Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free, Egg Free, Ahhh!!!!

As my 3 year old says, "Sarah* is allergic to everything." She literally thinks that Sarah is allergic to EVERYTHING. Sarah's poor mother probably feels that that's the case most days. She brings her own snack to pre-school, birthday parties, restaurants. With three kids who don't have a single allergy between them I can't imagine how difficult it must be to raise a child with allergies to Dairy, Soy, Eggs, and Nuts.

For my little one's birthday at preschool, after talking to the mom in question, I decided that I would make just a little extra effort and adapt my sugar cookie recipe so all kids could enjoy. Let me tell you, it was enjoyed by all! It took forever for me to convince little Sarah that it actually was okay for her to eat the same cookies as everyone else and her mom said so too. Here is the recipe:

Dairy, Nut, Soy, Egg Free Sugar Cookies


Ingredients
2 sticks butter (dairy free, soy free, vegan) - softened
1 c granulated sugar
1 egg worth of Ener-G
1 T vanilla
1 T vanilla rice milk
3 c Flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt


Directions
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.


In your mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Prepare Ener-G as package says and add Ener-G egg substitute, vanilla, and rice milk to butter mixture.


Slowly add flour mixture, a little at a time, until incorporated and dough starts to form.


Here's where I do my cut-out cookies a little differently. Pour out the dough onto wax paper and roll between two pieces of wax paper until desired thickness. Usually around 1/4", maybe a little less, works best for me. Then I place the rolled out dough onto a baking pan and put the whole thing in the freezer. 


Now start preheating your oven to 325. While you're waiting, prepare cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper. I used to use Silpats but I find that the cookies spread less with the parchment paper. I have no idea why, or if this happens to anyone else, but I like parchment paper. When your oven is ready, take the dough out of the freezer.


Take your cookie cutters and cut out dough and place and cookie sheet. They will spread as you bake them, so make sure to leave 2" between each cookie.


Depending on size of cookie cutter used bake between 13-20 minutes, on and upper rack of the oven, checking then towards the end. All of our ovens seem to cook just a little differently. You'll figure out the right time for yours during the first batch. 


Because I could barely use any of the ingredients that I usually use in my icing, the icing used on these cookies was just a mix of confectioners sugar and rice milk. It's not great for decorating but the kids all seemed to love them anyway!


Good luck! Let me know how they turn out.