Cookie Recipes and Information for the Lactose Intolerant Child
Being lactose intolerant is hard enough as an adult but for it a kid it can be even harder. What kid doesn’t want to eat chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven with a cold glass of milk. Birthday parties are the worst because while all the other kids are eating ice cream and cake the lactose intolerant child gets to sit and watch. My daughter was lactose intolerant for several years before she outgrew it. Going to birthday parties or just hanging out with her friends was a chore. She couldn’t go to other peoples houses without me having to explain her diet and then worry the whole time that she was going to eat some dairy and then get sick . Even at her own birthday parties most kids wouldn’t even bother to come once they found out no cake and ice cream. We used all the dairy free alternatives like the soy milk and the carob but at the time it was almost impossible to find recipes that she would like that used the dairy free ingredients.
Most kids outgrow lactose intolerance which is a good thing. You never realize how much dairy you use until you have to completely cut it out. For a lactose intolerant child even the slightest bit of dairy can bring on the nausea, cramps, gas and diarrhea. Things like bread, processed breakfast cereals, butter, lunch meat, pancakes and most candies and snacks can cause extreme discomfort and embarrassment for a lactose intolerant child. Below are some recipes that I have come across over the years that look and taste enough like the real thing that if you don’t tell the other kids they will never know you didn’t use dairy.
Chocolate chip cookies is a favorite of every kids but making them with carob just isn’t the same so here’s a recipe that good enough even the fussiest eater will be eating them. Also if your planning a birthday party remember cookie cakes are very popular these days.
1. 3/4 cup (8oz) soy based butter
�½ cup (4oz) granulated sugar
�½ cup (4oz) medium brown sugar
2 eggs or the equivalent of egg substitute
�½ tsp. vanilla essence
2 �½ cups (11 oz.) white flour
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
6 oz. coarsely chopped nuts (pecans are nice)
8 oz. Carob
Instructions:
Preheat oven to just under 350 F. Cream butter and sugars, then beat in eggs. Sift flour with salt and soda, and beat in. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Bake on a greased tray for 8-10 minutes, until coloring slightly at the edges.
This will make about two dozen delicious chocolate chip cookies. Remember when you are using butter to use a soy substitute, they make some butter substitutes that taste the same as the ones with dairy. Carob is also a great replacement for chocolate it tastes close to the same as chocolate and when used in recipe you can tell the difference. I have taken these cookies to parties and no one ever knew the difference even the adults.
Another of my daughters favorites is gingerbread cookies. Until I found this recipe I was going nuts trying to figure how to make them for her.
Ã?½ cup Fleischmann’s Unsalted (Lactose-Free) Margarine
3/4 cup firm packed brown sugar
�½ cup light or dark molasses
1 large egg
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
�½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
�½ teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Raisins and cinnamon candies for decorating
1. Beat shortening and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg until well blended. Gradually mix in dry ingredients and beat until blended. Dough will be sticky.
2. Divide dough into 4 balls, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
3. Position rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Roll dough about 1/4 inch thick and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheet and decorate with raisins or cinnamon candies.
5. Bake 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely
This will make about five dozen of the best gingerbread cookies ever. You won’t even be able to notice that they don’t have any dairy.
These days lactose intolerance doesn’t have to be so embarrassing for kids. Most recipes can be modified to fit a lactose free diet. Carob can replace chocolate, and there are many different brands of soy milks and lactose free products on the market. A health food store will have a better variety of lactose free products but most supermarkets now carry at least a few lactose free items. With almost 75% of African American and native American children and 90% of Asian children being lactose intolerant most stores have begun to carry dairy substitutes for those who are lactose intolerant. Kids can be cruel and they will always find something to pick on the each other about but now being lactose intolerant doesn’t have to be as embarrassing for a child. Let them pick on the kid because he’s short not because of what he eats.
