Cooking Lessons - Egg Free, Milk Free, Corn Free Cookies

Alot of times people ask me, "what does Nathan eat?!" The truth is, there isn't much processed foods he can have, his current allergens are: all dairy, eggs, nuts of all types, coconut, corn and sesame (oil and seeds), and if you look at your favorite package of cookies or cake mix, chances are you will find one or more of these ingredients. So I do alot of baking and cooking for him. And its really hard. I would say that 50% of what I make for him is an experiment gone wrong. Very wrong. So, when you find something that works, you want to celebrate!! And then tell everyone else about it too. (Im sharing this blog entry with a few of my allergen mom friends. So bear with me.) I found a fabulous recipe for cookies. The best cookies that you never ate. Until now of course, when you try this recipe. You will LOVE these cookies. I promise. Here goes:

Mix 4 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt in a large mixing bowl.















In a separate bowl add 2 sticks of softened vegan "buttery" sticks. I use earth balance sticks. I buy them at a specialty store a few towns away. They aren't cheap but work just like butter would in the recipe.

Add 2 tablespoons of molasses. Check to make sure you are using pure molasses. I found one that had corn in it!

Add two cups of sugar. I use plain old white sugar. Cream these ingredients until light and fluffy. I didnt get a good picture of the light and fluffy result of whipping for you. But, trust me, it comes out just like your butter recipe.

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. We dont mess around in our house, we bake alot and therefore buy the huge containers of vanilla extract. Make sure its pure. The imitation stuff has corn in it.

Now comes the fun part, the "eggs". I use EnerG Egg Replacer. The Red Mill egg replacer I used to use has corn syrup solids in it. This brand does not have corn. You mix the egg replacer up per the box instructions for 3 eggs. Make sure you use warm to hot water when you mix it because, its hard to get in solution. I use the back of the measuring spoon to really crush the egg replacer down and get it into a frothy mixture. So, using our imagination, those are the "eggs" you add to the wet ingredients along with the vanilla. Mix that up with the mixer for a minute or two more. Then dump the wet ingredients into the dry bowl.

Add some vegan chocolate chips. I have been buying the Enjoy Life Mega Chunks at the specialty store I shop at. They taste pretty close to chocolate chips. I use them as "candy" for Nathan too, a treat when he goes on the potty because Im not aware of any candy that Nathan can actually eat.

Add those chunks right into the dough and mix.

This makes a lot of dough.

Now, here is the hardest part of the recipe. You have to refrigerate the dough overnight or for at least 12 hours. Tough right? But, while you are waiting, you can lick the spatula. Go on, lick it, its egg free and thereby salmonella free too! YUM.

I package it up in plastic wrap and then put it in a plastic bag labeled so I remember that it is in fact Nathan's dough. Because the recipe makes so much dough,(Seriously, the picture does not do justice to just how many cookies you are going to actually have with this recipe) I usually take it out of the fridge the next day, split it in half or thirds and freeze it. I have had great luck just freezing it as shown here, and then thawing it in the fridge.

The portion you are baking should be baked in the oven at 350 F on parchment. I roll 1 inch balls of the dough, which make perfect sized cookies for Nathan's little hands. The trick to these cookies is catching them just as they are almost cooked fully and then taking them out to cook another minute or two on the cookie sheet. After a couple minutes put them on a cooling rack to cool completely.

I cant tell you how delicious these cookies are. You will not miss the eggs, or butter at all.