"If I can't serve it to everyone, I won't serve it to anyone"

Stephanie Hapner will return to Tulsa to talk about allergy-free cooking.

Hapner, author of "Allergy-Free Cooking Everyone Loves" was in Tulsa in November after the release of her new cookbook. She'll be back on Saturday at Akin's to talk about the book and give a cooking demo.

She became immersed in the world of gluten-free, dairy-free and casein-free cooking when her son was diagnosed, at age 9, with a rare disorder called eosinophilic esophagitis requiring the removal of food allergens from his diet.

Hapner was determined to not give her son a diet that tasted like cardboard. She experimented with recipes and ingredients, creating foods good enough that anyone could eat them.

"If I can't serve it to everyone, I won't serve it to anyone" became her mantra.

"I've learned plenty of things the hard way," Hapner said. "But my goal is to help other allergy-sufferers benefit from my experience to eat better and live better."

Hapner's book includes 301 recipes free of corn, dairy, wheat, barley, rye, gluten, peanuts and casein. It offers a glossary of alternative ingredients, a crash course in label reading and a section on stocking the allergy-free pantry.


Stephanie Hapner will give samples of these cookies at her demo at Akin's Saturday.

QUINOA HONEY COOKIES

Makes 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup sucanat
1 teaspoon molasses
1/2 cup sunflower nut butter
1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla
1 cup white rice flour
3/4 cup quinoa flakes
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl beat honey, sucanat, molasses, sunflower nut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy; set aside.

2. In a small bowl combine the white rice flour, quinoa flakes, baking soda and sea salt. Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture 1 cup at a time, stirring well to combine ingredients.

3. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake 12 to 13 minutes or until lightly browned.


Cooking Demo And book Signing

What: Stephanie Hapner will give a cooking demo and sign copies of her book.

When: Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Akin's at 7807 E. 51st St.; 918-663-4137

You can also find Hapner on July 23 at the Akin's in Mayfair Place in Oklahoma City.


Original Print Headline: Allergy-free cooking guru comes to Tulsa

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=39&articleid=20110713_39_D3_CUTLIN576646

By NATALIE MIKLES World Scene Writer 

Published: 7/13/2011  2:23 AM 

Christmas

The holidays are always difficult trying to figure out what is safe to feed our girls. With Kaylin's milk allergy and Keira's nut allergy, eating at other people's houses and keeping the kids out of holiday treats that are ever present can be so overwhelming.

On our way places we've been stopping by McDonalds more than should ever be allowed, lol. It's not the healthiest but a Hamburger Happy Meal minus the fries is milk free for Kaylin.

I also discovered that Baker's Chocolate is dairy free and made Kaylin her own "truffles" for Christmas.

Kaylin did sneak some white chocolate in the middle of our holiday baking. She was spitting up again and complaining her stomach hurt. I didn't realize what had happened until I found the evidence and she fessed up. It was very clear to her what the cause and effect was and she agreed it wasn't worth it.