Dairy | Egg | Nut-free recipe: Pikelets

1 cup flour
1.5 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 t baking soda
1 c milk alternative (I use soy)
2 t white vinegar
1 t vanilla essence
Extra oil to grease pan
Topping of your choice (I use mixed berries)

Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
Make a well in the centre.
Pour all wet ingredients into the well and whisk until smooth.
Heat frying pan greased with 2 T of oil and pour 1/4 cupful of batter into the pan.
Cook for 1-2 mins or until bubbles show on surface of batter and base is golden brown. Flip the pikelet and cook through.

Makes 10.

* Adapted from taste.com.au egg-free pancake recipe.

Dairy | Egg | Nut-free recipe: Banana muffins

Here's a handy recipe to have to use up all those bananas. This can easily be made soy and gluten-free too without any trouble and they also taste great. Another variation I have made with success is adding chopped up chunks of Whittaker's dark chocolate to the mixture after the vanilla essence and milk has been added.

2 mashed bananas

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup oil

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/3-1/2 cup milk alternative

Line muffin tin with oiled paper liners or spray oil on non-stick muffin tins.

Combine mashed banana, sugar and oil together. Mix well.

Sift baking powder, cinnamon, flour and baking soda together.

Add dry ingredients to banana mixture alternately with combined vanilla essence and milk. Mix well.

Pour into muffin cases. Bake at 180°C for 20-25 mins (15 minutes is sufficient with the muffin tray size I use, so when making these for the first time, test your muffins with a skewer at this point).

Makes 12.

I dust my cupcakes with icing sugar once cooled but they are just as tasty plain, or you could add your own icing if preferred.

Recipe adapted from The NZ Food Allergy Cookbook and printed with permission from Allergy New Zealand. The cookbook retails for $40 and is available to purchase here.

Easy vegan chocolate cake

This is a delicious never-fail chocolate cake recipe and surprises many people when they learn it is dairy and egg-free. I make this cake regularly and it is always a hit with everyone who eats it. Even if you are not vegan, it is a handy recipe to have for the times when you have no eggs or milk in the house and is very quick and easy to make so there is no excuse not to make it now is there?

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

1/4 cup cocoa

1/3 cup oil

1 cup cold water

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Combine all but vinegar and mix until smooth.

Fold in vinegar.

Bake at 180°C for 30-50 minutes depending on tin size (30 minutes is sufficient in a 22cm cake tin).

Icing - Combine sufficient icing sugar and cocoa to your taste and mix with hot water to desired consistency. Spread onto cooled cake.

Source: Essentially Food Feb/March 2005. Recipe given to me by our neighbourhood baking queen, Steph.

Dairy | Egg | Nut | Gluten-free recipe: Sables

This is a sweet recipe but come on, people on a gluten, dairy, egg and nut-free diet are already living a joyless life, so cut them some slack.

175g dairy-free margarine

75g caster sugar

1 pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

250g gluten-free flour

Put the margarine in a large bowl, soften and whisk until smooth.

Add the sugar, salt and vanilla. Whisk until fluffy.

Add the flour, mix well with a wooden spoon.

Using your hands, press mixture together to make a ball.

Remove from the bowl and press the mixture into a large sausage shape. Wrap it in cling film or tinfoil and cool in the freezer until firmer.

Unwrap, cut into slices about 6mm thick. Lay the slices on an oven tray lined with baking paper.

Bake for 10-15 mins at 200°C in top third of oven.

Icing:

Melt 50g of dairy-free dark chocolate and drizzle from a spoon over the tray of cooled biscuits.

Makes 30 approx.

Recipe adapted from The NZ Food Allergy Cookbook and printed with permission from Allergy New Zealand. The cookbook retails for $40 and is available to purchase here.