Gluten and dairy-free people -- help me!

[happypamama]

If someone who was not familiar at all with GF cooking and only slightly familiar with DF cooking (in that I have used coconut oil and coconut milk instead of dairy products) wanted to bake some cookies for a family who is GF/DF, how would one do that?  Said family has one child who is slightly allergic to both items, but the mother says that products produced in facilities that use them are okay.  So would that mean that well-scrubbed pans/utensils from my house would be okay?  Tell me about baking cookies that would be safe -- recipes?  What works well for the flour in cookies?  Anything else I should know (like, do I need to be careful of certain decorations or anything that one might happen to use on cookies)?

[twoxcell]

Make sure you read the ingredients of everything you use including baking soda/baking powder/vanilla/sprinkles etc. Do not use plastic or wooden spoons and bowls. I would use glass or metal and make sure you wash everything thoroughly first. There are several brands of GF flours available. I prefer the ones that are rice flour based and do not like the ones that have a bean base. The more moist the ingredients the better for GF. I have had good results with these recipes. I just use coconut oil in place of butter and Almond milk in place of milk. My favorite is the peanut butter cookie recipe. If you use peanut butter it needs to be a jar not previously used for spreading onto bread. I have my own designated jar to prevent cross contamination from my dc and dh. HTH

[sbgrace]

Can the child have peanut? If so, the easiest, least expensive, and safest option would be flour free peanut butter. Your family would likely enjoy them too.

 

Make them on well cleaned metal cookie sheets. Use metal or glass mixing bowls, metal spoons/spatulas etc.

I'm an allergy mom. I've never heard of a sort of allergy like that! I wouldn't do it if the child had to strictly avoid, but given small amounts are safe for the child I think your kitchen using well cleaned things would be fine.

 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/flourless-peanut-butter-cookies-recipe/index.html

 

Buy a new jar of peanut butter. Yours could (likely does) have gluten contamination.

 

 

[twoxcell]

 

Go to the store and get a mix.  Honestly, if you aren't going to be GF/DF yourself, it's a PITB to learn how to do all this for a one-off. 

 

The Cravings Place makes a wonderful set of mixes--chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and other stuff, AND a GF/DF mix you can use to make receipes of your own.  The cookies are so good (so are the brownies) that no one I serve them to has any complaint at all...whether or not they are GF/DF. 

 

The ONE thing I will say you have to do is to make  stuff pretty much the day you serve it.  Mixes or not, GF/DF stuff doesn't "keep" as well as the G/D stuff.

Yes a mix would be easier. Betty Crocker has some Gluten Free mixes that taste pretty good. Another good one is the pre-made cookie dough from Pillsbury. I agree that Gluten Free stuff goes stale much faster than regular.

[fraidycat]

Pamela's Brownie mix has directions for making cookies on the side if the bag, using the mix, if I recall correctly. I think it is GF/DF.

[happypamama]

Thank you all -- this is really helpful!  I am fairly confident that I can read the labels and avoid dairy; my DD was allergic to dairy for a while, and I remember checking the kosher symbols and all for her.  It sounds like a mix would be the way to go.

[twoxcell]

 

Betty Crocker mixes are GF but not DF.

 

I don't mean to nitpick but it would matter to me. :0/

I have used a couple that did not have any dairy listed under ingredients. Specifically the Sugar Cookie mix. But definitely check labels first. I do for everything now. It makes it easier when things specifically say, GF, Vegan and/or Pareve right on the label.