When I tell people that I am allergic to carrots, they have the same reaction as my mom did years ago, “Carrots? Are you sure?” When I joined the Baking with Dorie challenge, I noticed that the second recipe was Gingered Carrot Cookies. Oh carrots, how I dislike you! But I’ve spent my life not allowing my allergies to stop me. So carrot cookies it was! Now you might be wondering why in the world I would bake something that I can’t eat. It’s just what I do. As someone who has a long list of food allergies, I knew when I decided to go to cooking school there would be lots of foods I would not be able to taste. Actually, tasting was the least of my worries. I was concerned about the stuff that could actually, ya know, kill me. My allergies vary in severity. For some foods, like carrots, I just break out in hives. Other foods, like soy and tree nuts, cause me to go into anaphylactic shock. This means that my throat closes up and I can’t breathe. It’s not fun! Avoiding anaphylactic shock while at the CIA was my main priority. If I had to work with an allergen, I would wear gloves and be very careful. It was a risk. I knew that.

Not everyone at school was thrilled that a food allergic person was attending the CIA. One of my instructors, upon learning about my allergies, said to me, “Why are you wasting my time? You will be of no good to this industry with all of your allergies.” I, however, didn’t think I was wasting anyone’s time.

I just wanted to learn how to bake well. And I didn’t think my allergies should stop me from doing just that. Today I don’t often bake foods I can’t consume. When you aren’t baking for a grade, like I was doing at cooking school, there is little reason to make something you can’t eat.

However, I wanted to fully participate in the challenge. So, I donned my gloves and peeled and grated some carrots. While I didn’t eat the cookies, I can tell you that my tasters loved them! After converting the cookies to gluten-free, I left out the nuts and the raisins. The reason I left out the nuts is simple: I am anaphylactic to tree nuts. I don’t allow them in my kitchen. As for the raisins, one of my tasters doesn’t like them. For him, I left them out. I e-mailed my tasters to ask them about this. They both thought the ginger flavor was fine. In the recipe I used Penzey’s ground ginger which is stronger than McCormick. Perhaps that made a difference? Here’s recipe. If you can eat carrots, I hope you enjoy it!

Gingered Carrot Cookies

• Ingredients
• Directions