Food Allergy-Friendly Cookies: New! Enjoy Life Foods Crunchy Cookies!

There are three kinds of cookie lovers: those who love soft chewy cookies, those who love crunchy, crisp cookies and those who love ANY cookie. I'd have to place myself in the crunchy crisp cookie category so I was very happy when Enjoy Life offered to let me try their newest product: Crunchy Cookies!

As you see from the photos, there are four kinds available: Double Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Vanilla Honey Graham and Sugar Crisp.

With so few nut-free Chicago bakeries, these cookies are definitely a welcome addition to my house.

I loved these cookies before I even took a bite. For one thing, they are a bigger cookie so they look more like what you would find in a bakery (always good for our kids and ourselves). They also have a wonderful flavor and I really like the texture. It's crunchy and crisp and the cookies taste buttery (though they are dairy-free...how do they do that???) and delicious.

Our family favorite was the Chocolate Chip but all the flavors were a hit. I especially like the Vanilla Honey Graham--in fact, I can see this one as a gluten-free and nut-free option for making a pie crust that calls for graham crackers. The double chocolate had "intense chocolately flavor" according to my husband and my daughters both gave me a "thumbs up" and said "Yum." That kind of says it all.

I also love these because I am asked so often for "safe" cookies and I like to endorse those made in a nut-free facility. These would be great to bring to a school party with multiple allergies because they are free of dairy, soy, egg, peanut, tree nut and gluten. I remember last year a Girl Scout leader asked my advice on Chocolate Chip cookies for a troop meeting so these go on the list this year, definitely!

Go to Enjoy Life Foods' store locater to find out where you can buy their latest, tasty addition to their cookie roster! You can also order these online if you visit the Enjoy Life web site.

Thanks to Enjoy Life for letting me try these!

Note: I received cookie samples but no financial compensation for this review.

Tickle Your Tummy Nut-Free Treats!

As many of you know, baking is a must for those of us with nut-allergic kids. Bakery goods are off-limits so we've got to be ready to provide a yummy treat for classroom parties or birthday celebrations.

I don't know about you, but I don't have Martha Stewart-style decorating skills. I can do the decorating basics and make cakes, cookies and cupcakes that taste good, but when it comes to the finer points of decorating, it's time-consuming and tricky. Plus, let's face it: we don't always have the time to whip up a beautifully decorated baked item at a moment's notice, but we hate for our kids to miss out on bakery quality, decorated goodies.

That's why I am so thrilled about Tickle Your Tummy (TM) nut-free treats! This Canadian-based company churns out beautifully decorated cakes, cupcakes and cookies that are 100% nut-free. The best part is that these treats are available at Whole Foods markets throughout the country. You can also get them via mail order.

There are a lot of online nut-free food bakers and food manufacturers that I love, (just check out my links under "Nut-Free Foods") but how great to be able to swing by Whole Foods and pick up these treats on the spur of the moment? That's something that we can rarely do.

The other great thing is that you can recommend Tickle Your
Tummy to friends, family and classmates' parents who want to offer a treat that nut-allergic children can enjoy. In fact, my number one question that I get from non-allergic families is "Where can I find nut-free baked goods?"

Visit your local Whole Foods to locate these treats--they should be near the bakery section of the store. And if you don't see them, ask the store to order them.

Thanks to the La Grange, IL mom who alerted me to these tasty treats!