Egg Free, Dairy Free Microwave Mint Chocolate Brownies

Jazlyn made this lightly mint flavored yummy chocolate brownies. These brownies are not the gooey chewy kind. They are very moist, a little cakey, and very yummy. If you don't like mint in your brownies, you can omit it for traditional chocolate brownies.

Microwave Mint Chocolate Brownies

2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp mint extract
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt

Combine the sugar, applesauce, oil, vanilla, and mint. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture then stir until thoroughly combined. Spread the mixture evenly into a sprayed 8x8 microwave dish. Microwave for 4-5 minutes or until set and the edges appear dry. Make sure that you don't overcook the brownies because they will dry out. Cool completely before cutting into squares.
*  You can omit the mint extract if you want plain chocolate brownies.

Egg Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free Shake and Make Ice Cream

We now have a new favorite ice cream!!! My ice cream maker stopped working, so we've only been able to make either instant pudding ice cream or frozen banana ice cream in the blender. Each batch made enough for each of the 3 girls to have an ice cream cone. So far we've made 4 different flavors. The top is vanilla, the middle is mint with blue food coloring and the bottom is chocolate. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the strawberry.

Shake and Make Ice Cream

1 cup soy milk
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 snack sized Ziploc bag
1 quart sized Ziploc bag
Ice (about 2 trays full)
1/3 cup rock salt

Place the soy milk, sugar and vanilla into a snack sized Ziploc bag and zip closed. Place enough ice in the quart sized Ziploc bag to fill it half way then add the salt. Place the snack sized bag into the quart sized bag then zip to close. Hold the gallon bag with a dish towel then shake the bags and rock them back and forth for 4-6 minutes or until the consistency you desire is reached. The longer you shake the bags, the thicker the ice cream becomes, so we usually shake the bags for about 4 minutes. Serve immediately.
* Food coloring can be added to make the ice cream and color you like.
* Instead of the vanilla extract, try mint extract, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup or any other flavor desired.
* Each batch makes 3 ice cream cones or a big single serving bowl full.

Egg Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free Simple Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Jazzy loves mint chocolate chip ice cream, but I didn't have time to use my recipe that requires heating and cooling. I came up with this very simple, fast and delicious alternative. Please note that after being placed in the freezer, this ice cream becomes harder (sort of like a ice milk texture). To make this better, I reheated the ice cream for just a few seconds. It was then easier to scoop and had a much nicer texture.

Simple Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

2 cups soy milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp mint extract (or to taste)
Pinch salt

Thoroughly combine all of the ingredients. Place in the ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions.
*  Safe chocolate chips can be added if desired.
*  Food coloring can be added if desired. Jazzy likes to make her ice creams the "wrong" color. For example, she likes her mint ice cream to be blue and her strawberry ice cream to be purple.

Egg Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free Simple Thin Mint Cookies

Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies were one of my favorite cookies before food allergies. These simple 3 ingredient cookies taste amazingly similar to those cookies. These cookies are very simple to prepare and are so delicious.

Simple Thin Mint Cookies

1 bag safe chocolate chips
1 1/2 tsp mint extract (the amount depends on how strong of a mint flavor you like)
2 1/2 sleeves Ritz crackers (we prefer Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers for these cookies)

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, thoroughly stir in the mint extract. Completely coat the crackers with the chocolate mixture then place them on waxed paper lined baking sheets. Place the baking sheets in the fridge to set the chocolate. Store the cookies in an open container in the fridge.
*  If desired, coat the cookies with another layer of chocolate once the first coating has set. This step is not necessary, it just gives you a thicker layer of chocolate on the cookies.
*  If desired, you can omit the mint or use another extract.