The Bright Side of Life

I'm handing the blog over to my husband Dean for another guest post today. And it's not about donuts! It is about something sweet though. Take it away, Dean!

Oh, I should warn you that he likes puns.

He really likes puns.

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Time for another guest blog post from Dean (the SuperDad in this family of Superheroes). When Zax was diagnosed with his egg allergy, it wasn't completely alien to us since Eileen has her tree nut allergy. And she had an egg allergy when she was much younger. He's just a chocolate chip off the old block. But it was still a newer and different allergy than we were used to. Unlike peanut, we came to realize just how prevalent egg is in so many items, especially baked goods.

We didn't want to stop baking or completely give in to that's how the cookie crumbles, so the search was on for an egg replacer. We came across Ener-G, a powder that you mix with water. It works pretty well for a lot of things, (I use it for pancakes), but it works well for cookies too.

I've always loved chocolate chip cookie dough, especially in ice cream. It's my favorite. When anyone around me would make cookies, I would sneak some of the cookie dough. Sometimes I would be caught with my hand in the cookie dough bowl, sometimes I would get away with it. It was a small amount and to me, worth the risk of salmonella poisoning. Tsk, tsk, to me.

But a silver lining to Zax's egg allergy means being able to eat the cookie dough (or cake batter) without the fear of getting ill! For me, it's one of the brightest spots to his otherwise crummy allergy.

The first time I made cookie dough with the egg replacer, Eileen asked if I was making cookies. I told her no and she raised an eyebrow. She's one tough cookie. I was making it to go in ice cream. That way it was more cost effective and more importantly, I could control the amount of cookie dough in each bowl.

So here is the recipe that I love for chocolate chip cookies (it might have been posted here before by Eileen, but here it is again!)

Free From: Egg, Peanut, Tree Nut, Fish and Shellfish. I hate sea flavored ice cream. It could easily be soy free with Enjoy Life chocolate chips, and substituted with your other allergy friendly substitutions so it's not just another cookie cutter recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 4 tablespoons of water = two eggs
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (and definitely can't substitute with baking powder!)
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla; beat until creamy.

Beat in egg replacer.

Gradually add flour mixture.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Test cookie dough to make sure it's good enough for your family.

Have your family double check your work.

Drop in as much cookie dough you want into your favorite ice cream (I used chocolate chip ice cream, you can't get enough chocolate chips) and enjoy! My family said it was good, I like to think I'm one smart cookie. Until my next blog post, don't forget how super you are!

My apologies for offending anyone with my cookie puns, especially Cookie Monster. Please don't eat my cookies or cookie dough.

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Linking up at Allergy Free Wednesdays

I did warn you that he likes puns.