Winter is making herself known. From historic snowstorms spanning a large section of the country to prolonged stretches of bitter cold temperatures, it’s a good time to grab your coziest attire, pull on your fuzzy slippers, and settle in at home for a bit. Whether your family chooses to embrace long movie marathons, rowdy game tournaments (Monopoly, anyone?), or something else entirely, snacks will be had. If you need some (allergy-safe) inspiration, we’ve got a few ideas for you.
Dairy-Free Taco Dip
It’s cold. Your dip should be warm, and by warm, we mean something more than merely cooked together in the oven. This Baked Taco Dip by Coffee Table Eats gives a little extra pop of heat from diced jalapeño and salsa (selected to your personal heat tolerance).
The recipe as written is free of the top nine allergens. You can customize it further if you’d like to adapt it to your specific needs. Layered dips often lend a little bit extra flexibility to what goes in them. Grab a bag of your favorite, allergy-friendly chip and enjoy this spot of heat on a cold day.
Allergy-Aware Pizza Rolls
For some, tiny little pockets of cheese and tomato sauce were a teenage rite of passage. Pop a few pizza rolls in the microwave and you’ve got an after-school snack that balanced convenience with yum. If you’re avoiding wheat and dairy, however, the store-bought variety is a no-go. Strength and Sunshine, however, has an allergy-aware, homemade version that may be perfect for your cold winter afternoon.
These copycat pizza rolls use Bob Red Mills Pizza Mix, a blend of brown rice flour, potato starch, millet, and sorghum. It also uses an egg replacer – you can use the one recommended or your own go-to faux egg if that’s on your avoidance list.
Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate
Yes, hot chocolate is like a warm mitten on a cold winter day. When your cheeks are pink and your nose has a bit of that frosty feeling from being outdoors, holding a steaming mug of rich chocolate is a must. (Ok, coffee works too. Coffee always works, but let’s stick with the cup of cocoa for now.)
Here’s the good news, some of your favorite homemade hot chocolate recipes can be adapted using coconut milk or another favorite non-dairy sub. If you don’t have a go-to recipe already, something like this from The Ambitious Kitchen works well. The original recipe uses a combination of coconut milk and almond milk, but you can easily substitute in a non-tree nut-based milk if your allergies require it.
Top your decadent cup of chocolate with a light, fluffy marshmallow. You can make your own (egg-free!) variety with this recipe from Mon Mack Food. Before we move on from your mug, let’s revisit coffee, because sometimes you need that little bit of java, right? This recipe from Laura Fuentes combines your favorite milk substitute with chocolate and coffee.
Crispy, Crunchy Chickpeas
Roasted chickpeas are a great, high protein, nut-free snack. Grab yourself a can and experiment with a mix of seasonings to roast up your own custom blend of crunch. Not sure where to start? Yay for Food has some great combos to try, plus she outlines the “how-to” part of roasting up a pan full of chickpeas if you’ve never tackled that project before.
Homemade Maple Taffy
Anyone that’s read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” book series knows about maple snow candy. Find yourself a clean patch of snow and start drizzling in the hot maple syrup! The cold snow will drop the temperature of the maple syrup to create a delightful taffy-like consistency of pure sweet yum. You’ll find more specific directions with Happy Hooligans’ article on the manner.
Snow Ice Cream
Yes, it’s a cold treat, but if we’re going to have feet of snow around, we may as well enjoy a treat that can only be made when we have snow around. Grab yourself a bowl full of clean snow and try this recipe from Gimme Some Oven. You can use any milk-variant that meets your tastebud and allergy needs – coconut, oat, soy, or other.
