Mother's Day is just around the corner. Mother's Day is also the start of Food Allergy Awareness Week. Celebrate all mom does to keep kids with food allergies safe and healthy with special treats.

With stay-at-home orders and physical distancing in place, celebrating mom will look different this year. You may be able to order brunch from her favorite restaurant for pickup or delivery. Or order her favorite dessert from a bakery. But if that is not an option, you can still show mom your love and appreciation with a made-at-home meal or special dessert.

Grocery shopping and finding trusted brands may be challenging for families who manage food allergies right now. Keep these things in mind:

• Stick to trusted brands and read every label before using a product.
• Make do with what you have on hand, but find ways to make it special.
• Stick to simple, foolproof recipes.
• Mom will love whatever her family makes for her because it's made with love.
• Remember to clean up the kitchen!

Brunch

Surprise mom with pancakes for brunch. Pancakes are easy and tasty. When making pancake batter, don't overmix it! And make sure your pan is hot enough.

One of our favorite recipes is these pancakes that are milk and egg free. For a yummy topping, have the kids chop the apples for a quick apple filling.

Don't have flour? Try Cindy's Oatmeal Pancakes using quick-cooking oats.

Feeling a little more ambitious? Tastes Like Cinnabon Rolls is one of our most popular recipes. These cinnamon rolls are free from milk and eggs. They are fun to make and absolutely delicious! You will need yeast for the dough and dairy-free cream cheese for the frosting.

Pancakes free from milk and egg

Dessert

Top off mom's day with something sweet. Keep it simple!

Crisps and Cobblers

These fruit desserts are easy to make and don't require any type of pastry crust. There are many options, and you can use fresh or frozen fruit.

• Apple Crisp - Apples topped with a crunchy cinnamon topping are perfect warm or at room temperature. The topping is free from peanuts, tree nuts, milk and eggs and can be made free from wheat and gluten as well. For wheat-free, you will find sweet rice flour in the Asian section of the grocery store.
• Amy's Fresh Fruit Cobbler - This can be made with fresh or frozen berries. The recipe is free from milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and wheat. 

Chocolate

If you have safe chocolate chips on hand, it's easy to make chocolate-dipped treats. Melt your chocolate, and then dip or coat:

• Dried fruits like these Easy Chocolate Covered Cherries
• Shortbread cookies
• Pretzels
• Fresh fruit such as strawberries or apple slices - make sure fruits are dried before dipping

Add a special touch with sprinkles, crushed cereal or cookies before the chocolate sets.

Cupcakes

Let mom eat cake! Baking a cake may sound intimidating. Cupcakes are much more forgiving. And frosting can fix or hide many things!

These are some of our favorite recipes that make great cupcakes. All of these recipes will make 12 cupcakes:

• Kathy P's Wacky Cake - This dairy- and egg-free cake can also be made free of wheat and gluten. There are many flavor options such as chocolate, vanilla, orange and spice.
• Lemonade Cupcakes - These yummy, lemony sponge-type cake are perfect topped with Lemonade Buttercream Frosting.
• Vegan Zebra Cake - This is a moist cake with a surprise inside. It's free from dairy and egg with a wheat- and gluten-free option. It's not overly sweet or super chocolately either. Instead of vanilla and chocolate, try coloring portions of batter in spring colors.
• Kay's Carrot Cake - This carrot cake is moist, easy, delicious and free of dairy and egg.

Buttercream-type frostings are easy to make with basic ingredients. Here are some of our favorite recipes that will make enough to frost 12 cupcakes:

• Vanilla Silk Frosting - This milk-free buttercream frosting whips up creamy and smooth. Use your favorite margarine.
• Chocolate Buttercream Frosting - Consider this creamy and fudgy chocolate frosting that spreads and pipes smoothly. This makes more than you will need. You can make half the recipe or save the rest to spread on cookies or other treats.
• Lemonade Buttercream - This frosting is delicious paired with vanilla or Lemonade Cupcakes.
  
  

Frosting should be smooth and spreadable. It should be stiff enough to hold a shape like you can see on the mixer blades here.

Frosting can be spread onto cupcakes or piped on. It's easy to pipe a swirl or a rosette. If you don't have a star piping tip, you can snip the corner of a zip top bag to create one. Or just snip the corner off for a smooth swirl. Add sprinkles, colored sanding sugar, small candies or even fresh fruit on top.

If your cupcakes sank in the middle, start piping in the middle to add more frosting.

KFA wishes all the moms of kids with food allergies a Safe and Happy Mother's Day!