Tasty Allergen-Free Recipes - New Cookbook

Families living with life-threatening food allergies may feel they cannot enjoy their favorite baked treats including cakes, cookies or doughnuts. Kelly Rudnicki, the Food Allergy Mama, shows families how to live with and enjoy allergy-free, flavorful baked treats in her book The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book. Kelly explains to readers that they don't have to sacrifice good flavor to make desserts allergen-free.

The book is filled with traditional favorites such as muffins, breads and cookies, but also explores the allergen-free versions of cakes, pies, crisps and cobblers.

Kelly keeps her desserts fresh and delicious by using high-quality ingredients that are affordable and widely available. Her favorites include: Gold Medal Flour, Fleischmann's Margarine and Nielsen-Massey Vanillas.

Since 1907, Nielsen-Massey Vanillas has been dedicated to pure vanilla products. Their beans are hand-picked for perfection. A proprietary cold extraction process slowly and gently draws the delicate and distinctive flavor from the vanilla beans. Nielsen-Massey Vanilla adds a sweet touch to Kelly's recipes such as Apple House Cinnamon Doughnuts and Emerald Isle Coffee Cake.

"I'm a real stickler about the vanilla I use. There are some ingredients you can't go cheap; this is one of them. Nielsen-Massey's is top of the line. Get the good stuff, and you'll see a real difference in your baking results," Rudnicki said.

Apple House Cinnamon Doughnuts
Courtesy of The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book
Yield: 12 doughnuts and 12 holes

Doughnuts
Vegetable oil, for frying
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla extract
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons Fleischman's Unsalted Margarine, melted
4 ½ - 4 ¾ cups Gold Medal Unbleached All-purpose flour
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup soy or rice milk

Cinnamon sugar, for rolling
½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In a large, heavy pot, heat 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil until a candy thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 375ºF.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the applesauce, vanilla, and ¾ cups flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt with a wire whisk. Add the flour mixture and the soy milk alternately to the applesauce - margarine mixture. Add more flour, if needed, to make a smooth and not-too-sticky dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board. Knead for about 1 minute, and roll out to a ½-inch-thick circle. Dip a doughnut cutter into flour, and cut into the dough. Remove the trimmings and reroll, repeating the process.

Slide a few doughnuts into the hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pot. Fry until the doughnuts rise to the surface, about 2 minutes, and turn over with metal tongs to fry the other side. Doughnuts should be golden brown on both sides. Lift out the doughnuts with metal tongs and drain on paper towels.

Mix together the ½ cup sugar and the 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Place the cinnamon - sugar mixture in a brown paper lunch bag. Place the warm doughnuts, one at a time, in the brown bag, and shake to coat. Shake off excess sugar, and place on a serving platter. Repeat with remaining doughnuts.

Note: If you don't have a doughnut cutter, use a 3-inch biscuit cutter instead. To make the doughnut holes, use an empty, sterilized round medicine bottle without the cap. Poke the hole in the middle of the circle, and down the hole will pop. This is a time-tested trick Rudnicki learned from her mom.

About The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book
With more children diagnosed with food allergies every year, parents are eager to find recipes that are both allergen-free and flavorful. Kelly Rudnicki is one of those parents, and she's created her own delicious baked recipes to help fill this gap. The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book contains recipes that are completely nut, egg, and dairy free and that can stand up to their original versions. Children with food allergies no longer have to be excluded while their friends eat scrumptious baked goods. The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book features scores of both sweet and savory baking recipes.


About Nielsen-Massey Vanillas
Throughout its more than 100-year history, Nielsen-Massey Vanillas has earned its reputation as a manufacturer of the finest extracts in the world. The full line of Nielsen-Massey's Pure Vanilla products include: Vanilla Beans and Extracts from Madagascar, Tahiti and Mexico; sugar and alcohol-free Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Powder; Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste; Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Sugar and Certified Organic Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, Vanilla Beans and Powder.

Nielsen-Massey Vanillas also carries a line of Pure Flavors: Pure Chocolate Extract, Pure Almond Extract, Pure Orange Extract, Pure Lemon Extract, Pure Coffee Extract, Pure Peppermint Extract, Orange Blossom Water and Rose Water. All Nielsen-Massey products are certified Kosher and gluten-free. The company is headquartered in Waukegan, Illinois, with production facilities in Waukegan and Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.