candy thermometer, and you can either use an electric fondue pot or a double boiler for the melting.
- Heat half of your allergen-friendly chocolate chips to between 110°F and 115°F
- Add extra chocolate until the chocolate cools down to 80°F-84°F
- Carefully increase the heat until the chocolate is 88°F-91°F. Keep it there, and use the chocolate for dipping, pouring, moulding, etc.
- Extra chocolate left over can be frozen, chipped off the pot, and then re-used later… If it lasts that long.
May your Valentine’s Day be safe and enjoyable!
-Janice H.
Tags: Baking, Cooking, dating, Holidays, Janice H., Recipes, relationships, Valentine's Day