Holidays are always a hard one at our home. With severe food allergies, times of year where delivering baked goods, and having treats left on your door step can be anxiety inducing... for real! If you are lucky enough not to have to deal with life threatening food allergies, think about this: what would it be like to find that someone had left you a delicious plate of chocolate chip cookies on your doorstep. You pour a glass of nice cold milk, sit down to enjoy your cookies and milk only to find out an hour later that you are on the verge of death because they were laced with arsenic. Instead of enjoying those cookies, you are clinging to life hoping that someone, somewhere is able to help you.
That may seem a bit extreme, and not really something that we will ever be faced with, BUT when it comes to food allergies the concept is the same. You teeter on whether that plate of goodies that your friend says are safe, are actually safe for you... or if it will send you into an anaphylaxis reaction that will follow with a few hours in the ER.
That being said, this time of year when everyone is enjoying all their baked goods, we are just doing the same thing we've been doing all year, cooking from scratch. Over the years I have taken some of my favorite holiday recipes and adapted them so that my entire family can enjoy them.
Cooking, baking, and eating dairy free has its challenges, and if you enjoy dairy, just know that any recipe adapted to be dairy free isn't going to taste the same... but it can get pretty close.
I am a lover of all things sweet, especially around the holidays. So one of the first recipes I ever adjusted was this homemade toffee recipe that we used to make and deliver to friends during the holidays when I was a kid. I remember making TONS of batches of it, wrapping it up on cute plates of goodies and "ding-dong ditching" it to friends and neighbors during the 12 nights leading up to Christmas.
It's actually easier than you think to make your own toffee, and although making it dairy free is a little scary, it turns out pretty comparable. You'll have to try it and leave me a comment letting me know what you think about it.
Ingredients
1 cup dairy free butter/margarine (I use Vegan Earth Balance)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon Karo syrup
1 sleeve Saltine crackers (if you have allergies be sure to check the labels on various brands to find the one that works for you)
dairy-free chocolate chips
crushed/sliced almonds
(Just know that this is notthe kind of treat to make if you are trying to cut back on your sugar consumption.)
In medium saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, and Karo syrup on medium heat. While the butter starts to melt, grab your favorite 9x13 inch pan and line it with a good quality aluminum foil (you want the heavy duty stuff). I coat mine with a little bit of non-stick spray, but you could also rub some of your vegan butter along the inside of the foil, or use some Crisco. You just want to make sure that you put something on the foil so that your toffee will easily break apart once it's set. Then line the bottom of the sprayed foil with the crackers. You should be able to fit all full crackers all the way around, but feel free to break them up if you need to so they fit nice and snug.
Now comes the fun part ... the waiting game. Grab a silicone spatula and stir, stir, stir. If you've ever made toffee with dairy butter, just know that this takes longer to caramelize. The trick is to constantly stir so that it doesn't burn, and doesn't spill over the edges of the saucepan (trust me, that's a HUGE mess to clean up that I wouldn't wish on anyone!).
Your toffee mixture will start to foam and bubble and look like it's about to pop out of the pan... then it will settle down and look more like caramel. Since different vegan butters take different temps and amounts of time to get to this step... it's something you just have to look and feel for. You want the color to be a light caramel color, and the consistency to be like Elmer's glue. It may take a few batches of trial and error to get it right for your ingredients.
Once it reaches that consistency, turn off the fire and let it sit (still stirring) for about a minute. Then slowly pour it over the top of your Saltine crackers and use your spatula to gently spread it evenly. After about 5 minutes you can sprinkle your chocolate chips over the top and they will begin to melt. Use the same spatula and spread the melted chocolate around and smooth it out. You can them top it with almonds, or any kind of nuts that you want. I generally only put nuts on half of ours because I have some kids who refuse to eat anything with almonds on it.
The Saltine crackers add that little but of saltiness that you need with toffee to elevate the flavor a notch. Let it cool down enough that you can stick it in your fridge (or in your garage if it's cold enough outside) until it is set. Then simply pull up one corner and start breaking it into pieces. I love the raw look of homemade toffee. It makes cute little gifts for friends and neighbors too!
Let me know if you give this recipe a try and what you think of it! It's a huge hit at my house and even my husband, who doesn't really like toffee, will have a few pieces.
A delicious dairy-free way to enjoy one of our favorite holiday treats.
Ingredients
Toffee
1 cup dairy-free butter/margarine (we use Vegan Earth Balance sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon Karo syrup
1 sleeve Saltine crackers*
Topping
1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (we use Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips)
sliced almonds or other nuts (chopped)
Instructions
Line a 9x13 inch pan with foil and spray with non-stick spray (dairy-free)
Lay a single layer of Saltine crackers in the bottom of the pan.
In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter, sugar, Karo syrup together. STIR CONSTANTLY.
Continue stirring for 10-12 minutes or until the toffee mixture is a light caramel color and the consistency of Elmer's glue.
Remove saucepan from fire and let cool 1 minute.
Slowly pour toffee over the Saltine cracker lined baking pan. Smooth out toffee with a silicone spatula.
Let cool 5 minutes.
Sprinkle chocolate chips over the toffee. As the melt you can evenly spread the melted chocolate over the top of the toffee. Top with chopped nuts.
Cool for a few minutes before putting it in the fridge to set.
Once it has set, break it into pieces and enjoy!
Notes:
Dairy-free butters act and taste differently than real butter. Cooking times may vary between brands of butter, so watch for the color and consistency to know when it is done cooking.
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