wheat-free – Safe Eats

Scotch Eggs with Bacon Dip – No One Notices They are Gluten-Free ;-)

These appetizers are a true pleasure to serve and eat! Scotch Eggs are currently a more well-known treat in the U.K. but are beginning to gain popularity in the U.S.,particularly in Irish Pubs. This version is made gluten-free, soy-free, and dairy-free – but no one cares because they are so good! (A goal we always strive for). The dipping sauce is optional. Most people do a mustard dip, but you might also enjoy the Bacon Dip (see recipe at bottom) that we happened to like with these.

Tip: Don’t salt the outer crust. Let the flavor of the sausage be the life of the party!

Gluten-Free Scotch Eggs

(double, triple, or quadruple the recipe for parties)

1 16-oz package of ingredient-safe uncased sausage* (either breakfast sage or italian flavor)

4 large eggs

1 egg, whisked with 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup quinoa, sorghum, or rice flour mixed with 1/2 cup cornstarch or tapioca starch

3/4 cup cornmeal or quinoa flakes

*Note: Check the ingredients on the sausage you purchase. Most have wheat, soy, and/or diary fillers. Be particularly careful of purchasing sausage from an independent sausage maker. Get to know them and find out what ingredients they use and how they manage cross-contamination.

Step 1:

Place the eggs in a small saucepan, cover with water, add 1 tsp baking soda (helps with peeling later), and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes and then remove from heat. Let the eggs stand for 15 minutes to soft cook.

Step 2:

Prepare an assembling station. A bowl for the sausage, a plate to press the sausage, a bowl for the flour, a bowl for the egg wash, a bowl for the cornmeal or quinoa flakes. A pan or plate to hold the sausage prepared eggs.

Step 3:

Peel eggs and rinse if needed. Divide sausage into quarters. With the first quarter, press onto a plate into a large disk about 1/2 inch thick. Set an egg in the middle of the sausage disk and gently wrap the sausage around the whole egg, being careful not to break the egg. Repeat for the remaining eggs.

Take each sausage-wrapped egg and dip into egg wash, then roll in flour, then egg again, then roll in cornmeal or quinoa flakes. (Traditionally, this is done with regular flour and breadcrumbs.)

Repeat for each egg.

Step 4:

In a deep skillet over medium-high heat, bring the oil to 350 degrees F. Add the eggs and cook for about 2-3 minutes, then turn over and cook the other side so that the eggs start cooking evenly all around. Cook for about another 12-18 minutes, turning occasionally to make sure all sides are thoroughly cooked.

Check temp of the oil and make sure it remains hot (be careful it doesn’t get too hot or you’ll burn the coating).

When the eggs are dark golden browned, they are likely done.

Cut in half to expose the egg and serve warm. Many people also enjoy these cold.

You could serve these with a warm dijon mustard or try:

Bacon Dip

3/4 cup canola-based mayo (to avoid the soy oil)

1 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder.

1 Tbsp ketchup

1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon mustard

1 slice of cooked bacon, crumbled fine

fresh cracked pepper to taste

Mix all together, top with fresh parsley (optional), and enjoy!!!

Classic Fried Chicken, Gluten-Free, Easy

Take heart, dear Southern friends, you are not alone in your memories of picnics and dinners with family. Whether it was take-out from your favorite place, or something only your grandma seemed to know how to make, we have finally found a way for you to relive those memories and enjoy this classic food fare again.

Classic Fried Chicken, Gluten-Free, Easy

8-12 chicken legs (and/or other parts)

1 cup of either basic gluten-free flour mix or rice-free gluten-free flour mix (see home page for these mixes)

1 cup of cornstarch

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1.5 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

3 eggs mixed with 1/2 cup water

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine gluten-free flour, cornstarch, and seasonings.

I a medium bowl, combine the eggs and water.

In a heavy-bottom deep skillet, over medium heat, slowly bring about 2 cups (halfway up the sides of skillet) of canola oil or other similar oil that can get up to 350 degrees. Use a thermometer and carefully watch the temperature of your oil throughout the cooking process.

Do not use peanut oil or a vegetable oil that has soy oil in it if you are making this for the allergy crowd. Don’t use corn oil if you have guests with corn allergies. Canola oil seems to be safe for many, but always check.

Wear an apron to protect your clothes.

Do not get distracted with other things, a few minutes of cooking without monitoring can lead to burnt chicken really quickly.

Dredge chicken in egg wash and then in flour and drop into oil.

Cook chicken for 13-15 minutes or until thermometer inserted into cooked chicken registers 180 degrees.

Enjoy!

Christmas Cookies – Free of Top 8 Allergens

This recipe is for a new online friend. I hope I’m in time for her and her children to enjoy! These Top-8-Allergen-Free Christmas Cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, and soy-free. These also happen to be rice-free, oat-free, coconut-free and sesame-free. While I do my best to eliminate these allergies, I am not well versed on all cross reaction ingredients.

Please make sure that all of your ingredients are safe for you and your family.

The goal was to eliminate rice flour and eggs and create a nice sugar “butter” roll-and-cut style cookie. I suggested that she use corn flour (masa) that is labeled gluten-free and I also suggested trying sorghum flour. I really wanted to go beyond just suggesting it and test them both out for myself.

Corn flour is typically used to make tamales and tortillas. If you’ve never used corn flour to do this, I HIGHLY recommend it. It is a lot of fun and you can avoid a lot of preservatives that are typically found in store-bought tortillas. But could corn flour be used in a butter cookie recipe? I turned to my favorite Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book and adapted the very versatile wheat-based Christmas Cookie recipe that I have loved for years and replaced the wheat flour with the corn flour, added xanthan gum, and replaced the cream cheese with 5 Tablespoons of applesauce. The result was quite delicious. There is a distinct tortilla cookie flavor but it is actually quite good, especially prepared with the frosting. The cookies are not too sweet because the frosting is very sweet and you don’t want the cookies to be too sweet. However, if you do not frost the corn flour based cookies, add an addition 1/4 cup sugar to the dough.

The next batch I made was with sorghum flour and potato starch. First of all, I noticed that Bob’s Red Mill Shortbread mix (pictured) is mostly sorghum (pronounced: sore-gum) and potato starch. There is no rice flour in this mix and it is so soft and works beautifully for roll-out cookies. Of course, I am not sure what the secret ratio is of sorghum flour to potato starch, so I tried to come up with it on my own in case my readers can’t find the shortbread mix but can find the sorghum flour and potato starch (so many stores carry such a varied set of flours that one can never tell what will be available).

I will say that we were even more pleased with the sorghum/starch mix. Sorghum flour comes from sorghum cane (the stuff they use to make molasses) and it has a wonderfully soft texture. Sorghum is a bit of a miracle worker with regards to improving gluten-free texture in baking and I highly recommend that gluten-free bakers experiment with it a little more.

That said, we are enjoying the cookies from both batches, though we prefer the corn-flour ones iced (they seem to do well with the extra sweetness) and we are preferring the sorghum ones un-iced with some hot tea. Both are delicious. Enjoy!

Corn (Masa) Flour or Sorghum Flour Christmas Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together:

2 1/2 cups of Corn (Masa) Flour – make sure it is not processed with wheat and that it is certified gluten-free.

2 cups of sorghum flour mixed with 1/2 cup potato starch

THEN ADD:

1/4 teaspoon of salt

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum

THEN CUT IN:

1/2 cup allergen-free shortening such as Spectrum non-hydrogenated palm oil shortening OR earth balance

THEN ADD:

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

5 Tablespoons of applesauce

3 Tablespoons of non-diary milk or water

DIRECTIONS:

Mix together by spoon and then finish mixing with hands.

Form the dough into a ball and split in two halves.

Dust the counter with either corn or sorghum flour.

Roll out the first half of the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutter of choice to cut out enough cookies to fill a cookie sheet. Keep re-rolling dough until you’ve used up as much as you can.

Using a fork, poke some holes in your cookies to eliminate big air bubbles in your finished cookies.

Bake for 10 minute or until edges are just a little golden brown. Your cookies will look very light and that is exactly what you want so that they don’t end up too crunchy. You want a nice firm cookie with a bit of give in the bite.

Repeat the directions with the second half of the cookie dough. If you can do all of the cookies all at once, go for it.

Next (and optional):

Egg-free, dairy-free royal icing

In a small to medium bowl add:

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 teaspoons water or non-dairy milk

2 teaspoons of honey or light corn syrup (honey seems to give the icing that cream cheese taste to it, but do not use honey for guests with bee allergy)

a few drops of liquid food coloring (be careful to get only the liquid or another food coloring that is allergy safe, the Wilton paste colors are NOT allergy safe)

Stir to a consistency of VERY thick pancake syrup. You don’t want this icing too runny because it will run off of your cookies if it is. You want it to be workable.

Repeat the above in a separate bowl for each color.

Don’t hesitate to add a little more powdered sugar to get the consistency thicker. It does dry out quickly though, so once mixed, pour into zip-lock or decorator bags (before you cut the tiny opening that you’ll need to pipe on the icing).

It’s easier to pour the icing in the bags instead of using a spoon. Also, pouring the icing into the bags will keep it from drying out and gives you a lot more time to work on decorating your cookies.

When your bags are all filled, set them on a large plate and snip the bottom corner or opening to a tiny hole. Since the icing is of a pour-able consistency, you need the small opening to have better control.

As you ice the cookies, be careful to start with an outline that leaves a little room for spreading so that it doesn’t go to the edge of cookie and fall down the sides. Then, make another line or two inside of it (don’t completely fill the outline). As you can see in the picture, the icing will spread into the outline by itself. Use the tip of the bag to push it over the gaps.

Let the cookie icing dry overnight. Can either dry at room temp or uncovered in refrigerator.

If you prefer, you can serve these sooner (after the icing has just set) if you don’t want to wait. You just won’t be able to stack them on top of each other until they are completely dry.

Enjoy!! And save a few for Santa!

Easy Allergen-Free Weeknight Dinner Series: Chicken and Gluten-Free Pasta with Parsley Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Homemade pesto is as versatile as it is easy to make. This allergen-free recipe uses sunflower seeds in place of the pignola nuts (a.k.a. pine nuts) that is commonly used in pesto. The sunflower seeds add the depth that a bold pesto requires, while garlic, salt and oil bring out the brightness and aromatic flavors of the fresh herbs.

Parsley is often more readily available and is also a great economical choice at about one dollar per bunch. I will say, however, that it is quite peppery when prepared this way, so you’ll need a bit of sweet basil (or dried basil) to offset that peppery bite of the parsley. Or… you could mix in 1-2 of your reconstituted dried tomatoes.

The sundried tomatoes were well worth the extra 10 minutes in the store to find and acquire. They add the acidic tang to round out the flavors of this classic Italian-American dish. My son does not like fresh tomatoes but loves these dried tomatoes.

And while mushrooms are depicted in the image (they *are* pretty aren’t they?), my fiance and I both agreed that a more spring flavored roasted veggie, such as asparagus would go a little better with the parsley pesto. The mushrooms weren’t bad – it’s just that they weren’t the optimal choice. So, instead, roast some asparagus, green beans or broccoli in lieu of the mushrooms. (Once I make this again with asparagus, I’ll update the picture).

Ultimately, this was very flavorful and satisfying. All family members devoured it and leftovers barely made it to the next day.

Chicken and Gluten-Free Pasta with Parsley Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1-2 pounds of chicken tenders or breast, cut into cubes or sliced in strips

1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped medium dice

1 Tablespoon fresh cracked pepper, salt and dried Italian Seasoning or Dried Basil

1 16-ounce package of gluten-free pasta

1 8-ounce package of sun-dried tomatoes (either in dry package or in oil, either will work)

4 cups (32 ounces) of parsley, packed (set aside some for garnish)

2 cups (16 ounces) of fresh basil, packed

3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/3 cup of sunflower seeds (check for allergens), or 2 Tablespoons of sunflower seed butter

1 peck of mushrooms, roasted at 350 degrees for 10 minutes (optional)

1 bunch of asparagus, roasted at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes (optional)

2 Tablespoons of Earth Balance or your favorite dairy-free margarine (make sure that it is totally free of whey, casein, and all milk proteins)

2 Tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast

Directions:

1. Wash and chop all of your veggies and herbs.

2. In a large skillet, cook the chicken and onion in some water with and seasoning such as salt, pepper, dried Italian seasoning or dried basil. While the chicken is cooking (put a lid on it to keep warm once finished cooking), reconstitute the dried tomatoes and prepare the pasta according to package directions. Also, roast your mushrooms and/or asparagus if you like.

While all of that is cooking, prepare the parsley pesto:

Add the parsley and basil to the food processor with the oil, garlic and sunflower seeds or sunflower seed butter. Add more oil or water if needed. Process until smooth.

Drain the soaked dried tomatoes and chop. (Note: they are large chop in the picture but we liked them better when we diced them smaller and had more bites with dried tomato flavor.)

Drain pasta, chop chicken and add to the pasta. Stir in the parsley pesto, dried tomatoes, earth balance and nutritional yeast. Taste and add salt as needed.

Serves 6-8

Easy Allergen-Free Weeknight Dinner Series: Blackened Chicken with Orange-Jalapeno Coleslaw

A vibrant slaw made of purple and green cabbage with shredded carrots, spring onions and jalapenos are tossed in a bright teriyaki-orange vinaigrette and topped with blackened chicken to make for a gorgeous late summer dinner that is just as much fun to eat as it is to see. My son loved it and asked to have some for his lunch.

If you are allergic to sesame: replace the 1/2 cup sesame oil with 1/2 cup fragrant olive oil mixed with a Tablespoon of sunflower seed or pumpkin seed butter. (Sunflower seed butter often has soy in it, ask if anyone has a soy allergy). And then replace the sesame seed garnish with plain shelled and salted sunflower seeds (make sure you check the ingredients label on this because roasted sunflower seeds are often roasted with allergenic ingredients such as wheat and dairy).

If you are allergic to chicken: Replace with another protein of choice, or omit it entirely as this is very good by itself.

Blackened Chicken with Orange-Jalepeno Coleslaw

For the chicken:

1 2-lb package of skinless chicken thighs (or breasts if you prefer)

2 Tablespoons of chili powder

1 Tablespoon of powdered garlic

1 teaspoon of ground coriander, cardamom or allspice (one of those will add a touch of sweetness)

1 teaspoon each of ground mustard, ground ginger, onion powder, salt and pepper

Coat the bottom of a large skillet with vegetable oil of choice (make sure the oil is allergen-free) and heat to medium high heat. Then mix the spices on a plate and coat each piece of chicken with the spices. Place the chicken in the hot oil and let cook for 3-5 minutes until thoroughly seared and blackened. Turn the chicken and sear for a minute or two. Add a little water, cover the skillet and let simmer while you are preparing the slaw. A long simmer will thoroughly cook the chicken and if you cook it long enough, it will break down and become “shreddable.” Just make sure you check on it often and add water if needed.

For the coleslaw:

1/2 head of red cabbage, sliced very thin or shredded in a food processor

1/2 head of green cabbage, sliced very thin or shredded in a food processor

~(feel free to try different varieties of cabbage for fun and/or add other greens)~

4 carrots, coarsely grated

4-6 green (aka “spring”) onions, slivered

4 jalepenoes, slivered (Note: Cut around the seeds. The seeds will burn your fingers and will add significant heat to your slaw. I omit the seeds for this reason but you may add a few if you want the heat. Use gloves if you are not adept at avoiding the seeds.)

1/2 cup raisins (or dried cherries, cranberries, mangoes, or apricots) – omit if you don’t like dried fruit in your salads

For the dressing:

1/2 cup (gluten-free) sesame oil or 1/2 cup olive oil mixed with 1 Tablespoon of sunflower seed or pumpkin seed butter

1/2 cup gluten-free rice vinegar (both seasoned and unseasoned will work, always check for allergens)

1 Tablespoon of gluten-free tamari (This is important to get gluten-free. Most soy sauces are made from wheat. Gluten-free soy sauces are made from soybeans instead of wheat – always be careful with soy sauce and ask if the people you are serving have a soy or gluten/wheat allergy. If you there are allergies to both soy and wheat, omit the soy sauce and substitute with 1 teaspoon of salt mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard)

1 Tablespoon of orange zest

1/4 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice

1 teaspoon of finely grated ginger

2 Tablespoons of sugar

2-3 dashes of Sriracha sauce (optional)

For garnish: 1/2 cup of toasted sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds (check label for allergens)

Chop and wash your veggies and combine in a large bowl.

Using a jar with a lid, shake the teriyaki-orange vinaigrette until well blended and pour over the coleslaw. Toss the coleslaw in the vinaigrette and serve on plates topped with the warm blackened chicken and garnish with the sesame, sunflower or pumpkin seeds.

Serves 6-8

(Make extra chicken if serving more than 6)

Easy Allergen-Free Weeknight Dinner Series: Italian Sausage, Peppers and Rice

Short and simple. Filling. Tastes good. This recipe utilizes a product that I know is safe for us to eat. A Simply Nature Mild Italian Chicken Sausage from ALDI that is labeled Gluten-Free and Lactose-Free. Lactose-free does not mean Dairy-Free, so I have to be careful with that indication. After careful examination of the ingredients, it appeared totally dairy-free, so I decided to go ahead and prepare this easy one-skillet dish.

The good news: we’ve enjoyed this sausage in several meals now with no problems.

While we did very well with this sausage, always be careful of your food, always check the ingredients label and check with your dietitian or doctor if needed. Here’s what’s in this:

Italian Sausage, Peppers and Rice

1 package of allergen-free mild italian sausage

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 14-0z can of diced tomatoes

1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

2-3 dashes of your favorite allergen-free hot sauce (or a dash of cayenne pepper), optional

Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare rice according to package directions. (Preferably cooked in broth for extra flavor).

While rice is cooking, add the sausage, onion, and green bell pepper to large skillet set to med-high heat with a little allergen-safe oil. Saute until sausage is browned and vegetables are tender.

Add the spices, tomatoes (with juice) and minced garlic to the pan and let simmer until flavors have melded and liquid has thickened.

That’s it. Dinner is finished. Here is a picture of the sausage and the ingredients label:

Easy Allergen-Free Weeknight Dinner Series: Chili Lime Tortilla Soup with Red and Black Beans

One of my favorite things to eat when I was younger was white chicken chili from a pub around the corner from my college. It was loaded with lots of butter, milk and cheese (of course). But I haven’t stopped craving those flavors. With this version, the green chili and lime flavors, along with a bit of the meal from the crumbled tortilla chips or taco shells, add the body and flavor that I’ve been wanting. If I don’t post this now, I’ll forget how I made it.

The lime juice makes it, so if you can, try to get a lime. If you don’t have a lime, use your favorite vinegar based hot sauce to add the acidic component that this needs to be just right.

Chili Lime Tortilla Soup with Red and Black Beans

Serves 2 – Double or triple the recipe for a family

In a medium saucepot, add the following ingredients:

1.5 cups of broth (CHECK FOR ALLERGENS BEFORE USING)

1 (14 oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14 oz) can of dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (8 oz) can of green chilis

2 taco shells or a handful of tortilla chips or fritos style chips crumbled into the soup (CHECK FOR ALLERGENS BEFORE USING) – this will thicken the soup as it cooks.

1 Tablespoon each of cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

Bring to boil, then turn down heat to simmer for about 15 minutes to develop the flavors.

Take soup off of heat . Add 1/4 cup of non-dairy milk and the juice of one lime. Taste and add salt if needed.

Serve in bowls and give your family more taco shells or tortilla chips for crushing. Enjoy!

Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are totally free of peanuts, nuts, eggs, gluten, wheat, and dairy.

Why the chickpeas? I ran out of shortening and earth balance but had everything else to make chocolate chip cookies. I really wanted to experiment with an egg-free cookie recipe. But without the fat, I was a little stumped. Could I still do it? Most recipes call for so much of said fat, really, the fat only does two things: add volume and softness. I remembered seeing some posts in my Facebook feed from raw food pages about making chocolate chip cookies using chickpeas. So, I thought I’d try pureed chickpeas and canola oil to replace the fat and 1/4 cup of applesauce to replace the eggs.

After deciding on these replacements, and consulting volume of ingredients from two cookbooks, this is what I came up with: a thick, cake-like chocolate chip cookie that, when paired with a tall glass of non-dairy milk, makes for a very comforting treat. The family raved.

I made these very large because I knew my son would get a kick out it. But you can use this recipe for any size and thickness that you want since these don’t spread out at all like the traditional wheat and butter cookie.

Ultimately, there are five really great things about this recipe: 1. They taste great, just like traditional chocolate chip cookies (my fiance did not know I used chickpeas until I told him). 2. They are totally free of the eight most common food allergens. If there is a legume allergy, use silken tofu instead of chickpeas (do not use tofu if there is a soy allergy) 3. You can eat this raw without worry of salmonella poisoning from eggs. Idea: Stir the dough into your favorite ice cream! (Oh yum) 4. You have the benefit of having total control over the size, shape and thickness of these cookies. 5. You don’t have to buy expensive fats such as shortening, earth balance or peanut butter, and thus a bit more economical.

So, here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease two large cookie sheets.

In a small food processor, add:

1 15-oz can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained.

1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup of canola oil

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Blend until mixture is very smooth and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together these dry ingredients:

2 cups of your favorite gluten-free flour blend

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (if your flour blend does not have it)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 cup of dark brown sugar

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

Stir together the dry ingredients and then add the chickpea puree. Stir and then you may have to use your very clean hands to squeeze and mix the dough until it all comes together.

Add 1 cup of Enjoy Life or other non-dairy chocolate chips and mix.

Shape cookies and flatten to about 1/4 inch thick. Bake on a rack that is closer to the top as these cookies brown quickly on the bottom. Bake for 11-15 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the cookie. They are done when the edges are golden brown. If you want the tops of the cookies a deeper brown color, finish them under the broiler for just one minute.

Serve warm with a tall glass of cold rice, hemp, soy or other favorite non-dairy milk.

Chicken Nuggets

Again, all allergens avoided. And this is very simple and easy to make on a busy weeknight. I just made these for my son and his friend that I’m watching. She doesn’t have food allergies and absolutely loved these and wanted more. How cool is that? They kept eating these nuggets until I distracted them with the banana bread that I had just pulled out of the oven (see previous post). Lol. Enjoy!

In a bowl, stir together:

1/2 cup gluten free flour mix (see banana bread post for the gf mix I use but it doesn’t have to be exact like it has to be for baking because the gritty of whatever you choose will add to the overall crispy effect of these nuggets).

Then add 1 teaspoon each of salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika and stir well.

Add 1/4 tsp of back pepper if you like.

Then cut up 2 – 2.5 pounds of chicken tenders into 1 inch pieces. Toss into the flour mixture. No egg coating is needed.

Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat. When oil gets up to about 325 degrees Fahrenheit, carefully add the chicken pieces. Cook in two batches if needed and do not crowd the pan. Cook the nuggets about 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and cooked through. Before cooking the second batch, lower the heat a bit before adding the second batch as the second batch will not cool down the oil as much and may burn.

Totally Allergen-Free Banana Bread

This tastes sooooo good. And I’m so excited about this accomplishment because I’ve been working on this for almost a week. This has zero allergenic foods, meaning it is gluten free, diary-free, egg-free, soy-free, corn-free, peanut-free and nut-free. No coconut, either. I promise you that I test my recipes before I post and the picture of this bread was just taken after we devoured a couple of pieces. My son’s friends are over and they begged for another. I will have to guard the rest for sweetheart since he’s been wanting me to make another banana bread for him and I need him to taste this. I think it actually came out better than the egg version I made last weekend. So far, the biggest challenge has been baking things without eggs. A friend suggested applesauce and upon reading more about it, the pectin in the applesauce helps act as a binding agent the way eggs do. Flaxseed meal mixed with water is suggested in some recipes as an egg replacer but if you are trying to avoid treenuts or soy, you may have to be extra careful with flaxseed meal. I have also used Ener-G egg replacer but that is just one more expensive special product to buy, and as you can relate, it is expensive enough to buy different kinds of flours. So, if I can use oil and applesauce instead of Earth Balance and Ener-G egg replacer, all the better.

Enough chat. Here is the the recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat an 8 inch loaf pan with a little bit of canola or safflower oil (do not use the spray if you are avoiding soy because most oil sprays use soy lecithin). If your applesauce is cold, warm the 1/2 cup of applesauce in a saucepan on low heat while you prepare the ingredients. (Warm ingredients help fats coat the flour and improve performance of leavening ingredients).

In a large bowl, mix together the following:

2 cups of gluten free flour mix (either use your favorite one for quick breads or you can use mine as follows: 6 cups superfine brown rice flour + 2 2/3 cup potato starch + 2/3 cup tapioca flour or starch + 2/3 cup sweet rice flour OR an addition of 2/3 cup tapioca starch if you do not have sweet rice flour).
11/2 teaspoons of baking soda
3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp xanthan gum

In the saucepan of warm applesauce, mix the following wet ingredients together:

1/2 cup applesauce (warmed up if cold)
1 cup of mashed bananas (about two very large ripe bananas or 3 small ones)
1/3 cup of oil

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit in the center of the oven for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy warm with some soy free Earth Balance or cooled down – however you like, right?

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