The Sweet Side of Christmas

It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.
 We knew that, but did you know? ...
It came without gluten. It came without nuts, dairy, or eggs. Really it did!

Food is part of any holiday tradition. In our house, we love Christmas cookies and my husband especially loves all the Christmas candies.  However, I knew this Christmas would be different.  This is our first Christmas without gluten, milk, or eggs. I didn't want to give up our traditions. I wondered how I was going to pull off the sweet side of Christmas this year.

But it happened.  Really it did! I found or adapted several cookie recipes to suit our family.  We had purchased special allergy free chocolates for fall, but they were terribly expensive. I felt  guilty every time I ate one! So for Christmas I decided to try a few homemade recipes.  I discovered one for peppermint patties (oh yum!) which led to inspiration for nut free peanut butter cups. I even used a mish-mash of recipes to recreate Chex mix (can you guess what I replaced the nuts with?). I found & adapted a few cookie recipes to add to my repertoire too.  Before I knew it, there it was...
 The sweet side of Christmas. Tasty, delicious, & allergy free.

You see, it isn't the presents and it isn't the sweets. It's Christmas, and love for one another, and a Love like no other.


Sarah over at  Sarah Bakes Gluten Free inspired me with her Peppermint Patties  . They are delicious! My son doesn't care for peppermint, however, so I attempted to replicate his favorite Reese's Pieces.  Here's my version...

Mock Peanut Butter Cups

• 1 package Enjoy Life chocolate mini chips or chunks
• 1 cup Mock peanut butter ( I make mine out of sunflower seeds, but you can also buy Sunbutter)
• A Mini muffin tin with liners or a silicone ice cube or candy tray 

1. Line muffin tin with liners if using.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, zap chocolate chips for 30 seconds. Stir thoroughly.  Repeat until chocolate drips off a spoon.
3. Drizzle a shallow layer of chocolate into the bottom of each liner. Place in fridge for 10 minutes.
4. Spoon a layer of mock peanut butter on top of each chocolate layer.  Reheat the bowl of chocolate.  Spread the chocolate on top of the butter.  
5. Refrigerate again for 15-20 min or until completely set.  Store candies in the fridge.

Notes:
* The silicone ice cube or candy tray is nice to make fun little shapes, but I found them a pain to get clean. That may just be my experience though.  Don't try the muffin tin without the liners either. Another huge mess!

This makes roughly 24 candies, but I had a different number each time I made them.

I'd like to be able to tell you how long these last, but the truth is we ate them all within 5 days.