Hidden Peanut: Creative Dosing Ideas

Hidden Peanut. Those words used to strike fear into my heart. Remember when the nation's cumin supply was tainted with peanut flour? Fun times. But now that we've completed OIT, "hidden peanut" is exactly what we're looking for.

The majority of OIT kiddos don't like the taste of their allergens. Is it the body's natural defense against them? Is it psychosomatic because they've been instructed to avoid them for so long? Is it simply because they never developed a "taste" for them? We don't know those answers, but we do know that many kids need to camouflage those peanuts to get them down the hatch. I have listed some "creative" dosing ideas below for those of you who are at the end of your peanut rope, hanging on for dear life, struggling through your kiddo's daily doses. Special thanks goes to members of both Private Practice OIT and Texan Allergy OIT Support Group on Facebook who have shared these ideas over the years (I definitely "stole" a few-- I hope you don't mind!)!

1) Peanut candy. Peanut M&M's. Reese's Pieces. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. There are many options. You'll have to discuss conversions with your doctor. Remember that the protein content on any item is the ENTIRE amount of protein in the item from ALL PROTEIN SOURCES, so you can't just do a one to one conversion here-- not even for the M&M's.

This is the size peanut M&M bag we buy now. Regularly. It's still mind-blowing.

You've tried all the candies and your kiddo hates them, OR your kiddo can't eat the candies due to tree nut cross contamination, OR your allergist just doesn't like using candy for dosing.  What's a mom to do? Here are some other suggestions:

2) Stick peanuts or peanut pieces into Rolos. This also works with other nuts. I have been able to cram up to three peanuts inside a single Rolo.

The Rolo trick works with hazelnuts, too!

3) Crush up the peanuts and mix them into a small amount* of mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Frozen items often dull tastes, combine that with the strong flavor of mint, and the crunchiness of the chocolate chips, and your kiddo won't even know there are peanuts in there.

We tried this mix-in with peanut flour.  I think peanut pieces work better.

*A note about amounts before we move on: When mixing peanuts or peanut flour into things, use as little "mix in" as possible. Until you get up to a peanut, you can usually mix the dose on top of a single spoon. After that, you can use a small dish and get it all out of the way in just 5 or 6 bites.  There's nothing worse than having your kid give up on a dose part way through! The less volume your kiddo has to consume, the better!

4) Crush up the peanuts and mix them into taco meat. You heard me right. Taco meat. Sweet things often ENHANCE the taste of peanut, savory things can actually mask it. Remember to use only a small amount (see the note above about volume). You don't need an entire taco here, folks.

5) Crush up the peanuts (or use peanut flour or PB2 powder-- ask your doctor for a conversion-- they are each different!) and mix them into small amount of ketchup. Then eat with tater tots or fries.

6) Crush up the peanuts (or use peanut flour or PB2 Powder) and mix them into a smoothie.  People say that banana/strawberry smoothies are the best. Heck, we even mixed egg white powder into a Daily's daiquiri mix once ;)!!  Serve the smoothie in a sealed cup with a straw to keep the peanut smell to a minimum.

Sometimes you're even willing to serve your kid a daiquiri to get the dose in!!
 Sans alcohol, of course. Bonus: You can make yourself a full strength one
so you can get through another day of dosing!

7) Place the peanut or peanut pieces on top of a Frito corn chip and munch away.  The Frito's crunch masks the crunch from the peanut, and the corn chip/salt mask the flavor of the peanut.

8) Place chocolate syrup on the end of a spoon, then add peanut flour or PB2 powder.  Top with a bit of Redi Whip. It's delicious. Also, don't try to fly to your OIT appointment with an open can of Redi Whip.  Ask me how I know.  #TSAtroubles

It's like a little ice cream-less sundae!

9) Freeze banana slices, dip them in chocolate and use the chocolate to "pick up" peanut pieces.  Once again, frozen items mask tastes.

10) Carefully pull apart an Oreo and place peanut flour or peanut pieces inside.  Alternately, you can mix peanut butter (or flavored peanut butter) in with the Oreo frosting.  Close the cookie sandwich and eat!

If you use flour, make sure you press it into the icing.
Otherwise, you'll get a "poof" of peanut flour when you bite down!

11) Mix chocolate peanut butter with a small amount of chocolate pudding to further mask the peanut taste.

12) Dip peanuts into Biscoff cookie butter.

13) Crush up the peanut and mix it into a breakfast taco (keeping volume in mind) with eggs, cheese and crunchy bacon bits. The bacon bits will mask the crunch of the peanuts, and the taco contents hides the taste. Pour a little salsa on there, and your kid won't even know there are peanuts in it. This dosing method is a two-fer for us because Brendan did egg OIT, too!

So there you have it. Our best "hidden peanut" ideas. Do you have a creative dosing idea?  Post it in the comments below!