An Allergy Friendly Easter for all – Includes a list or dairy and soya free Easter Treats

received_1352917398094205.jpegWith the joys of pancake day just past, the next event in the calendar is Easter. It is only 34 days until the chocolate filled day arrives I feel that I for one need to prepare. Though this will be my second Easter as The Allergy Mum, last year, my son was only 8 months old and had no interest in the chocolate treats his older sister was salivating over.

This year, however, is a different story. If his older sister has it, he too wants it.  This makes events like Easter a challenge. Just walking around a supermarket is now like running a gauntlet. The shelves are already stacked with chocolate delights in a range of child tantalizing shapes and colours. My daughter, now four, walks past eyes widened, drooling at the prospect of devouring one. With pleas of ‘Mummy, can I have…’ my son, only 18 months, now realises he might be missing out. So, what am I going to do?

I walk to the Free From section and start to peruse the shelves – I am lucky that my local supermarket has greatly improved it’s Free From section in the last few months, making my life that much easier for the essentials. I find the Easter section and, to my horror, it is bare – and I mean bare! It has been cleared out, clearly by much more organised people buying for those with allergies.

ASDA-Easter-Egg-with-Choc-Orange-Discs-It was at this moment I decided to get myself organised. 34 days will go in a flash so I turned to the internet and started to see what dairy free delights had been created for Easter. Trawling through each ‘dairy free’ egg, carefully searching the ingredients lists for any of our no-gos which, besides dairy, also include soya, egg and gluten. To help other people, I have compiled a list of dairy free and soya free easter eggs currently available on the market.

This year, supermarkets have provided us with an array of Free From Easter treats. The major supermarkets have all brought out their own branded Free From Easter eggs, though all contain soya. I have been really impressed with the selection at Morrisons this year. Not normally a shop I go to (due to proximity), I was thrilled to see dairy free and even soya free easter eggs, including Moo Free in their 3 for £10 deal!

Holland and Barrett also have a brilliant selection of dairy and soya free easter surprises and there is currently a buy 1, get 1 half price offer (at the time of writing). Marks & Spencers also have a Made without Milk easter egg out but, though this had been spotted in their stores, I have not found any details of it online.

LARGE-ALMOND-SEA-SALT-CARAMELBooja Booja has undoubtedly been my favourite find since becoming The Allergy Mum! If you haven’t sampled their products yet, go find some and see for yourself, you won’t regret it! The only downside is the price, at nearly £10 for a 150g box it is pricey! Their Easter egg collection this year looks amazing and if there were one easter egg I would want the Easter Bunny to bring me, it would be one of these beauties. They are currently in the Holland and Barrett buy 1, get 1 half price offer.

Recently I have found out about this amazing online company selling dairy and soya free chocolate and this year their Easter range is superb! You can buy individually wrapped hallow eggs which are perfect for an Easter egg hunt. They also stock a range of Easter treats that would satisfy any adult or child. They are called D&D Chocolates – definitely worth a look.

Not all dairy and soya free easter goodies out there are as expensive. A super little find is Aldi’s dark chocolate bunny at under £1! Heavily inspired by Lindt, Aldi are selling their own version of the brand’s famous gold bunny, but instead of paying £3.00 for 100g of chocolate, you can pick Aldi’s version up for just 79p. Not an officially Free From treat, this little gem is dairy AND soya free and comes in a larger size or in a multi-pack.

Aldi-Easter-Bunny

Why not avoid chocolate altogether? There are chocolate free easter goodies out there too. Haribo’s Bouncing Bunnies would make a super little gift, or sweetie cones  could easily be made up and are just as lovely a treat for any child (or adult).

Due to having a savvy 4-year-old, I don’t feel I will be able to avoid chocolate altogether. I do feel however, that I would like to drastically limit the amount of chocolate that the easter bunny will bring. Not only will having a large amount of chocolate (whether dairy free or dairy filled) hidden around the garden cause possible upset should I have to rescue it from my eager 18 month old, but having spent time studying so many labels, it has reminded me just how sugar filled these treats actually are and it has got me thinking. Whilst I have concerned myself with finding dairy and soya free treats so my son won’t feel left out, maybe instead I should be exploring friendly alternatives for my non allergy daughter?

In my next blog, I will be looking at alternative ideas for easter treats (non-food) that could be given to anyone, with or without an allergy. If you would like to receive an update when I have published this, please have a look at my Facebook Group that also shares meal ideas and food finds for those with multiple allergies.

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Dairy and Soya Free Easter Eggs

This is my personal list which I have taken time creating. I am not affiliated with any of these manufacturers or suppliers. If you find any other eggs out there that are dairy and soya free, please let me know so I can add them to the list!

Recipes and ingredients change regularly so please ALWAYS read the label.

Dairy and soya free easter eggs:

Dairy free easter eggs but contain Soya Lectins:

 

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