Gluten-free recipes are becoming easier to put together. It used to be that finding specialty gluten-free flours and other ingredients meant going online to place an order. Today, many grocery stores feature a whole section – or even an aisle – dedicated to gluten-free products. So when it comes to baking, you can still make classic holiday sweets with a few tweaks to trim out the gluten. Start out with some cookies like gingerbread men, chocolate fudge crinkles or Russian teacakes. Then whip up some showstopping desserts like peppermint caramels or a chocolate yule log (don’t forget the frosting). Grab your aprons, it’s baking time!
Peppermint Caramels
Heat up heavy cream with sugar, corn syrup, honey and butter until the mixture boils and starts to become solid. Pour the mix into a baking pan and top with pieces of peppermint candy. If you have a candy lover on your Christmas list, wrap up these peppermint caramels from Saveur as a gift.
Gingerbread Men Cookies
These gingerbread men cookies from Elana’s Pantry start with an almond flour base. Spice up the mix with cinnamon, ginger and cloves to capture all the flavors of Christmas. Have the kids break out the cookie cutters and it’s time to make big batches of cookies.
Gluten-Free Holiday Bars
To make these gluten-free holiday bars from Betty Crocker, use gluten-free chocolate chip cookie mix as the crust. Sprinkle baking chips, coconut, cherries and cashews, then pour condensed milk over the top. Bake and see if you can resist cutting into the bars before they’re cooled. Chewy, gooey and delicious!
Gluten-Free Chocolate Fudge Crinkles
Hello, chocolate! These gluten-free chocolate fudge crinkles from Culinary Couture are almost all chocolate. Stir cornstarch, powdered sugar, cocoa powder and salt into melted chocolate. Then, add in more chocolate chips! Roll the chocolate balls in powdered sugar before baking.
Gluten-Free Russian Teacakes
These cookies are already chockfull of nuts. To make these sweets gluten-free, stir together millet, sweet rice and almond meal flours along with arrowroot and potato starches to form the batter. Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla, salt and chopped walnuts to form the dough. This recipe for gluten-free Russian teacakes from Wicked Good Kitchen gets a dusting of powdered sugar before serving. Eat with a big glass of milk!
Gluten-Free Chocolate Yule Log
Mix up chocolate cake batter using brown rice flour, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa, baking powder and then eggs and salt. Bake the cake in a large cookie pan, then here’s the tricky part: You need to roll up the cake while it’s still warm. Unroll, then fill with whipped cream, roll up again. Refrigerate to firm up the cake. Next step: Impress your guests with this recipe for a gluten-free chocolate yule log from King Arthur Flour.
