Christmas is a holiday that includes tons of candy, baked goods, and other treats. Many parents use them as easy “stocking stuffers”. Parents of kids that have food allergies are going to have to search a bit harder for Christmas treats that are safe for their children to eat. Here is a quick list to get you started.
Indie Candy makes natural and allergen friendly candy. You can search their website to find candy that is dairy / casein free, wheat / gluten free, egg free, peanut free, tree nut free, or soy free. They have another link that will show you their corn free candies. Or, you can start with the link that will list out all the ingredients that are in their candies.
They have a Dancing Santa Lollipop that is made from dairy free, nut free, and soy free chocolate. It is also certified gluten free, casein free, egg free, tree nut free, and peanut free.
Indie Candy also has a Giant Snowflake Lollipop. These are beautiful, translucent, snowflake shaped lollipops that are pineapple flavored. They are over 2 inches across. The ingredients are: organic tapioca syrup, cane sugar, organic citric acid, and natural flavor.
See’s Candies has quite a few allergy free options. I was in one of their stores today, and a sales clerk was more than happy to go over all of the allergens that were in their candies. I would recommend that parents of kids with food allergies ask a See’s candies sales clerk for advice before making a purchase.
I can tell you that the Egg Nog Truffles are not gluten free. If I remember correctly, the See’s Traditional Candy Canes are not gluten free, either. See’s Candies recently switched over to making many of their candies be gluten free, but you cannot safely assume that they are all safe for those who have gluten allergies.
Living Without Magazine has an excellent article that has recipes for five different types of Christmas cookies, (done in an allergy friendly version).
Those recipes include: “Melt in Your Mouth Sugar Cookies” (that are dairy free, soy free, and gluten free), “Buttery” Spritz Cookies (that are dairy free, soy free, and gluten free, and that use an egg replacer instead of eggs), “Old Fashioned Ginger Snaps” (that are dairy free, soy free, and gluten free), “Chocolate Thumb Print Cookies”, (that are gluten free, dairy free and egg free), and “Mexican Wedding Cookies” (that are dairy free, soy free, gluten free, and egg free).
Natural Candy Store has candy canes that are corn syrup free, gluten free, vegan, and made without the use of red dye. They come in three different sizes, and can be ordered in bulk.
Image by Stephen Nakatani on Flickr