Food Allergy News: Sweet Alexis Cookie Giveaway Winner, Plus A New Nut-Free Cookie Company: 504 Cookies

We have a winner of the Sweet Alexis Cookie Valentine's Day cookie giveaway: Amanda W. (at the Party of 5 blog)--Congratulations! You win a dozen Valentine's Day cookies, courtesy of Sweet Alexis egg-free, nut-free and dairy-free bakery.

Please e-mail me at nut-freemom@sbcglobal.net so that I can get your address and shipping info.

Thank you to everyone who entered! For those of you who didn't win, I hope you will check out Sweet Alexis Bakery for some great treats. They have a storefront in California but they ship if you buy online. Visit their website for all the yummy details.

This week is turning into unofficial cookie week on The Nut-Free Mom blog because I have another wonderful nut-free cookie company to tell you about: 504 Foods.

504 Foods was founded by Meredith Cohen, a mom of a peanut and tree nut-allergic child who was tired of her son never being able to have a cookie from the school caf. (504 refers to a "504 Plan," a health plan that is instituted to protect severely allergic students under Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act.)

Under the brand "Zack's Cookies," 504 Foods is now working to make delicious, nut allergy-safe chocolate chip and sugar cookies available to schools, universities, summer camps, hospitals and other venues.

504 Cookies are made in a dedicated nut-free commercial bakery using only nut-free ingredients, with periodic testing for allergens. They are preservative-free and free of trans fats. They are currently sold as frozen "pucks" to bake on site and as packaged, pre-baked treats.

And they taste great! We received some samples of these cookies last week and the reason I don't have pictures of them is because my kids polished them off in no time flat as an after school treat!

These are really tasty cookies--anyone will love them, not just people with nut allergies.

I can't even imagine how great it would be if my daughter had more options in the school cafeteria. It takes the pressure off of parents, and helps kids with nut allergies to feel like they have choices instead of always bringing everything from home.

If you want to find out more about 504 Cookies' "Zack's Cookies" brand, and how to get them at your school or institution, visit the web site.

A special thanks to Kelly of Food Allergy Mama for introducing me to her friend Meredith and 504 Foods!

Food Allergy-Safe Cookie Giveaway! Sweet Alexis Nut-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Valentine's Day Cookies!

Looking for nut allergy-friendly cookies for Valentine's Day? Tired of baking? Well, the wonderful Michelle of Sweet Alexis Bakery offered to do another free cookie giveaway for Nut-Free Mom blog readers! See the delightful heart-shaped cookies pictured at left? They can be yours if you are the lucky winner.

What will you win? A dozen heart-shaped and frosted cookies, individually wrapped, boxed and topped with a bow! A $36 value (including shipping). Best of all, the cookies are tree nut-free, peanut-free, dairy-free and egg-free.

All you have to do to enter this random drawing is to comment below. Please give us your first name and last initial. When a winner is chosen, you can send me your e-mail privately to discuss shipping.Since this is a Valentine's Day contest, feel free to share a story close to your heart, that explains how you went the extra mile and showed the love to someone in your life with food allergies. (Winners won't be chosen based on the stories--it's just nice to hear them!)

The winner will be announced Wednesday, February 1st right here--and on my NFM Facebook page.If you don't win, I hope you will still check out Sweet Alexis for some amazingly delicious allergy-friendly baked goods. We love their zucchini bread and banana bread, especially, and their cookies are delish! Good luck everybody! And thanks to Sweet Alexis for sponsoring the giveaway!

Food Allergy News: Home Free Organic Treats! Peanut-Free, Treen Nut-Free and More!

The unexpected benefit of having to find peanut-free and tree nut-free cookies and treats for our kids with peanut and tree nut allergies, is that sometimes the alternatives are healthier. And healthier is good--but what about taste? They have to want to eat it, right?


Recently, my kids were given the opportunity to sample some cookies from Home Free Organic Treats. Created by the mother a child with food allergies, these cookies are a wonderful nut-free option that you can feel good about for two reasons. First of all, they are made in a free-from facility--that is, free of nut, peanuts, dairy and eggs. Some of the products are even certified gluten-free, if you have that concern. Everything is made with natural, organic ingredients that are free of the Top 8 food allergens (however, they are processed on lines with soy lecithin. Please see the web site for info on allergen management/cleaning practices.)



Second, these cookies are healthy as well as tasty. They are non-GMO certified, made with whole grains, heart healthy, low sodium--wow. For all that, they taste great! I love the flavor and texture, especially the mini gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. I prefer crispy, crunchy cookies and these deliver. I had to put these cookies in another room before I ate them all.



We sampled the regular sized chocolate chip cookies, the mini chocolate chip GF cookies, gluten-free mini vanilla cookies and mini chocolate chocolate chip cookies. All of these cookies were nut-free, egg-free and dairy-free, too.



My youngest loved the mini cookies the best but my oldest, with allergies loved them all, leaning towards the chocolate chocolate chip and regular sized plain chocolate chip cookies. She told me that "these cookies put a smile on my face." OK--I'll take a smile any way I can get it these days. (Those of you without tweens, you'll find out what I mean someday.)



But seriously, these are a great, nut-free treat. I love to support companies with dedicated nut-free facilities because let's face it--there is way too much label confusion these days. When you KNOW it's safe and nut-free, it just makes life easier.



You can order these online or find them in some stores. Check out the store locator for more details.



Thanks, Home Free for the samples and for making a great option for food-allergic kids.



FTC Note: I received free cookie samples but no other compensation for this post.

To Celebrate Peanut-Free Day: Nut-Free Granola Bar Recipe

Apparently it's National Peanut Butter Day, so for those of us unable to partake, I thought I we could celebrate National Peanut-Free Day. And what better way than with a peanut-free, tree nut-free recipe (and reader favorite): Nut-Free Granola Bars.

My recipe is fast, easy and both kid and adult-friendly. It's also easy to alter to your tastes and food allergy needs. You can omit the SunButter or use soy butter if you need to and replace the chocolate chips (or combine them with) Ocean Spray Craisins or raisins.

If you need to avoid eggs, add a little more honey as a binder and/or even a small amount of unsweetened applesauce (see the recipe below). Experiment with your kids until you find the combinations you like best.

A word about chocolate chips: If you want nut-free chocolate chips only, then check out Vermont Nut Free Chocolate for delicious varieties. If you would like egg-free, dairy-free and nut-free chips, Divvies and Enjoy Life Foods sell them (Enjoy Life is soy-free, too). I also use Hershey brand semi-sweet chocolate chips because we only need to avoid nuts, not dairy. After many communications with Hershey and many years of using certain of their products, I feel confident about them.Make a batch of these for after school snacks, during school snacks and lunchtime treats.

The Nut-Free Mom's Nut-Free Oatmeal Granola Bars

2 cups old-fashioned oats, uncooked

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or dried fruit, or both)

1/2 cup toasted wheat germ; I use Kretchum brand (or in a pinch, use same amount of whole wheat flour but the wheat germ really gives it that "granola" taste)

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (Morton's makes this)

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup SunButter brand sunflower seed spread (or soybutter), optional

1 large egg (if going egg-free, use 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce instead)

2 tsp vanilla extract (Nielsen-Massey or McCormick's are my faves)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with Pam.

In a large bowl with a wooden spoon, mix oats, flour, brown sugar, chocolate chips, wheat germ or wheat flour and salt until blended. Stir in oil, honey, SunButter, egg or applesauce and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Pat mixture into pan with a wet hand (so you won't stick too much).

Bake until golden around the edges, 18-20 minutes for chewier bars, 25-30 minutes for crispier bars. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

When cool, cut lengthwise into bars of your preferred size. I did four strips, each into four pieces for a total of 16 bars.

Enjoy!

Food Allergy News: New Allergy-Friendly Valentine's Day Candy from Surf Sweets

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I am thrilled to be able to tell you about an all-new, allergy-friendly and organic treat--Surf Sweets Fruity Hearts! These sweet little heart-shaped gummy candies are certified organic watermelon and cherry heart-shaped gummies. I think they're perfect to share with your kids, their classmates and friends. Plus, they are a cute and festive decoration for a home-baked cupcake.

As you know, it's a difficult prospect to decipher food labels on Valentine's Day candy in order to find nut-free but delicious items kids will enjoy eating and receiving (and don't forget about adults--I love these things!). I like to support companies like Surf Sweets because they take all the guesswork out of it for me. I need nut-free and no question, these are nut-free, made in a free-from facility. Kind of makes things simpler, doesn't it?

Surf Sweets Fruity Hearts are made right here in the Chicago area with real organic fruit juice, fortified with antioxidant Vitamin C, and they’re allergy friendly, gluten free and vegan. Fruity Hearts are also free of corn syrup, synthetic dyes, and artificial flavors.


All Surf Sweets candies are gluten free; dairy and casein free; allergy friendly, meaning that they contain none of the most common food allergens (wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish, shellfish); and Feingold approved. Surf Sweets candies are produced and packaged in a dedicated nut-free facility.

Most Surf Sweets candies are currently available in mainstream grocery and natural foods stores, online, and at specialty retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information on store locations, visit the Surf Sweets website where you can also order online.

I'll have more info on my favorite nut-free chocolates for V-Day in an upcoming post!