Gluten free dessert that can travel complete or unassembled?

December 13, 2021 4:52 PM

I’d like to make an easy yet scrumptious gluten-free dessert for a family holiday dinner. What should I make that can be transported either as a finished product or in easy-to-assemble parts?

I am not interested in flourless chocolate cake recipes—I have one and I want to make something different. I also am not interested in a pavlova or meringues, in case the humidity is against me. I’m looking for something easy. It doesn’t have to be WOW, just yummy. (Yummy can take precedence over easy, ultimately.) you can assume I have most of the basic alternative flours and access to ones I don’t have, and I’m willing to buy weird ingredients if need. No other dietary restrictions, just GF. Thank you!

posted by pepper bird to Food & Drink (25 answers total)

How fancy does it need to be? Brownies are easy to convert, you can sub in a GF flour blend 1:1 for wheat flour. I like King Arthur’s Measure for Measure blend for this. Works great especially if your recipe uses cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate. Spiff them up with whipped cream or powdered sugar on top, or cut them into shapes after they’re fully cooled.
posted by expialidocious at 5:06 PM on December 13, 2021

I've made these GF Ginger Snaps using Bob's Red Mill before, they turned out great! Definitely chill the dough before baking though.
posted by Maude_the_destroyer at 5:07 PM on December 13, 2021

You ever had buttermilk pie? We serve a gf version at our restaurant and it's sneaky good.

If you can cobble together a gf pie crust, you can do this or just about any other pie for real.
posted by john m at 5:08 PM on December 13, 2021

Chocolate mousse and creme brulee travel okay, as long as they don't get jostled too much.

A key lime pie from condensed milk and an almond flour/roasted coconut crust will make you lots of friends. Here's a recipe but I use the one from this book. I just use regular limes and their zest.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:10 PM on December 13, 2021 [2 favorites]

Arroz con leche, kheer, or other rice pudding variants are flexible and can be made with coconut milk/cream if anyone is avoiding dairy. Make it a little more special with festive toppings like pomegranate seeds or sugared cranberries and pistachios.
posted by leastlikelycowgirl at 5:14 PM on December 13, 2021

This chocolate mint pie was very tasty and would be easy to make gf if you can find gf wafers for the crust. Would travel well if you bring the whipped cream separate and top it before service.
posted by leastlikelycowgirl at 5:17 PM on December 13, 2021

You can make a great almond cake with just almond flour, eggs, fat and some citrus. Serve with berries.

My friend has recommended these brownies https://www.onelovelylife.com/the-perfect-gluten-free-brownies/
posted by jeather at 5:35 PM on December 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Homemade banana pudding is a guaranteed winner.
posted by saladin at 5:38 PM on December 13, 2021

How about apple crisp? Pair it with some ice cream and you're set. Definitely not fancy but also very yummy.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:49 PM on December 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Peanut butter cookies! A lot of them are inherently gluten free - there are recipes with just PB, sugar, and egg and recipes that add things like oats and chocolate chips. If you use oats, you’ll need oats that are specifically labeled as gluten free, as many oats are cross contaminated. Cookies aren’t fancy at all, but delicious!

Oh, and this King Arthur recipe for almond shortbread is gluten free and really good, though the cookies are fragile. If you melted some chocolate on to the top I bet it would be great and hold together a little better.
posted by insectosaurus at 5:58 PM on December 13, 2021

Cheesecake is a good option, if you have time to fully chill it before leaving, and if you have a cooler/ice pack it can travel in.
posted by meese at 7:25 PM on December 13, 2021

Hawaiian mochi cake! Either the butter, coconut, or chocolate versions.

(Also marzipan cakes go GF easily).

Macarons and macaroons, if you want something in individual portions.
posted by janell at 7:32 PM on December 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

These peanut butter cookies are especially awesome if you let them sit for at least a day before eating them.
posted by Vatnesine at 7:36 PM on December 13, 2021

Someone brought these soft amaretti cookies to my last book club meeting, and they were absolutely delicious. They don’t require special ingredients and are easy to make & transport. My friend put a tiny bit of apricot jam in the middle of hers, which was a nice little surprise.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:48 PM on December 13, 2021 [2 favorites]

Caramels
posted by at at 8:01 PM on December 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Almond flour cookies are super easy, there are recipes with only 3 ingredients.

Or maybe a cheesecake with an almond flour crust?

Baked Brie with jam or thinly sliced pears on top and nice crackers is a good snacking dessert for a few hours after a big meal.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:24 PM on December 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Passover desserts (without matzoh cake meal) are your friend.

My all time favorites are this strawberry lemon torte (you can skip the matzoh meal for dusting the pan, just use a little oil) and Nana Jose's flourless chocolate pecan cake.

You will need a springform pan to cook either. Serve with whipped cream and enjoy the compliments!
posted by brookeb at 10:02 PM on December 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Seconding rice pudding, but this scandi version. Make your rice pudding with coconut milk, allow to cool and later mix it with beaten eggs, saffron and chopped almonds, perhaps adding some more coconut milk till you have a pie filling batter. Skip the pie shell and just pour it into a pie tin and bake it. Serve with berry compote.
posted by J.R. Hartley at 11:38 PM on December 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Linzertorte, or Linzer tarts. Nut flours are used in many traditional recipes and the care lots of GF recipes online.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:47 AM on December 14, 2021

This clementine cake is always a hit for both gluten free and just decadent cake lovers. It travels well.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:09 AM on December 14, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I made Aran Goyoaga's Roasted Squash Brown Butter Cake for Thanksgiving. It traveled well and was a huge hit - no one knew it was gluten free. I made it again a week later for a party. Easy to put together (I used canned pumpkin) and delicious.

Both of Aran's books are full of great GF recipes, especially her new one, Cannelle & Vanille Bakes Simple.
posted by writermcwriterson at 6:33 AM on December 14, 2021 [3 favorites]

Coeliac here - We do one of 3 things (4th would be meringues but those are off the table). 1) a non baked cheese cake (cream cheese / cream / sugar / flavouring blended smooth) with a nut (or GF old fashioned oatmeal flakes) + butter + sugar crust (baked into a cookie or can be eaten as is without baking) and topping of seasonal or preserved fruit. If you have everything organised it can be done in 15 minutes. Doesn't like warm though so keep it cool. 2) A variation of a Tarta de Santiago (we often flavoured with cardamom instead of cinnamon), a Bolo de Amêndoa, or Claudia Roden's Orange & Almond cake. Travels well and can be dressed up with whipped cream. Glaze could work but frosting / icing is too much. 3) A GF variation on the very seasonal French honey gingerbread, Pain d'epices (baked in a larger tin, modified by using dark maple syrup instead of honey, changing up the spices and adding candied fruit and/or nuts maybe served with a very light marmalade glaze), or a gluten free version of the Dutch spiced breakfast cake Ontbijtkoek.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:37 AM on December 14, 2021 [3 favorites]

Also nthing Aran Goyoaga's Cannelle & Vanille books - these are excellent.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:43 AM on December 14, 2021

I recently tried a vegan version of the Orange and Almond cake mentioned above. I was easy to make and delicious.

For something slightly more complicated, some time ago I made buckwheat crêpes (galettes). I made a savoury filling, but I think they would be very good served as crêpes Suzettes or with a sweet creamy filling like this orange mousse. Put a bit of sugar in the batter, too. And decorate with slivers of almond, orange syrup and orange rind. I'm sure this could be made with aquafaba in place of eggs, if needed.
posted by mumimor at 10:00 AM on December 14, 2021

Response by poster: Thanks so much for all these amazing suggestions! I'm excited to try everything now. Marked as best answer the one I made -- the brown butter squash cake was easy, traveled well, and tasted fantastic. I even used the wrong size bundt pan and it still was A+.
posted by pepper bird at 7:24 PM on December 25, 2021