Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Desserts: Ideas for a 18-Year-Old Celiac

[wadesgirl]

I'm in charge of making desserts for Thanksgiving. My 18 year old niece was recently diagnosed as gluten free and is still struggling with what to eat especially when having family dinners and going out to eat. I want to make sure there are a couple gluten free dessert items for her. But I have no clue where to start. I noticed that the new chocolate cookbook has a flourless chocolate cake recipe - this is the kind of thing I'm looking for but can it be made gluten free? What other things can I make?

 

[cookinfletch]

I was looking at that this morning, for a friend who is also off gluten- it seems to be gluten-free, unless I am missing something.

 

[gigi425]

You can go to a health food store and get gluten free items (like cake mix). It's easier than trying to do something from scratch. The people in the HF store can usually help you. Good luck.

 

[darlinclem]

The Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devils Food Cake mix is really good! My dad's wife is Celiac and I use the mix to make cake bites (using the mini muffin pan). I then do some type of frosting or chips on them - or even a chocolate coated fruit (gluten free). Yummy and she loves them- no one else realizes they are GF unless we say so (usually to get people to save her some!).

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Our favorite GF dessert mixes are the King Arthur Flour mixes. (actually, our very favorite are Namaste, but those will be harder to find.)

Anyway - the KAF mixes are really good. The muffin mix is better than any non-GF mix I've ever used, and the cake, brownie, and cookie mixes are really good too. What I like best about the muffin and cookie mixes is that they are a basic mix with instructions on how to do add-ins to make your variations. For a treat, this past Sunday, I mixed up the muffins, and made 1/2 lemon poppyseed, and the other 1/2 I made orange chocolate chip.

You could use the cookie mix and make a Chocolate Chip Sensation, and no one would ever know that it was GF!

 

[wadesgirl]

Our favorite GF dessert mixes are the King Arthur Flour mixes. (actually, our very favorite are Namaste, but those will be harder to find.)

Anyway - the KAF mixes are really good. The muffin mix is better than any non-GF mix I've ever used, and the cake, brownie, and cookie mixes are really good too. What I like best about the muffin and cookie mixes is that they are a basic mix with instructions on how to do add-ins to make your variations. For a treat, this past Sunday, I mixed up the muffins, and made 1/2 lemon poppyseed, and the other 1/2 I made orange chocolate chip.

You could use the cookie mix and make a Chocolate Chip Sensation, and no one would ever know that it was GF!

Oohh... chocolate chip sensation was one I was going to make because my sister's family loves it so much. Does it bake up the same?

 

[cfmontijo]

Rather than using a gluten free flour, try a dessert witohout a flour. Use fresh peeled, cut apples, season with a little sugar, cinnamon & little corn starch. Layer in small baker and cover with crumb topping of oatmeal, brown sugar & butter. Bake or microwave. Baked gets more crunch. No specific recipe,.depends on how big a crowd. Cook until apples are.done. You can also make microwave peanut brittle. Takes.10 min & tastes like the stove type.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Rather than using a gluten free flour, try a dessert witohout a flour. Use fresh peeled, cut apples, season with a little sugar, cinnamon & little corn starch. Layer in small baker and cover with crumb topping of oatmeal, brown sugar & butter. Bake or microwave. Baked gets more crunch. No specific recipe,.depends on how big a crowd. Cook until apples are.done. You can also make microwave peanut brittle. Takes.10 min & tastes like the stove type.

Just have to make sure and get gluten free oats. Most oats are processed on the same lines as wheat, and are full of gluten. Bob's Red Mill has GF oats - that's what I buy.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Oohh... chocolate chip sensation was one I was going to make because my sister's family loves it so much. Does it bake up the same?

According to my son the cookies are "just like real cookies".

(sorry - just now seeing the post!) Hope you were able to make something yummy!

 

[wadesgirl]

According to my son the cookies are "just like real cookies".

(sorry - just now seeing the post!) Hope you were able to make something yummy!

Everybody really enjoyed it and those who love the original couldn't tell a difference. I bought the Betty Crocker cookie mix and it only made enough to fit the medium bar pan. It was still good though!