Debbie Adler - Sweet Debbies Organic Treats: Allergy-Free and Vegan Recipes from the Famous Los Angeles Bakery

Little did I expect that my lifes purpose would come in the form of a blue-eyed, button-nosed bundle of boy. This book is dedicated to him .

I wasnt always into health food. Back in my corporate days I would often eat frozen yogurt for lunch and cookie dough ice cream as an after-dinner chaser and think nothing of it. That is, until I started to look like Miss Piggy with an attach case. Then it dawned on me that maybe I needed to rethink my choices.

I started to read all about the ill effects of refined white sugar on the body and realized my long-term prognosis wasnt good. So I set out to my local health food store to see if I could find some desserts made with alternative sweeteners. No go. I could not find one crumb of a cookie that did not contain evaporated cane juice (a fancy term for sugar).

I never thought of myself as a pioneer in anything, let alone baking, but I found myself in my kitchen that night with a boatload of all-natural, low-glycemic sweeteners and went to work. Mind you, I didnt know what I was doing, so it took a while to get anything edible to come out of the oven, but I was determined.

It took about a year, but after extensive research about nutrition and the science of baking, coupled with disastrous errors for which I should have been put on trial, I came up with an assortment of goodies containing only organic and healthful ingredients sweetened with stevia and coconut nectar.

And like most everything I do in my life, if its tasty and smile-inducing, I have to share. So, in 2006 I opened my bakery, Sweet Debbies Organic Cupcakes. And from day one, my Irresistible Red Velvet Cupcakes, imbued with fresh cranberries and lemon; my Oatmeal Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies, filled with homemade dark chocolate chips; and my Cran Ban Thank You Bran Muffins, made with potassium-rich bananas and dried cranberries; among other Sweet Debbies originals, started flying out the bakery door due to customer demand.

And just as I was enjoying the momentum, I found outafter several anaphylactic episodesthat my son has life-threatening allergies to almost every food in the USDA pyramid, except salt.

So in 2009 I went back into my kitchen, did some more research and experiments, and came up with gluten-free and allergy-free formulas for all the Sweet Debbies menu items.

In that same year I revamped my bakery so it could be a safe haven for those with dietary restrictions similar to my sons, and against all odds, business increased exponentially. It is now the go-to bakeshop for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to dairy, eggs, soy, wheat, gluten, nuts and sugar, and for folks who are just plain hungry for a wholesome treat.

But soon I realized that there must be people out there who dont have access to my bakery and who might want to partake. And even though Sweet Debbies ships its treats nationwide, I thought there might be some type A, paranoid individuals who dont trust anyone to make their snacks for them. Thus, I decided to write it all down.

So here you are (okay, maybe youre not necessarily paranoid and type A, or maybe you are, but its nothing to be ashamed of). Here are my blow-by-blow lists of Must-Haves and Must Dos, my How-Tos and What Fors, so you will be well equipped to tackle any recipe in this book like a defensive linebacker donning an adorable apron.

By using the clean ingredients suggested in this book, you wont have to worry about having sugar rushes and crashes, or ingesting artificial colors, pesticides or preservatives. It means you will never have to worry again about your food-allergic child being denied a cupcake or not having a fuel-filled energy bar to eat right before soccer practice. Above all, it means you can feel confident that the kick-it-up-a-notch, nutritious, allergen-free treats coming out of your oven will keep you and the members of your family healthy, happy and unharmed.

In the pages that follow, I explain why I use nourishing grapeseed oil and coconut oil; how and why its best to sweeten with zero-calorie, all-natural stevia and mineral-rich coconut nectar; and how my gluten-free flour mix packs an alimental punch, and I offer a treasure trove of valuable tips, tricks and intimate details.

Many of the munchies in these pages are geared to kids in terms of taste, portion sizes, ease of handling and lunch-box compatibility, but there are a few treats in each chapter that are designed for you, my awesome reader, for whom Ive developed some more sophisticated and grown-up indulgences.

And it is you, my fellow baker, with whom I share this gastronomical journey one hearty and satisfying nosh at a time. Lets dig in!