Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - Allergy Free

I was in the mood for cookies, and had an allergy free recipe to try out.  I halved the batter and made some with raisins and some with dried cherries, but the raisin cookies were much better.  This is what not to do - I checked the cookies half way and noticed that they were not flattening on their own, so I took them out to mash them down, and managed to dump a couple into the oven.  Ugh.  So the rest of the cookies took on a bit of a burned flavor.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - Allergy Free

3/4 cup gluten free all purpose blend (bob's red mill - garbanzo bean flour main ingredient)
1 1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter (earth balance buttery stick - milk free)
1/2 cup sugar - raw (granulated works too)
1/2 cup flaxseed gel (equal to 2 eggs, recipe below)
2 T water
1 cup raisins

Whisk together flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon, set aside.  In a stand mixer, cream together softened butter and sugar on medium for 5 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally.  Add in flaxseed gel and water, blend on medium-low for 1 minute.  Gradually add the flour mixture and blend on medium for 2 minutes.  Remove from stand and stir in raisins by hand.  Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet, flattening the cookie.  Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes.



Flaxseed Gel
(replaces 1 egg = 1/4 cup prepared)

1 T ground flaxseed meal
3 T water - warm, not hot

In a small prep bowl, whisk together ground flaxseed meal and water, let sit 8-10 minutes to thicken, then whisk again before adding to your recipe.

Pancakes - Allergy Free

My friend who's son is also allergic to many of the same things as Henry passed this pancake recipe along.

Pancakes - Allergy Free

1 cup bisquick (gluten free)

1 cup milk (almond milk - milk free)
2 T vegetable oil
2 T applesauce

In a mixing bowl, whisk together bisquick, milk, oil, and applesauce.  Spoon onto hot griddle and cook until golden.

White Bread

Now that I am done being allergy free along with Henry, I decided to make regular white bread.  I have made this recipe many times before (the recipe came with my breadmaker), it always turns out delicious.  The biggest flaw is that it does get stale quickly, so I tend to eat too much when it is fresh. 

White Bread

1 3/8 cup water - room temperature
2 T butter - softened
4 cup bread flour
2 T sugar
2 T dry milk
1 3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp yeast


Pour water into bread pan with the butter. Add bread flour. Add sugar, dry milk, and salt. Make a well in the bread flour with your finger, and measure the yeast into the well. Place the pan in the breadmaker, put on basic setting, choose crust color, and press start.

Allergy Free Sandwich Bread

 (top picture with rice based flour only, bottom with combination)

I have been craving bread since going wheat free for Henry's allergies.  This is my first homemade loaf recipe to try and it is pretty good, but I will keep trying others too, I am not sold on this first one.  I got this recipe from the only allergy free cookbook that I have bought, the rest I just got from the library.  It is Learning to Bake Allergen-Free by Colette Martin.  I took her advice and bought a gluten free bread loaf pan (9x4x4") to help it rise better.  It came out a perfect block.  It was delicious straight out of the oven (what bread isn't?) but it does need to be toasted or warmed in the microwave thereafter - which is true of any wheat free bread as far as I can tell.  I sliced the whole loaf and froze some and kept some out, it freezes fine.

When made with only multi-purpose flour blends that have rice flour as the main ingredient, the loaf ends up being a bit spongy and not really the texture of wheat flour based bread at all.  When made with only multi-purpose flour blends that have garbanzo bean flour as the main ingredient, the texture is much fluffier, but it dries out quickly.  When I used both - as the wise Collette Martin had suggested, the result was much better!

Allergy Free Sandwich Bread

1 1/2 cups gluten free all purpose blend (bob's red mill - garbanzo bean flour main ingredient)
1 cup gluten free multi-purpose flour blend (king arthur or betty crocker - rice flour main ingredient)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
4 tsp quick rising yeast
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 1/2 cup water - warm
2 T egg replacer (ener-g)

Whisk together flour, xanthan gum, yeast, salt, baking powder, and sugar.  Using a stand mixer, blend the oil, water, and egg replacer on medium speed for 1 minute.  Slowly add the flour mixture on medium low until combined.  Mix on medium high for 2 minutes.  Spoon the batter into a greased loaf pan (optional: sprinkle cornmeal in the bottom of the pan).  Let rise for 35-45 minutes.  Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 5 minutes then place on cooling rack to prevent the loaf from getting mushy.

Rising Methods:
a) Preheat oven for 1 minute then turn off, place dough in oven with a cup or pan of water.
b) Place dough on warming zone of stovetop, set to low and rotate the pan so that it rises evenly, cover with greased or water dripped plastic wrap.

Doubled Recipe

3 cups gluten free all purpose blend (bob's red mill - garbanzo bean flour main ingredient)
2 cup gluten free multi-purpose flour blend (king arthur or betty crocker - rice flour main ingredient)
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 T + 2 tsp quick rising yeast
1 tsp salt
2 T + 2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup grapeseed oil
3 cup water - warm
1/4 cup egg replacer (ener-g)

Sugar Cookies (Box Mix)

I made some allergy free cookies from a mix, altering it a bit to eliminate the egg.  I got the mix and substitution instructions from a friend who also has a son with food allergies and has been doing this for much longer and so is much wiser :) 

Sugar Cookies (Box Mix)

1 box sugar cookie mix (betty crocker gluten free - wheat free)

1 stick butter - softened (earth balance buttery stick - milk free)

2 T water

1 T vinegar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

Stir all ingredients together until they form a soft dough.  Drop by spoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Smush them down and add sprinkles.  Bake at 350° for 12 minutes. 

Egg substitution for cookies:

1 T water

1 T vinegar

1 tsp baking powder

Spaghetti with Garlic Oil

This is another recipe I got from an Allergy Free cookbook.  I thought it looked good, and it tasted pretty good, and smelled divine.  However, pairing it with a wheat free pasta, it made the pasta stick to my teeth, not so good.

Spaghetti with Garlic Oil

1/4 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves - minced
dash salt & pepper
16 oz spaghetti noodles (ronzoni - wheat free)

In a large pan of salted boiling water, cook the spaghetti according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine olive oil and garlic, and season with salt and pepper.  Simmer over low heat, careful not to burn the garlic.  Pour garlic oil over drained pasta, serve.

Granola "Bars" - allergy free

This is a recipe I got from an allergy free cookbook for granola bars.  They are not bars, they do not hold together at all.  It is really just granola, but with chocolate chips and sugar.  :)  It still tastes ok, but if I make it again trying for bars, I will probably add some wowbutter or something to help hold it together.

Granola "Bars"

1/2 cup shortening
2 T honey
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups oatmeal
1 cup rice crispies
1 cup mini chocolate chips (enjoy life - milk free)

In a large bowl, melt together shortening and honey.  Stir in sugars.  Stir in oatmeal, rice crispies, and chocolate chips.  Spoon into a 9x13" baking dish and bake at 325° for 30 minutes.  Cool and cut into bars.