Safe Treats

Ice cream treats don’t have to be tricky, or leave you out in the cold.

With serious food allergies on the rise, it can be tough to please everyone come dessert time. Fear not. When dealing with the two most common food allergies—nuts and dairy—we’ve found some safe products and recipes allowing sweet fun for everyone.

If you are the parent of a child with a nut allergy, you probably already know that Ontario-based Chapman’s ice cream clearly marks their nut-free products with a Peanut/Nut-Free symbol. They also test their products prior to release for any trace of peanut protein. With a range of flavours, Chapman’s offers a worry-free frozen treat (and their ice creams are mostly gluten-free, too). So for a truly nut-free frozen delight, try our Make Your Own Snowman recipe using any of Chapman’s peanut/nut-free ice cream flavours.

For kids with dairy allergies, you can find most sorbets and some gelato brands in grocery stores that are dairy-free. One that’s not that easy to find (but happens to be our fave) is Good Karma. It’s a line of creamy, non-dairy frozen desserts from California that are also gluten-free and certified organic (but not nut-free). Kids will love the taste, especially Mudd Pie (and so do moms, actually). 

Let’s not forget that making homemade ice cream is another option that’s actually not as labour-intensive as you think. For kids five and up, it can be a fun party project as well as a satisfying treat. The flavour is a bit different from what they’re used to, but the taste of accomplishing their own culinary first in the frozen-food category will undoubtedly be super sweet. 

Food allergies are serious, but that doesn’t mean the treats need to be.