Market Morsels from Collegeville Farmers' Market - All Hands in the Cookie Jar

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience." James Beard

 Sweet Treats for All

Last week, All Hands in the Cookie Jar, A Collegeville Farmers' Market baker, received an order for some mini-cupcakes for a Vacation Bible School party, where a handful of kids had varying food allergies and sensitivities.

The request: no gluten (found in wheat flour), no eggs, and no dairy.

The answer: no problem.

In previous years, the kids’ parents would have packed them a separate snack, but this year, they had chocolate mini-cupcakes with vanilla frosting.

“And hopefully, they were even cuter than the other cupcakes at the party,” Cookie Jar owner, Beth Reed said.

Some to Share

Reed loves to bake. You can almost always smell something warm and sweet wafting through the air of her Audubon home…and she likes to share.

For years, she shared brownies and other sweets with her daughters’ friends at school parties or sporting events, but at some point she noticed food allergies and sensitivities were keeping some folks from digging in. That got her thinking…and reading…and baking.

Allergies to common foods like nuts, dairy, eggs, wheat and soy are on the rise, affecting as many as 3-5 % of kids under 18. Likewise, celiac disease and insensitivity to gluten protein (found in wheat) affects about one in a hundred Americans.

For some, a simple cookie could be life-threatening.

Trial and Error

“I started reading about how people replace ingredients (like eggs, dairy, wheat and soy),” she said. She bought a few gluten-free, allergen-free and vegan cookbooks, and then she took to the kitchen and started experimenting, making her own favorite recipes, using new ingredients like rice flour, xanthan gum and egg replacers.

It was mainly trial and error, she said. “Some of the ingredients are more temperamental.” But in time she had developed a few good recipes for making allergen-free, gluten-free goodies that everyone could enjoy. In November of 2011, All Hands in the Cookie Jar was born, and in May of this year, Beth joined the Collegeville Farmers’ Market. Still, always, there is thinking, reading and baking.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about biscotti lately,” she says. The hot and humid weather makes baking gooey treats like brownies too difficult and less-popular, so she’s been developing recipes to suit the season.

“I pictured myself and thought what I would want to have with a cup of coffee out on the deck in the morning,” she said. Then she got reading…and baking.

Good for Everyone

No one in Reed’s family suffers from allergies, but that doesn’t keep them from helping as taste-testers and it doesn’t stop them from digging into the cookie jar.

“I think you should be able to bring a treat to a party that everyone wants to eat,” she said. “I have a lot of people who stop by my booth that don’t have allergies. They say they like how I bake.”

Her repertoire includes all kinds of  cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, quick breads, and her popular whoopee pies. “I like to try new stuff,” she said. “So I tell people if they have an idea for something they want, I will give it a try. I can make almost anything.”

Fresh from the Oven

Coming out the oven this week are: gluten-free banana bread, caramel-chocolate chip blondies, oatmeal whoopie pies with maple-bacon filling and allergen-free lemon-lime bars.

Oh, and the allergen-free anise biscotti – crisp, mildly sweet and bit nutty (but with no nuts, of course!) - perfect for reading and thinking, while sipping a cup of coffee on the deck.