Gluten Free Desserts

Gluten free desserts fall into two main categories. Some are naturally gluten free, which have no flour at all. You've probably already had some of them without realizing it, like when you ordered the flourless chocolate cake at a restaurant.

Others are adapted classic recipes made with the right gluten free flour blend as a base. These recipes aren't converted from regular recipes. They're built from the bottom-up using the right gluten free flours and proportions of other baking ingredients to provide the extra moisture and structure needed.

You may find it easier to begin with naturally gluten free desserts, which don't call for any unfamiliar ingredients. They usually highlight pure ingredient flavors, like rich chocolate, smooth peanut butter, bright fruit flavors, and cream.

Some standout naturally gluten free dessert options:

• Rice pudding, thickened with eggs and the starch from rice;
• Homemade Jello-style fruit gelatin in your favorite fruit flavor;
• Creamy fruit dip made from fruit and cream cheese;
• Flourless peanut butter cookies, with peanut butter, eggs and sugar;
• Rich chocolate marshmallow cream fudge with a marshmallow fluff base; and
• Flourless chocolate cake, from eggs, chocolate, cocoa powder and sugar.

Literally any classic dessert can now be made gluten free as long as you have the right recipe and ingredients. You need the right balance of classic baking ingredients, plus the right flour blend.

Popular desserts made with all purpose gluten free flour blend include:

• Crispy gluten free chocolate chip cookies in the Chips Ahoy! style
• Layer cakes, like super tender, flavorful gluten free carrot cake
• Classic flaky gluten free pie crust or gluten free graham cracker crust for all your favorite pie fillings
• Rich chocolate marble cheesecake brownies with a cream cheese/cheesecake swirl
• Tender gluten free cinnamon rolls

Plus, baking with naturally gluten-free flours like almond flour or oat flour, like an almond flour chocolate cake or oat flour brownies, can add a subtle nutty undertone that complements cocoa powder beautifully.

Part of what makes dessert so enjoyable is how varied the textures and tastes are: crispy or chewy cookies, delicate or dense cakes, flaky pastry, creamy pudding. Without the structure of gluten in baked goods, we have to work harder to mimic all of these different textures. Understanding which gluten free flours to use in which recipes is a key to success.

No single gluten free flour will act like wheat flour, so I use a blend of gluten free flours based on superfinely ground rice flour. If you'd like to buy a ready-made blend, I recommend Better Batter brand classic gluten free flour blend, Cup4Cup multipurpose gluten free flour, or my own proprietary blend, Nicole's Best multipurpose gf flour.

All the details about the best blends are on our all purpose gluten free flour blends page. If you can't buy one of my recommended blends, I teach you how to build your own blend with component ingredients on that page.

In some more delicate recipes where we want less or no xanthan gum at all, so I recommend my basic gum-free gluten free flour blend. My own flour blend, Nicole's Best Multipurpose Gluten Free Flour, is the best option if you don't want to assemble your own blend from component flours and want to use one blend for all of your gluten free baking. It allows you to customize the perfect amount of xanthan gum for each recipe.

If you're ready to level-up your gluten free baking, here are some tips and tricks to apply as you assess recipes and begin baking:

• For longer shelf life of your baked goods, use xanthan gum. It increases water retention in baked goods, so they stay fresher, longer.
• Gluten free flours tend to absorb more moisture than wheat flour, so expect your cake batters to be thinner and looser than in conventional baking.
• In more advanced yeast-bread baking of shaped baked goods like gluten free donuts, sprinkle the outside of wet dough with extra flour and handle the dough lightly so you don't incorporate the extra flour into the dough itself.
• If your flour blend has any grittiness in it, let your raw baked goods rest to soften before putting them in the oven.
• Flour blends like Nicole's Best that contain milk powder contain proteins that help your baked goods to brown in the oven. Adding baking soda to baked goods also helps aid browning.
• Starches can be really useful in gluten free baking. Extra tapioca starch in particular adds stretch to baked goods; cornstarch adds a lightness and helps create crispy edges.
• More complex pastries like gluten free puff pastry are made best with a gluten free pastry flour with extra starch and powdered milk. Plus, keep your ingredients very cold to prevent the butter from melting during shaping.
• Never store gluten free baked goods in the refrigerator unless the recipe specifically recommends it. The lack of humidity tends to dry out baked goods.
• Store crispy baked goods like gluten free gingersnaps or gluten free graham crackers in glass containers, not plastic, at room temperature to maintain their texture for up to a full week.
• Gluten free baked goods often contain cream of tartar, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice to help provide some of the structure that's missing from gluten free products. They help stabilize the bubbles that form during preparation and baking, so don't skip them!

I have an intense sweet tooth, so there are hundreds of gluten free dessert recipes on Gluten Free on a Shoestring. When my son went gluten free in 2009, he had to have a perfect gluten free cupcake at a birthday party.

Soon after, I decided to make baked goods gluten-eaters would eat and love. All of my recipes are extensively tested, these dessert recipes are the ones I make for my own family most often, long after they're published.

I hope you'll have a look at all the full gluten free desserts archives and trust that you'll find something for every skill level, flavor preference, texture and occasion: