Nut Free Foods

Unfortunately, if you used to love eating mixed nuts by the handful and now have a peanut or tree nut allergy you will have to find some nut free foods to replace them with. With that said, there are a few foods typically made with peanuts and tree nuts that a can be found in "nut free" varieties.

Following are some nut free foods that just might fill the void for you.

Peanut Butter Substitutes

Given the amazing amount of peanut butter consumption in the U.S. alone (in case you missed it on the peanut allergy page, somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 million pounds consumed in a year) one of the most sought after substitutes for those of us managing a peanut allergy is, of course...peanut butter!

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Soy Butter

If you aren't allergic to soy, then soy nut butter is a safe alternative for you. They come in a number of varieties are even flavoured (chocolate, anyone?) Here are a couple of brands available:

Don't Go Nuts Soybean Spread

WowButter

Sunflower Butter

Sunflower butter is another peanut butter replacement option. My family actually prefers it over soy butter. To us, it tastes a bit more like peanut butter. In our house, we use two different brands of sunflower butter:

• SunButter
  Sunbutter is widely available and I have heard that many schools even offer it in their cafeterias

• Trader Joe's Sunflower Butter
  If you're lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's near you, their sunflower butter is a little bit less expensive. It's a bit of a drive to Trader Joe's for me so I always stock up!

A note about baking with sunflower butter: Sunflower butter has the tendency to turn green (yes...green!) when used in baking. According to the Sunbutter website, this happens because the baking powder/soda reacts with the chlorophyll in the sunflower seeds causing the sunflower butter to turn green. According to Sunbutter, if you cut back on the baking powder/baking soda by ⅓, this will be prevented. Adding a small amount of acid, like lemon juice, might help also.

I have had my cookies turn green (it's very subtle, but yes... green). Even though it looks a little bit odd, this doesn't affect the flavour at all. If you're not looking to enter your cookies into a baking contest where the appearance will be scrutinized, you probably don't need to worry about altering your recipes.

Speaking of baking with sunflower butter, try these Sunbutter Cookies in the Recipe Index.

Chickpea Butter

The Amazing Chickpea

This brand comes in multiple flavours, including chocolate.

Field Trip Chickpea Butter

This one comes in convenient individual-sized pouches.

Chocolate

Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Enjoy Life Foods makes several varieties of chocolate chips including mini, semi-sweet, and mega chunk. We love the mega chunks for trail mix!

Enjoy Life products are great because they are free of all of the common allergens and are made in a nut free, gluten free facility.

Nestle Toll House Simply Delicious Chocolate Chips

Another chocolate chip variety that is free of the top 8 allergens! I have seen this at many chain grocery stores and, of course, online.

Candy

Here is a list of online candy makers that specialize in nut free candy:

• Divvies - peanut free, tree nut free, egg free & dairy free baked goods and candies - not wheat and soy-free
• Vermont Nut Free Chocolates - peanut and tree nut free candies. Some products do contain egg, dairy, soy and wheat.
• No Whey Foods - Chocolates free of most of the top 8 allergens.

Granola and Granola Bars

Along with chocolate chips and chocolate bars, Enjoy Life Foods makes a variety of nut free "granola" bars and granola. These are becoming widely available at regular grocery stores and kids love them!

You can also make your own granola bars! Get the recipe here.