Party Foods for Kids with Egg and Peanut Allergies

Food is an important component of every kid's birthday party. Whether it's your child or an invited guest with egg and peanut food allergies, you can still create a great menu that all the party goers will love.

When choosing and purchasing foods for these party food ideas, be sure to check ingredient lists closely. Statements of ingredients are generalized and based on the author's personal experience.

Appetizers and Snacks
For kids with peanut allergies, the stand by snack of M&M's are not an option. Even the plain flavor contains peanuts and peanut contamination warnings. Luckily there are many other kinds of candy that are peanut free. Jelly beans, Smarties, Lifesavers, and Starbursts are a few choices for people with peanut allergies.

Read ingredient and cross contamination warnings carefully on all candy. Because many candy manufacturers make several kinds of candy, the peanut cross contamination warning appears on candies that do not contain peanuts.

If the idea of trying to avoid cross contamination from peanuts makes you nervous, choose healthy options like fruit and vegetables to start off the party.

Main Course
Peanut butter and jelly are not an option for an egg and peanut free party. Luckily, many other kid favorites are free of these two ingredients. Pigs in a blanket can be done with hot dogs and refrigerated crescent rolls. Surprisingly, most refrigerated doughs do not contain eggs. Brush the tops with butter before baking, and you'll have happy little piggies!

Other main courses that work well are the old standards of hamburger and hot dogs. Be diligent when purchasing the buns, however, as some brands do contain eggs. You can avoid bread altogether by serving a pasta dish. Some pastas contain eggs or egg contamination warnings, so care must be taken when choosing the pasta.

Dessert
The most challenging portion of the menu when avoiding eggs and peanuts is dessert. Ice cream and cake is standard kid birthday party fair for dessert. It may seem that these two things are off limits for those with egg and peanut allergies but there are alternatives.

A careful look through the ice cream section should yield several brands of ice cream that do not contain eggs. Read carefully, however, as just with candy, many ice cream manufacturers make several flavors and may have egg and peanut cross contamination warnings. Look for sprinkles, gummi bears, or fruit as alternative toppings to peanuts or M&Ms.

Cakes purchased from a bake shop or grocery store will most certainly contain eggs. With a mix and a can of pop, you can make an egg and peanut free cake. Choose a cake mix that does not contain egg in the dry mix itself. For chocolate or dark cake mixes, add one 12 ounce can of dark soda. You can use diet or regular soda. For yellow or white cake mixes, use clear soda such as a lemon lime soda. No other ingredients are needed to complete "pop cakes". The consistency of the batter will be looser than when using eggs and oil for the mix. The cake itself will also be flatter, but the flavor is amazingly close to a regular cake.

Icings are available without eggs and peanuts, but check ingredients carefully.

Dealing with egg and peanut allergies requires innovation and creativity when deciding on menus for a great birthday party. With careful perusal of ingredients and a willingness to try some new cake methods, the kids at your party won't know they are eating an egg and peanut free menu.