Chocolate Cookie SunButter Ice Cream Cupcakes and *Special Giveaway*

I'm excited to share a fun and delicious SunButter recipe with you today. These Chocolate Cookie SunButter Ice Cream Cupcakes are the perfect fun treat for a hot summer's day...like a 4th of July picnic dessert maybe? But what's even better?  They're a dairy free, nut free and allergy friendly dessert of course! 

Also, be sure to read to the bottom of this post for an awesome SunButter giveaway!

These ice cream cupcakes so easy peasy to make because this is a no bake recipe. NOT having to turn on the oven for a delicious summertime dessert is great news, right?

Plus, you can customize them any way you want. You can use your favorite ice cream flavor or frozen whipped topping.  Just make sure it's dairy and nut free if you're dealing with food allergies.

You can eat it with a fork....

Or your hands! Doesn't this look yummy?  Layers of tasty goodness, ya know?

Chocolate SunButter Ice Cream Cupcakes
Makes 12 ice cream cupcakes.

Ingredients:
Cookie crust:
14 crushed Oreos (Or try your favorite crunchy chocolate cookie)
4 Tbsp melted dairy free butter (I used Earth Balance)

SunButter filling:
3/4 cup SunButter (I used Natural flavor)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 Tbsp soft dairy free butter (again, Early Balance)

Ice cream:
3 cups dairy free ice cream or frozen whipped topping (I used SoDelicious)

Recipe:
1. Line a cupcake pan with foil cupcake wrappers. Include the paper wrappers if they come in the foil. This makes it easier to peel off when the cupcake is frozen.

2. Crush Oreos in food processor. Combine with melted dairy-free butter.

3. Firmly press 1 Tbsp of Oreo mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner.

4. Beat SunButter, powdered sugar and dairy-free butter with electric mixer until combined. Spread 1 heaping Tbsp of SunButter mixture in each cupcake liner as next layer.

5. Scoop 1/4 cup of slightly soft dairy-free ice cream into each cupcake liner and smooth on top.  The cupcake should be filled to the top of the cupcake liner.

6. Top with your favorites. We like crushed Oreos, Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips, or India Tree Sprinkles.

I'm sure you love SunButter as much as we do. I mean, it's one of Little Guy's main sources of protein due to his food allergies. If you depend on it as much as we do I'm sure you're going to love this giveaway. One lucky reader will win a CASE of SunButter. That's 6 jars, 16 oz. each, and you can choose your favorite flavor! Enter here today.

Entry-Form

Don't forget to check out more SunButter recipes on my blog, and the fun recipe booklet on the SunButter website.

This post contains affiliate links. Also, thanks to SunButter for sponsoring this post and giveaway, and partnering with me to bring you new ideas for fun allergy friendly eating!

5 Allergy-Friendly Summer Snacks

  

I'm excited to share with you my guest post on the SunButter blog: 5 Allergy-Friendly Summer Snacks. 

I remember my family beach trips so vividly as child. They were full of sun, sand, swimming and SNACKS! Still, our snacks were most likely full of dairy, eggs, sesame or nuts – food that is unsafe for my 5 year old son with multiple food allergies.

Now, as a mom of a 5 year old and 2 year old (with no food allergies), I want to pack safe and healthy snacks for our whole family. We can’t just run up to the boardwalk when the kids get hungry, or pick-up snacks at a local store.  Our beach trips take so much planning, planning and more planning!

I thought this list of allergy-friendly snacks might be useful for other parents of children with food allergies. These snacks are perfect for the beach, pool or whatever fun activities you do in the summer! They’re portable and easy to grab right out of the fridge, freezer or cabinet. They’re also rather healthy. We try to focus on healthy and whole foods in our family, but we also try not to worry too much if a few “treats” sneak in here and there!

SUNBUTTER + VEGGIES, CRACKERS OR PRETZELS

Since my son can’t eat other forms of protein like eggs and cheese – usually great portable kid snacks – we rely on SunButter to give him that boost of protein he needs. You can easily take a whole jar of SunButter to the beach in your cooler.  I also like to portion SunButter in bowls beforehand so everyone has their own. Bring some pretzels, crackers and precut veggies and fruit like carrots, celery and apples. Dip in SunButter for a healthy and satisfying snack!

MUFFINS + SUNBUTTER SQUEEZE PACKS

My kids LOVE all kinds of vegan homemade muffins – banana bread muffins, pumpkin muffins, you name it! If you add a little SunButter on top of the muffins, then you have a well-rounded snack that will keep them satisfied. We love SunButter’s On The Go Pouches (affiliate). They make it so easy to squeeze the SunButter directly on the muffin - no utensils needed!

FRESH FRUIT

Fruit is such an easy and portable snack option. I’m sure you eat it all the time, just like we do. Choose a few favorite fruits that your kids love AND a fruit that you don’t usually buy. You never know, they may like to try a new food just because they’re having so much fun at the beach or pool! Wash and slice your fruit beforehand, throw it in a container, and go!  If you really need a quick and portable fruit snack, buy fruit like apples, peaches, grapes and plums that you don’t even have to cut. Just wash it and throw it in a bag!

NO BAKE OAT BALLS

These no bake oat balls are so easy to make and throw in a container.  I keep them in the fridge or freezer, and put the container in my bag when we’re ready to leave.  My husband and the kids all love them, and it’s a great snack option that’s a little different than the usual!

NUT FREE SNACK MIX

We can’t buy the traditional snack or trail mixes from the store as they usually contain nuts, dairy or sesame. So we make our own!  This snack mix is one of our favorite combinations. Pick your favorite safe snack foods like popcorn, pretzels, dried fruit, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, and mix them all together! You don’t even miss the nuts or other unsafe foods. It’s a satisfying and safe snack for all.

I hope these snacks help you and your family have MANY fun summer memories of sun, sand, swimming and SAFE SNACKS!

Need more snack ideas?  Try these!

Nut Free Granola Bars (dairy free, egg free and sesame free too!)

Simple Oat Date Bars (so easy!)

White Bean, Basil and Lemon Hummus (tahini/sesame free)

Easy Grilled Chicken Marinade from Linda Coss

One of the best parts of summertime is grilling out. It's easy (since the husband usually grills), it's healthy (usually) and it tastes delicious! 

If you love grilling as much as we do, you're going to love this easy summertime grilled chicken marinade recipe from Linda Coss.  Linda is a well-known food allergy expert, and author of a number of popular food allergy books. She recently contacted me with the good news that her popular cookbooks, What's to Eat? and What Else is to Eat? are now available in e-book format at Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and most other major e-book retailers.

Her cookbooks offer recipes that are completely free of dairy, egg, peanut and tree nut ingredients. And boy are they good.

I encourage you to check out her cookbooks AND try this tasty grilled chicken recipe. I especially love that this marinade is homemade, full of healthy ingredients, and sesame-free. It's so difficult to find a store-bought sesame-free marinade. This offers a great option for families like us who can't buy marinade at the store!

Linda's Signature Grilled Chicken - photo courtesy of Linda Coss

Linda’s Signature Grilled Chicken

You’re going to love this recipe! This amazingly easy chicken dish has become one of my summertime standards, enjoyed by my friends, my children, and my friends’ children.

It’s “top 8 free.” And it’s delicious left-over for salads and sandwiches, too.

With summer barbecue season now upon us, I think your readers will really enjoy this recipe.

Preparation time: 3 minutes

Marinating time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 16 to 20 minutes

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

canola or vegetable oil for brushing on grill

Place vinegar, oil, lemon juice, and lemon pepper in a small bowl or measuring cup; mix well. Place chicken in a single layer in a large sealable plastic bag; add marinade. Seal bag and shake gently to coat. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Turn bag over, keeping chicken in a single layer. Refrigerate for an additional 15 minutes. (Note: If desired, can be marinated up to 24 hours.)

Heat gas grill, then brush grill with oil.

Place marinated chicken on prepared grill of heated barbecue. Discard excess marinade. Cover barbecue and cook for 8 to 10 minutes (note: If using a gas barbecue, cook over medium heat). Turn chicken over. Cover and cook for an additional 8 to 10 minutes, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork. Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings (1 chicken breast half each).

Note: Although this chicken is fabulous from the grill, it is not particularly good broiled. So if you live in a cold climate, save this recipe for barbecue season.

Recipe reprinted with permission from “What Else is to Eat? The Dairy-, Egg- and Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook” by Linda Marienhoff Coss, www.FoodAllergyBooks.com. 

Here are Linda's amazing books. You can buy the two cookbooks in print form, or in e-book format at Amazon.com, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and most other major e-book retailers!

What's your favorite recipe that's great on the grill?