Why are so many Xmas recipes not nut allergy friendly? 😭

[SpnBaby1967]

I bought the BBC Goodfood mag. I do have quite a long list of allergies but very little in it I can make. Either because its nutty, coconutty or has alcohol in it.

Christmas recipes are the allergy sufferers friend. Anyone else feel like this?

I sympathise. One of my close family members has both a nut and gluten allergy. What gets to me most is the number of products that cover themselves by saying Made in a factory where nuts are used or may contraces of, etc... I understand why but some of the products this is on are really obscure!

Can you not just leave the nuts out? I follow a lot of recipes and take the nuts out or switch for something else, it still turns out ok.

In recipes I always swap the nuts for chopped dried apricots because I don't like nuts. It works in most recipes that include other types of dried fruit.

Can you not just omit the ingredients you can't have or replace with something you can? My friend has a whole bunch of allergies and I've known her to use pretzels, raisins, died cherries and chocolate chips instead of other ingredients in some recipes.

It’s because they are usually based on past traditional recipes - nut allergies were not the mass problem it is today. I suggest a look at the history of Christmas - Judith Flanders does one called Christmas: a history.

And advent bloody calendars!! So frustrating eg a normal box of Maltesers is nut free. But not their advent calendars. And pretty much all of M&S, Waitrose, Sainsbury's desserts (Christmas or otherwise) are not nut safe.
I hear you, Op!