NO-CHEESE ITZ Gluten-free, Dairy-free "Cheese" Crackers

Lesson learned during this weeks cooking journey... Be sure to eat lunch prior to cooking a snack that you can't eat! Seriously. So I've mentioned that I'm not eating grains right now and since we collectively can't do almond or coconut flour due to sensitivities, any sort of grain-free baked good recipe doesn't even work.  So technically speaking, I can't nosh on any of it. And if I do, I pay for it dearly, often with a lovely headache and then digestive issues that I will spare you with the details. Insert very sad face here.  

This week, we chose a recipe I came across when searching for an allergy-free alternative to Cheez-It crackers. You know, the little cheesy square ones with the hole in the middle. Anyhow, last week during school, Logan was tempted by a friend's lunch and ended up eating Cheese-It crackers. This is a biggie because they have gluten AND dairy among other undesirable ingredients we choose to avoid.  

How did I know Logan had eaten something with dairy that day? Well, he certainly didn't tell me. He came home with a patch of eczema on the right side of his cheek near his lips. A tell-tale sign whenever he ingests dairy. Also, he had an emotional break-down for no apparent reason. Not a major temper tantrum, but just a little melt-down because I asked him to grab the mail just like I do every day when we pull into the garage. Again, another tell-tale sign that he has ingested something to which he is sensitive.  If you don't believe there is a connection to food and mood, come live at my house for a week and you will quickly become a believer.

On to the recipe! The original recipe is from Cara at Fork and Beans. She has a wonderful blog that is full of dairy-free and gluten-free recipes. As we began cooking, we made some adaptations to her recipe making it even easier (IMHO) and to prevent ruining your first tray as we almost did. These suckers fried in the oven at the recommended 375 degrees so I highly recommend dropping the temp to 325 degrees as I included in the recipe below. 

Overall, these were quite simple and again, had a fun element for kids! Logan loved poking the holes in them with a toothpick. But first he blended the "dough" with a handheld mixer. Another fun moment for him. 

Once blended, we formed into a ball to then divide the "dough." Then we took half of the "dough," placed it between two sheets of parchment paper and flattened it with a rolling pin. Once flat and thin, but not too thin, Logan used the pizza cutter to start making the squares, although I use that term loosely as you will see in our end result.

Here they are ready to go into the oven!

Be prepared to double the batch. As I'm finding with these fun snack recipes, they just don't make enough for the time and effort it ultimately takes. Our recommendation is always make a double batch, even if just to freeze the second portion for later. You'll be glad you did!

NO-CHEESE ITZ Dairy-free "cheese" crackers
as adapted from Fork and Beans

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 C Gluten-free flour blend -- I used 1/4 C rice flour, 1 heaping TBS arrowroot, and the rest garbanzo bean flour. The original recipe called for Bob's Red Mill, but we don't seem to tolerate Sorghum Flour which is in that mix.
• 1/2 tsp xantham gum
• 1 c. Daiya vegan “cheese” (the yellow one)
• 3 Tbs Coconut oil (soft but not liquid)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tb ice water

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat coconut oil and cheese together until blended nicely with a hand mixer.
3. Combine flour, xantham gum and salt in a separate bowl until fully mixed together.
4. Slowly add 1/2 the flour mixture into butter/cheese mix until blended. Add remaining 1/2 and mix well.
5. Add water and stir well with a rubber spatula, making sure all scraps on the sides of the bowl have been incorporated.
6. Place dough on a piece of parchment paper and lightly knead until a smooth ball is made. Divide dough in half and place one of the halves in a bowl and set in the fridge.
7. Roll out other 1/2 of dough with a rolling pin in between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll thin (about 1/4″ or so).
8. With a pizza or pastry cutter, slice the dough into square shapes going all the way across the pan as if you are making a tic-tac-toe board.
9. Take a flipper with a thin beveled edge like this one and very carefully space each cracker on a parchment lined baking sheet with about 1/4 inch of space in between each cracker. 
10. If desired, make a little hole in the center of each cracker with a toothpick. Just be careful as these are fragile usig the flour blend that I chose. 
11. Now bake the first tray for about 12-15 minutes until lightly golden
12. Repeat steps #1-10 while the first tray is baking and either add second tray to the oven when finished if you can fit two trays, OR wait util the first one is done so you don't have to mess with two timers.

These were a big hit with Logan! Yay! Did I mention he is picky? Logan especially wanted them to look just like his friends crackers. It's definitely an age thing I think -- wanting to fit in, hang with the "cool" kids, and such.  But it utterly torments me at times. I feel like it's a never ending feat to find and create recipes to match all of the other kids "junk" food, or at least what I consider junk. If only real food like vegetables, fruit and meat were cool!  And yes, when he was younger (apparently 2nd grade is no longer "young"), I pulled out all the tricks using fancy picks and fun shaped fruits to make his real food cool. 

My quest continues...

To find a collection of more allergen-friendly, gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free and nut-free recipes, visit my food allergy support group for kids on Pinterest:
Nourishing Friends