Dairy free, egg free muffins made with apple sauce – yummy!

Living with eczema isn’t great, but having to avoid yummy cakes and biscuits because it makes things doubly unfair. But it doesn’t have to be that way: here is one of our family favourites, a diary and egg-free muffin recipe made with apple sauce. And the best bit? Apple contains anti-inflammatory pectin so they are good for eczema.

Ingredients:

• 125g hard margarine
• 250g sugar
• 420ml jar of apple sauce
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (bicarb)
• 350g self-raising flour
• 1tsp allspice or mixed spice (or your favourite spice)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Soften the margarine either by microwaving it f0r 20-30 seconds or by getting it out of the fridge 30 minutes before you need it.
3. In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar together then push the mixture to one side of the bowl.
4. Empty the jar of apple sauce into the empty side of the bowl*, add the bicarb to the applesauce and give it a stir. At this point, the applesauce mix will bubble and froth, which our kids love watching.
5. When the frothing has subsided, stir the margarine/sugar mix and applesauce together. Don’t worry if it looks a bit curdled at this stage.
   Balance a sieve over the bowl and fill it with the flour and spices, then sieve all the dry ingredients into the bowl before stirring until it the mixture is just about combined and still a bit lumpy.
6. Fill the muffin cases so they are about two-thirds full then bake for 15-20mins.
7. When they are golden brown remove from the oven and allow to cool (this bit is really important as the apple chunks are really, really hot – I know, I’ve tried!)

* You could use a fresh bowl, but I don’t want the extra washing up!

Here at ScratchSleeves, we don’t just share our experiences of bringing up an eczema child and favourite allergy-friendly recipes, we also manufacture and sell our unique stay-on scratch mitts and PJs for itchy babies, toddlers and children. We now stock sizes from 0-adult years in a range of colours. Visit our main website for more information.