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Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

I often forget that there are many people out there that are not only gluten-free, but dairy-free as well.  I can’t even begin to imagine what a challenge that is in addition to maintaining a strict gluten-free diet. I often rejoice about finding amazing gluten-free products only to find out that many others can’t share in my excitement. I have made a mission to start keeping my eyes opened for more products that aren’t only gluten-free but dairy-free (and may be free of many other allergens as well).

I recently saw that Hain Celestial has a new gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip on the market – Chocolate Dream Semisweet Chocolate Baking Chips. While they also distribute gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chips from Tropical Source, the Chocolate Dream chips are made by the same people (Taste the Dream) that make Rice Dream, Soy Dream, Almond Dream, etc. I love the Chocolate Dream Dairy-Free Chocolate Bars, so I would imagine that the chocolate chips were equally as good.

Enjoy Life Foods makes a gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip that is also free of peanuts, tree nuts, soy and egg.  While the others don’t have those ingredients added, they are made in a facility where nuts (almonds) may be present.  I have used these as a topping for ice cream and in baked goods and they work nicely.  A coupon is available on the Enjoy Life home page for $.55 off any Enjoy Life product.

Tropical Source by Sunspire makes a wonderful gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chip.   Like the Chocolate Dream, they are made in a facility that processes nuts, so they may not be safe for those with nut allergies.

If I had to choose a favorite from the list above, it would be the Tropical Source by Sunspire Chocolate Chips.  Even though I haven’t tried the Chocolate Dream Chocolate Chips, I have tried the chocolate bars.  The Tropical Source chips are amazing.  I love the taste & texture and would be willing to bet that it would be hard to tell them apart from a Nestle or Hershey’s Chocolate Chip.

If you can have dairy, the following list compiles some of the gluten-free chip varieties:

Here are a list of verified gluten-free chips from Nestle:

  • milk chocolate chips
  • semi sweet morsels
  • chocolate chunks
  • semi sweet mini morsels
  • milk chocolate morsels
  • premier white morsels
  • peanut butter & milk morsels
  • milk chocolate & peanut butter swirled morsels
  • semi sweet & premier white swirled morsels

***The Nestle butterscotch chips are not gluten-free.

If you are looking for a butterscotch chip, Hershey’s are gluten-free, as are these others:

  • Special Dark
  • cinnamon
  • semi sweet
  • milk chocolate

All of this talk about chocolate chips has me wanting to bake some cookies now!

Recipe: Simple Baby Gluten-Free Spinach And Tuna Salad

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I am always making large salads for lunch and this is one of my favorites. There is nothing complicated about this salad.  It is equally as simple to make at home as it would be to prepare at home and take to work to eat.

Simple Baby Spinach & Tuna Salad Recipe

  • Fresh baby spinach
  • 1 package of tuna (2.6 oz or so – I use StarKist or Bumble Bee)
  • fresh sliced mushrooms
  • grape tomatoes
  • French Dressing (I use Kraft* Fat Free French)

***Don’t be afraid to get creative and add your favorites in here.  Red onions would be great, as would some black olives or hard boiled eggs.

This salad is the perfect pairing for an Udi’s gluten-free Whole Grain Bagel.  See my favorite way to enjoy them here.

This salad is one that I will often make ahead for trips or picnics and bring along with me.  I don’t mix the tuna in until I am ready to eat the salad.  The rest of the ingredients stay fresh when tossed, so there is no reason to worry about soggy salads.  The absolute best thing about this salad is that it is naturally gluten-free.  If you wanted to bypass the pre-made dressing, a homemade balsamic vinaigrette or the dressing I made here, which is similar to a sweet & sour, would work just as well.

*Kraft is one of the mainstream companies that will clearly label any gluten in their products.  When looking for fast dressings that I don’t have to make from scratch, they are one of my go-to brands.

Recipe: Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Cranberry Orange Muffins

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One of my favorite types of muffins when I ate gluten was cranberry orange. I don’t think I ever baked them at home, but I always bought them at bakeries and grocery stores or ordered them when having brunch out when available. For whatever reason, I don’t remember ever making a gluten-free version of cranberry orange muffins which is quite odd considering how much I enjoyed them before. I have made some really tasty gluten-free cranberry orange quick breads – just not any muffins.

Something about our unseasonably and lovely spring time weather inspired me to whip up a batch of muffins last weekend. I had dried cranberries from Trader Joe’s on hand (sweetened, but not with corn syrup) so I looked for a muffin recipe online. I found this highly rated recipe on Food.com and easily converted it to be gluten-free. This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free and low in fat, but a bit high in sugar.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup gluten-free flour (I used Jules gluten-free)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 t. baking powder
  • pinch of baking soda
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 egg
  • 5 T. orange juice
  • 1 T. plain olive oil (do not use EVOO)
  • 2 T. unsweetened applesauce

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Combine dry ingredients and stir with a whisk.
  3. Beat egg, orange juice, oil and applesauce together.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and blend well.
  5. Fold in cranberries
  6. Spoon batter into greased mini muffin pan (I used greased paper liners).
  7. Fill liners 3/4 full.
  8. Bake for approximately 10 minutes until cake tester (or toothpick) inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  9. Serve warm with lemon curd or butter.

The recipe yields approximately 22 mini muffins. Variations: use canola oil instead of plain olive oil. Add orange zest or a small dash of orange extract to the batter for a stronger orange flavor.

The muffins not only rose incredibly well, they were light and fluffy and I was very impressed with the look of them to say the least. I just hoped they tasted as good as they looked right out of the oven. After letting the muffins cool a bit, I tried one with a little butter on it. It was simply scrumptious! Since I made them the day before we were having them with brunch, I had to stop at only one.

To reheat the muffins for brunch, I lightly wrapped them in foil and put them in  a 350 degree toaster oven for about five minutes. It seemed almost like the muffins were even lighter than they’d been the day before. Instead of butter, I used some lemon curd on the muffins and that was the perfect accompaniment for them. I could have eaten a dozen of the fluffy treats, but stopped at three. Three mini muffins equal about one regular size muffin. At least, that is what my husband said as he scarfed down six muffins (also with lemon curd on them) himself. Then he ate two more muffins unheated without anything on them. He had five more muffins the next day and skipped his weekday ritual of cereal for breakfast.

Even though I didn’t get around to freezing any of these wonderful breakfast treats, all the baked goods I’ve made with Jules gluten-free flour before have frozen beautifully so I’m sure these will do fine too. I’m planning to make up a batch of regular sized muffins to freeze and pull out as needed for weekend trips to the in-laws, etc. And apparently, I’ll have to take enough to share with my husband.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 4 Comments

Trader Joe’s Peanut Flour. I first saw this product on the shelves at my local Trader Joe’s a couple of months back.  I picked it up and there was a little note on the shelf suggesting to replace the flour in chocolate chip cookies with peanut flour. Easy enough!

What I found when I made cookies using peanut flour is that the cookies do not flatten out, so I ended up with a batch of cookies in the exact shape that I had formed them in.

No biggie, they tasted great, so I decided to make a “cookie cake” out of the cookie dough. My son took it a step further and cut 2 pie slice pieces of the cookie cake and placed some vanilla ice cream between them for an ice cream sandwich.

Great minds work great together!

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peanut Flour Recipe

Ingredients:

  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2 sticks of butter (1 cup), softened
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla
  • 2 ¼ cup Trader Joe’s Peanut Flour
  • 2 tsp. Xanthan gum
  • 1 tsp. Baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla & egg together until fluffy.
  2. Stir in dry ingredients until well combined & then add chocolate chips.
  3. Spray pans with Pam or another cooking spray. Press dough into 2 pie pans or pan of choice.
  4. Bake for 15- 20 minutes at 350 or until done. Stick a toothpick in the middle and it should come out mostly clean.
  5. Cool completely. Slice into pieces. Top with ice cream & another piece or enjoy a la mode.

If you choose to make cookies out of this, consider shaping the dough into the shape you would like it to be in before baking.  I found that this dough worked best as a cookie cake as opposed to a cookie itself.  The flavor is slightly different from the traditional chocolate chip cookies – it has a hint of peanut taste, making it like a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.

Have you tried baking with peanut flour?  If so, what did you make and what were your thoughts?

Tip: Avoid Dining Out at Peak Times if Possible

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We eat out as much as we did when I could eat gluten, but just like we did in the past, we tend to visit our favorite places and choose to venture out to new ones pretty infrequently. I enjoy trying new places when meeting friends for lunch. We usually go early or late, avoiding the crunch time for the kitchen staff and servers. This way, we feel like there is a better chance our meals will be prepared and served safely.

As a general rule, we don’t usually go out to eat on Saturday night. That is because everyone another person in Atlanta goes out that night and there is no way to beat the crowds unless we go to dinner at 4:30 pm. One day I might be thrilled to enjoy early bird specials, but I’m not there yet.

For some reason, I had a hankering for a steak at Ted’s Montana Grill last weekend. The weather here was gorgeous and we could have easily saved money and grilled our own steaks at home. But the truth is our steaks are never as good as those we get at steak houses. I assumed that as long as we arrived plenty early on Saturday, I should be able to get a safe meal at Ted’s.

We were seated at 5:50 and the restaurant was not on a wait. It was busy, but not overly so, and not as much as it would be an hour later. It turned out that we were seated at one of two tables with a clear view of the kitchen. We both ordered our meat medium well so of course, it took a while to complete our ticket.

My husband always enjoys watching the kitchen since he used to cook for a living. Finally, two plates that looked like they could be ours were placed on the counter for pick up. Before the ticket was put with the plates, the expeditor dressed them. That meant the plate with the steak got a roll. My husband saw the roll get tossed onto the plate and said “I hope that’s not our food”. In a flash, the line cook looked at the ticket and swooped in and threw the roll into the trash. It had been on my plate and my meal was served as if nothing had happened. Needless to say, I did not accept it. I asked for a new baked potato and for the steak to be taken off our bill. I was not in the mood to wait for another steak to be prepared by that time.

We witnessed a little pow-wow with the expediter and manager and the latter appeared at the table to apologize for the mistake. She offered to have some chicken grilled for me, presumably because it was much faster to cook than a medium-well steak, but I declined the offer. I did not have a lengthy conversation with her about what happened because, by the time this happened, the place was crazy busy and very loud. I would have had to yell in order for her to understand what I was saying. Instead, I sent a complaint to the corporate office.

We were charged for my drink and my husband’s meal. The salad and potato I had were comped, but I would much rather have had my steak. I left the restaurant annoyed and disappointed. I was disappointed with the staff at Ted’s and annoyed with myself. It was too busy for them to take the time to prepare my food safely and for that part, I take some responsibility. But when they messed up, someone should have known not to serve my food as if the bread had not been placed on my plate, touching my steak. That part was Ted’s bad – not mine.

Clearly, the staff at our location needs to brush up on gluten-free service and be told why people order off the gluten-free menu. Maybe a color-coded plate system would be feasible there. It’s no problem that people make mistakes, but it’s a huge problem when whoever does it pretends it never happened when it comes to serving allergen-free meals. Would I end up in the hospital if I’d eaten the meal presented to me? No, I would have just been doubled over in pain and wondered what they did to mess up my food.

In the end, I made a poor choice and paid for it. While I did not get sick and I’m very grateful we sat where we did that night, I’m not sure how I feel about going to Ted’s again. One thing is for sure, we will not be going back on Saturday night and will do our best to avoid dining anywhere on Saturday night unless at a gluten-free restaurant or on vacation. This choice increases the chance that I’ll be served safely and is respectful of the staff at places trying hard to serve our market.