Allergy-Friendly
Chocolate Review, Ideas, and Recipe
(originally written in April 2012)
The Enjoy Life® brand is really a blessing to those with life-threatening food
allergies. Everything they make is free
of the eight most common food allergens; their products are also certified
gluten-free. Enjoy Life® makes cookies,
granola, snack bars, cereals, trail mixes, chocolate bars, and chocolate chips—but,
let’s face it, I’m here to talk about the CHOCOLATE!!
Enjoy Life® sent me two bags of chocolate chips (two
different varieties) and one package of Double Chocolate Chunk Granola to
review. Unfortunately, I could not test
the granola since it contains inulin/chicory (one of my food
intolerances). But Enjoy Life’s baking
chocolate is wonderful! There are two
different varieties: mini chips and mega chunks. They are made of real simple, all natural
ingredients (Evaporated Cane Juice, Natural Chocolate Liquor (Non-Alcoholic),
Non-Dairy Cocoa Butter).
Besides tasting great (there really is no
discernible difference between them and other semi-sweet chocolate chips on the
market), both chocolates are very versatile.
I use them in so many different ways (not every suggestion listed below will automatically be allergen-free;
obviously choose safe products and
ingredients based on your dietary restrictions):
1.
As is!
–unaltered, straight from the bag.
-Grab a handful for a quick chocolate
pick-me-up snack.
-The mini chips make a terrific ice cream topping.
-They can also be enjoyed unaltered in an
allergy-friendly
trail mix (with
safe cereals, marshmallows, and dried fruit) as I mentioned in my February
column about party snacks. (If you
prefer to buy an already-prepared trail mix, Enjoy Life® makes a
seed
and fruit mix which contains their chocolate chips.)
-My kids and their cousins love using the
mini chips to decorate frosted sugar cookies
and cupcakes.
2. Melted!—both varieties melt exceptionally
well, although the mini chips do so more quickly. I pour the desired amount of chips into a
heat-proof bowl, and simply microwave the chocolate on high in 30-second
intervals, stirring after each time, until it is smooth and melted. Some suggest adding corn syrup or shortening
to the chocolate, but I have never found it necessary.
|
Chocolate-covered strawberries |
-You can use this as a
chocolate fondue in which to dip fresh fruit, cookies, or pretzels (or anything else you desire!).
-I like to make
chocolate-covered strawberries or pretzels (just dip until each
piece is thoroughly coated, let excess drip off, place on a wax-paper-lined
plate, refrigerate until chocolate is re-solidified, and serve).
-When melted with milk (or any milk alternative), the chips make an
easy chocolate icing for cake or cupcakes.
|
Chocolate Hearts for Valentine's Day |
|
Solid chocolate bunny and eggs |
-My favorite use for melted chocolate is to
make
candy for my sons. Every holiday the
“allergic community” scrambles to find safe chocolate in themed shapes (online
or in store), and what little is available is expensive (plus shipping, if
applicable)! If people knew how easy it
was to make your own chocolate candy, allergy-friendly candy suppliers would go
out of business. One bag of chocolate
goes a long way when making candy, and, although Enjoy Life® chocolate chips
are relatively expensive (about $5/10 oz. bag), I know the chocolate is “safe”
and my method is much cheaper than buying already-made specialty chocolate
candy.
I simply pour melted chocolate into candy
molds (very inexpensive online or at a cake/candy supply store, and they come
in any shape/design imaginable!) and freeze until solid. I can’t tell you how excited my oldest son
was when he got to eat his first solid
chocolate Easter bunny!
If you don’t have molds, you can pour
melted chocolate into a paper-cup-lined mini muffin tin for individual
chocolate candy cups. I love to add
rice crispy cereal or coconut flakes for some variety; you can also
make
mint chocolate by stirring in a
little (just a drop or two of) flavoring oil (NOT extract).
-Simple
chocolate raisins are another candy
option.
-Enjoy Life® does make
chocolate
bars (and they
do taste like
real milk chocolate, so much so that my
mind had difficulty being convinced I wasn’t eating dairy!), but sometimes I
will make my own
chocolate bars
(pour melted chocolate chips into a wax-paper-lined pan). My boys love to use chocolate bar pieces to
make
S’mores.
3. In recipes!—any recipe that already calls
for chocolate chips, or an addition to enhance a recipe.
-I will admit, chocolate chip cookies are my weakness! And Enjoy Life® chocolate chips work
perfectly in any cookie recipe,
and in cookie bars, blondies, and
brownies (in fact, I just used the mega chunks in my banana chocolate chip
bars!).
-The chocolate chips make
hot cocoa extra rich!
-You can also toss them into your favorite pancake batter.
-The mini chips are an excellent addition to
homemade granola bars; check out the
allergy-friendly (and NO BAKE!) recipe below.
Chocolate Chip
Granola Bars
A favorite snack item, these bars have simple ingredients, are easy to
make, and require no baking! Enjoy Life®
mini chips are perfect in them, but this recipe is very adaptable to individual
preferences. You can add whatever spices
or mix-ins you like to create your own version—try cinnamon and raisins, or
coconut flakes and dried cranberries.
The possibilities are endless!
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups
oats*
- 1 cup
crispy rice cereal
- 4
Tablespoons butter or margarine
- ¼ cup brown
sugar, packed
- ¼ cup
honey**
- ½ teaspoon
vanilla extract
- ½ cup
chocolate chips, divided
DIRECTIONS
- Lightly
grease a 9” x 9” pan*** and set aside.
- In a large
bowl, stir together oats and cereal; set aside.
- In a small
pot, melt together butter/margarine, brown sugar, and honey over medium
heat. Bring to a low boil; stir
until well combined. Reduce to low
and continue to cook another two minutes.
- Remove pot
from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
Pour this mixture over oats/cereal in large bowl; mix well until
evenly distributed and all is moistened.
- Let mixture
cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
Then gently stir in ¼ cup of the chocolate chips (they will melt
some, but this is OK).
- Transfer
mixture to greased pan; spread out to an even thickness, pressing the
mixture down to pack firmly together.
- Evenly
sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips over mixture; use clean hands
to press chips into the bars so they adhere.
- Do not
cover while still warm! Cool
thoroughly (at least two hours) before cutting into bars. (If you can wait, these are best made one day ahead of eating; the
flavors seem to have more time to meld.)
Cover with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.
TIPS
*The
original recipe calls for quick cooking oats, but rolled oats should work fine
too. Perhaps try a combination of both!
**For
a vegan version, you can substitute agave for the honey. However, you might want to reduce the amount
so the bars are not too sweet.
***I
originally tried these in a 9”x13” pan, but they came out too thin and
crumbly. They work best in a smaller
pan, packed in thick. If you don’t have
a square pan, you can push the mixture to one side of a longer, rectangular pan
(leaving part empty).
ALLERGY
INFO
This
recipe is free of wheat, eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, and tree nuts. To make it dairy- and/or soy-free, use a safe
margarine and safe chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life® brand). To make it gluten-free, carefully choose oats
that have been certified gluten-free
and use a gluten-free crisp rice cereal.
Always double-check ingredients,
including cross-contamination risk based on your level of sensitivity and
comfort.