Gluten-Free Desserts

Peeps! Have I got some fab gluten free desserts for you. From chocolate walnut marshmallow fudge to a pavlova filled with berry-flavored whipped cream that feeds a crowd, to gluten-free brownie pudding (you’re welcome) these desserts are great if you are purposefully avoiding gluten on the regular, or know someone who is. They are also just just hands-down totes delish, and worth eating for that reason and for that reason alone . . . Only one of the recipes requires a special ingredient (the one-bowl chocolate gluten-free cake) and all of the rest require nothing more than pantry staple ingredients. And honestly, those are always my favorite – the kind of dessert that is not only crave-able, but once the craving hits, the actual making of said dessert can happen almost instantly cause – you guessed it: you’ve already got all of the ingredients in your pantry. Take a gander at these gluten-free desserts and I’m pretty sure you will not be disappointed and might even find yourself making these on the regular (ginormous milk chocolate peanut butter cup, I’m looking at you . . .).

Dairy Free & Gluten Free Desserts

Chocolate Chip Macaroons
So, these macaroons are beyond scrumptious. They are a bit crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, chewy, uber-coconut-y, and studded with the perfect amount of tiny melted chocolate morsels in every bite.

Flourless Chocolate Cookies (Gluten and Dairy Free)
I probably made these at least 10 times as I attempted to achieve gluten-free cookie perfection. I used Dominique Ansel’s recipe as my starting off point, but with major tweaks. My final cookies were as tasty as my first batch (crispy but chewy, deeply chocolate flavored), but did not break into pieces when lifted from the cookie sheet.

INSTANT POT DAIRY-FREE COCONUT RICE PUDDING

Rice pudding, I have come to learn, is the ultimate comfort food and when made with full-fat coconut milk, it is dairy free, and yet super creamy. This recipe calls for sushi or arborio rice, and so the final pudding has some texture and is a bit toothsome, which I love. Serve it with a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream and a final sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

Gluten and Dairy Free One-Bowl Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream
This cake is uber-moist, chocolate-y, and fudgy, and so very yummy. I tested two gluten-free flour mixes: King Arthur and Cup4Cup. The King Arthur version did not have the fluffiness of the one made with Cup4Cup, but was very good indeed. And so here, I give you both: the version with Cup4Cup, that is gluten free, but not dairy free, and the version with King Arthur which is free, free, free. Try both, and let me know which you prefer.

Gluten and Dairy Free PB&J Thumbprints
Peeps, these are gluten and dairy free thumbprints for those of you that like chewy, salty peanut butter cookies, PB&J sandwiches, and eating sweets without a speck of pesky old gluten. Now personally, well, I’m awfully fond of gluten (a controversial stance, I know), but loads of people aren’t, and I’m trying to be more accommodating/gluten-free friendly.

Ice Cream

RED CURRANT ICE CREAM
This is just about the creamiest, dreamiest, pretty-in-pink, slightly tart, yet slightly sweet concoction around. A perfect addition to a slice of currant buckle or galette. Don’t have an ice cream maker? Here’s a no-churn version.

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM
My absolute favorite flavor of ice cream when I was a kid was mint chocolate chip. But not any mint chocolate chip ice cream, I loved mint chocolate chip ice cream fro Baskin Robbins. I loved everything about it — the green color, the creaminess, the mint/chocolate flavor combo — but what I really loved the most, was the size of the chips. This is my own version of my favorite flavor!

ROASTED PEACH ICE CREAM

The name of this ice cream says it all. Fresh peaches (with the skin on) are roasted in a high oven with brown sugar and butter, pureed (with a bit of peach jam, if your peaches are not the most flavorful), and chilled. A brown sugar custard is made, the two are combined and poured into your ice cream maker and, voila: roasted peach ice cream. so good and, yes, so easy.

Strawberry Malted Milkshakes with Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

Homemade strawberry ice cream is the bomb. That’s a given. But a malted milkshake with homemade strawberry ice cream?? I kid you not: mind blowing. And this is coming from a malted milkshake obsessive who never even orders strawberry.

Gluten Free Chocolate Desserts

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

I present to you an unbelievably moist, fudgy, intensely chocolate-y — but not in a too-sweet kind of way, and not in a super-bittersweet way either — dense, but also light (which I know makes no sense) flourless chocolate cake that involves no egg separating, excessive whisking, or flour (obviously). It has only 7 ingredients (6 if you consider the two sugars as one ingredient ) and comes together in a snap. In short, an ideal treat. Enjoy.

INSTANT POT FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE TORTE/CAKE

Peeps, do you see this delicious looking FLOURLESS chocolate torte/cake? Well, I made it in an INSTANT POT! It’s a recipe from Coco Morante’s The Ultimate Instant Pot Healthy Cookbook. Now truth be told, it might be a bit of a stretch to call this cake “healthy.” But if you are on team “chocolate-is-good-for-you” and you are down with honey, well then, yes, it is quite healthy, actually.

Best-Ever Fudgy Gluten Free Brownies

Essentially, all I did here is sub potato starch for the all-purpose flour in my original recipe. That’s it. Done and done. The starch should be sifted before incorporating it, as it can be a bit clumpy, but there’s no song and dance required to make these suckers, and I got to say, people go crazy for a gluten-free treat, especially this one.

Chocolate Mousse

This mousse is so simple, so light, so luxurious (despite the absence of yolks) and so deeply chocolate-y, I can’t imagine you won’t find it just as dreamy as I do. And with a dollop of whipped cream on top? I mean, come on, peeps: whipped perfection.

A Ginormous Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup for a Crowd

Spoiler alert, peeps: this ginormous milk chocolate peanut butter cup is basically the best thing I have ever made. Peanut butter and chocolate is my absolute favorite combo, and I think you can guess what my favorite candy might be.

Gluten Free Brownie Pudding

I love pudding almost as much as I love just-this-side of underdone brownies and the combo of the two with a dribble of cream or vanilla ice cream (or both) is basically my ideal sweet treat.

Chocolate Marshmallow Walnut Fudge

This marshmallow walnut fudge is not only easy to prepare (due to the sweetened condensed milk), but also freezes beautifully, and packages up well, too.

Mousse & Meringue

Pavlova with Cranberry Whipped Cream

I love tart plus sweet and this version of Charlotte Ree’s pavlova is all that and then some. The compote is super easy-peasy to assemble, too.

Mini Chocolate Pavlovas

These mini chocolate pavlovas have so many attributes going for them. I love the textural contrast of the crispy exteriors and soft, slightly chewy interiors. They use up extra egg whites which I always have a stash of in my fridge and they only call for a few ingredients which you likely have lying around.

Eton Mess

Eton mess is essentially berries and crumbled meringue cookies folded into whipped cream and it is essentially a perfect dessert: hard to screw up, loved by the masses, and delicious.

Pumpkin Mousse with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

I must admit: I’m not a pumpkin pie person. The idea for this mousse came to me when I hosted Thanksgiving a few years back and knew I had to accommodate my pumpkin-loving mother-in-law, but was dead set against making her a traditional pie.

Caramel

Caramel Popcorn

I get that you may be asking yourself if the world really needs another caramel corn recipe. Well, I think I can answer that question for you. Yes, the world does, and yes this recipe should be your new go-to. End of story, bottom line. Thank you very much.

Homemade Cracker Jacks

This recipe is easy and the finished corn, super yummy. Perfect for snacking on while binge watching “You Better Call Saul,” if you must know.

Salty Caramel Apples

Lucky for you I spent so much time tweaking this recipe that it’s now not only foolproof (perfectly soft for biting, perfectly firm for holding its shape), but beyond delish AND likely to give a store-bought kit a run for its money.

Salty Caramels

The recipe is easy, the assembly a snap, and the results to die for. If there was ever a candy-crowd-pleaser, peeps, this is it. Yes, they are marvelous around the holidays, but, truly, they are marvelous around all the days.