Egg-Free, Milk-Free, Nut-Free Root Beer Cupcakes

By Kelley Lindberg


I’ve posted this super-easy allergy-friendly recipe for cupcakes before, but since I just made them in a different flavor for my son’s birthday, I thought I’d post it again. The cupcakes have only 2 ingredients: a box of safe cake mix, and a can of soda. I promise, it works, and it is ridiculously easy! Forget the instructions on the box, which call for oil, water, and eggs. Just use a can of club soda (my usual recipe) or regular soda. In this case, since I was making Root Beer cupcakes, I used a can of root beer. For the frosting, use your own recipe (or Pillsbury Creamy Supreme vanilla frosting, which contains soy), and add in some root beer concentrate.

(OK, I lied. If you live at high altitude, you'll want to add 2 Tbsp of flour to the cake mix. So there are 3 ingredients for high-altitude cooks.)

Duncan Hines makes several flavors of cake mix that are free from eggs, milk, and nuts. For my Root Beer cupcakes, I used the Duncan Hines Classic Yellow cake mix, which contains soy and wheat.

I haven’t tried it with a gluten-free cake mix yet, so if you try it, let me know if it works!

Root Beer Cupcakes

• 1 box safe cake mix (such as Duncan Hines Classic Yellow cake mix)
• high altitude only: 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 can root beer
• 2 tubs Pillsbury Creamy Supreme vanilla frosting (or other safe frosting)
• 1 - 2 Tbsp root beer concentrate (sold in the baking aisle, next to the vanilla extract)

Put the dry cake mix in a mixing bowl. (If you’re at high altitude, add 2 Tbsp flour to the cake mix.) Pour in the can of root beer. Beat on low for 30 seconds until mixed, then beat at a higher speed for 2 minutes. Pour into cupcake papers in a muffin tin. Bake according to the directions for cupcakes on the box (usually 350 degrees for 18 – 21 minutes). Cool on a rack.

When ready to frost, dump both tubs of frosting into a bowl, then add 1 Tbsp of the root beer concentrate and mix well. Add more root beer concentrate if you want a stronger flavor.

Frost. Serve. Enjoy. Smile gracefully at the compliments. Hand out seconds.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Egg-Free, Milk-Free, Nut-Free Jell-O Cookies

By Kelley Lindberg


Looking for something new to put into your kid’s lunchbox? I tried making Jell-O cookies to take to a multi-family camping trip this weekend, and they seemed to be a big hit with the kids! (And the adults.)

The original recipe can be found on KraftRecipes.com here: Jello-O Pastel Cookies. However, I had to replace the egg with an egg substitute (I used Ener-G egg replacemer), and the butter with safe margarine. The official Kraft recipe calls for mixing a 3-ounce box of Jell-O into the batter, then sprinkling another 3-ounce box of Jell-O powder on top of the cookies before baking. But the recipe I was following (from a friend) said to add an entire 6-ounce box of Jell-O to the flour mixture, and it said nothing about sprinkling any on top. Adding the whole box to the batter instead of sprinkling half on top made the cookies a much brighter color (and it was less fussy). So do it either way!

I’m assuming that you could use your favorite gluten-free flour mix instead of the wheat flour. If you try it that way, let us know how it works.

Jell-O Cookies (Egg-Free, Milk-Free, Nut-Free)

(Original recipe from Kraft Foods. Allergy-friendly version by Kelley J. P. Lindberg)

3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups softened safe margarine
1 cup sugar
1 6-oz box of Jell-O gelatin, any flavor
1 egg or equivalent egg substitute*
1 tsp safe vanilla

*To replace one egg, I used 1 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 2 Tbs warm water. Or you can use 1 tsp baking powder mixed with 1 Tbs water and 1 Tbs white vinegar. Or you could try using 1/4 cup applesauce.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. (The original recipe says 400 degrees, but mine worked great at 350.) Mix flour and baking powder. Beat butter in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar and Jell-O. Beat until light and fluffy. Gradually blend in egg substitute and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place them 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. (I like to line my cookie sheets with parchment paper so that the cookies slide right off.) You can flatten the cookies with the bottom of a glass if you want, or leave them as balls and they will retain a slightly rounded shape.

Bake 8-10 minutes (slightly longer in high altitudes), until edges are just barely beginning to turn light brown. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 4 dozen.

Allergy-Free Frozen Treat Recipes

By Kelley Lindberg

Hot, hot, hot. Sun, sun, sun. And did I mention hot?

You know what’s really good when it’s this hot outside? Frozen treats! So here a few frozen treat recipes I’ve found that look really good, and they are all free from the Top 8 allergens. I’m going to give some of them a try this week!

Martha Stewart's Melon Sorbet

• Frozen Chocolatey“Nana-‘Nutters”: From Enjoy Life Foods, this recipe for frozen banana slices topped with Sunbutter and dipped in melted Enjoy Life Foods chocolate chips looks amazing. (And you can leave out the Sunbutter and just coat the banana slices in chocolate!)
• Frozen Melon Sorbet: Martha Stewart offers this super-easy recipe that calls for fresh melon that you cut into cubes and freeze. Then when you want to make your sorbet, you use a little water, a little sugar, and a food processor.
• Strawberry Sorbet: VeganBaking.net has this good-looking recipe for strawberry sorbet that uses a bag of frozen strawberries, water, sugar, and lemon juice. You use an ice-cream maker to make it that perfect consistency! (Substitute a bag of frozen raspberries for the strawberries to make raspberry sorbet.)
• Banana Faux “Ice Cream”: Frozen banana chunks, blended with a little fruit juice and a teaspoon of vanilla extract, makes a frozen treat that actually looks like ice cream, but without the dairy! It sounds fantastic, and it says you can add other frozen fruits to flavor the banana however you want.
• Frozen Fruit Cups: This recipe from CookEatShare.com has 4 ingredients: strawberries, pineapple, banana, and orange soda. Sounds perfect for kids! You can make these in a cup with e popsicle stick, or if you have popsicle molds, use those. (You can also try kiwi and watermelon.)
• Strawberry Lemonade Ice Pops: One can of frozen lemonade concentrate, a bag of frozen strawberries, 3 cups of cold water, and your popsicle molds… voila! Summer on a stick!
• Root Beer Float: If you’ve got a favorite brand of ice cream that is safe for your family, don’t forget to pick up some root beer to make this time-honored summer favorite! Just scoop some of the ice cream into a glass, then slowly add the root beer. (It’s also fun to swap out the root beer for orange soda, Dr. Pepper, Cherry Coke, or other favorite soda.)

Stay cool, stay safe, stay happy!

 

 

Allergy-Safe Frozen Treat Outings

by Kelley Lindberg


(Updated 5/14/12 to add another location) One of the great things about belonging to the Utah Food Allergy Network’s email forum (which is free, by the way, so join by going to the UFAN website) is the recommendations that our members share with each other.

Over the last couple of weeks, the hot topic (now that the days are getting warmer!) is where to go to find allergy-safe frozen treats like sorbet or smoothies. I grew up spending Saturday nights with my family at the local ice-cream shop, and I’ve missed doing that with my son. But now there are starting to be several places where we can enjoy that family tradition once again.

Here are some of the places UFAN members recommended, where they serve at least one type of dairy-free frozen treat and will accommodate allergy needs by using clean utensils, etc. (but ALWAYS remind them to use new utensils and get toppings from uncontaminated containers – cross-contamination can still occur, so stay vigilant!). If you have a favorite place for safe frozen treats that isn’t on this list, please share it with us!

• Maggie Moo’s (Sugar House and Cedar City) has sorbet and mix-ins. (Thanks, Michelle & Esther)
• Cakewalk Baking Co. (Salt Lake City) may have soy soft-serve (Thanks, Lynn)
• City Cakes & Cafe (Salt Lake City) has soy soft serve in dedicated machine, and dairy-free fruit smoothies. (Thanks, Lynn)
• Sub Zero Ice Cream (Ogden, Layton, West Jordan, Centerville, Salt Lake City, Murray, Sandy, Pleasant Grove, Provo, Spanish Fork) can use rice or soy milk as a base to freeze your ice cream on the spot, and they will even let you bring in your own toppings and mix-in items. (Thanks, Janel and Michelle)
• Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt (Layton, Salt Lake City, South Jordan, Orem, St. George) has a couple of flavors of diary-free sorbet and they will work with you to find safe toppings.
• Thanksgiving Point serves Blue Bunny Lemon Sorbet that has no dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, corn, rice, oats, wheat. (But they say they can’t guarantee that a scoop hasn’t been used in another flavor). (Thanks, Marie)
• Jamba Juice (lots of locations in Utah) says any of their smoothies can be made dairy free. All of their fresh juices, shots, and All Fruit smoothies are non-dairy. (Thanks, Lynn)
• Snow cone stands – one of the first signs of summer is snow-cone stands popping up in parking lots everywhere you look. Ask for ingredients and you may find some stands that don’t use ingredients you’re allergic to. Michelle says she’s found some that don’t use corn syrup, so if you’re allergic to corn, snow cone stands might be an option, but be sure to ask first!
• Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt (Bountiful, Farmington, Highland) contains milk, but most of their products are free from the other Top 8 allergens. Says Lynn: "We avoid the toppings bar (bring our own in a baggie), and they do have a peanut butter yogurt, but they keep it in the same machine and we avoid the other flavor in the same machine." (Thanks, Lynn)