brainstorming for a gluten-free little treat

[Blackdog Lin]

Am taking some treats to the ex-coworkers this week (I was always the office "food" person, so I know they'll be tickled I thought of them at Christmas). But my favorite ex-coworker - we still stay in touch regularly - is gluten-free. When I was working, I would always grab a piece of peelable fruit for her when taking food for everyone, so she'd at least know I thought of her too on our treat days.

So I'd like to have something to take for her too this week, but hoping for something a little more special than just an orange or a banana. And don't want to just go buy gluten-free cookies or whatever from the grocery store - because that's something she probably buys for herself.

I don't think there is any practical answer to this - but thought if there was, you guys would have it! Any ideas?

[Rosemary]

flour-free desserts:
pudding or custard
"pumpkin pudding" = pumpkin pie filling, baked without a crust. top with whipped cream if desired
ice cream (most flavors)
chocolate truffles
dark chocolate fruit and nut clusters
fruit crisp
baked apples
pears, split in half, cored, filled with chopped nuts, maple syrup, and raisins, and baked
coconut macaroons

easily made GF by using alternative flours:
clafouti
shortbread - try using almond meal

there are approximately 1,000,000 GF blogs with recipes out there. Some are better than others.

If you have a Trader Joe's, they have lots of GF treats this time of year (in the chocolate section).

[Miss Cellane]

I haven't tried these yet, but they sound yummy and not all that difficult:

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-coconut-snowballs-recipes-from-the-kitchn-181467?utm_campaign=topblock&utm_medium=web&utm_source=main-entry

And they would look a little festive.

[Rosemary]

Also, I love fruit salad with chopped walnuts or unsweetened coconut added to it.
This time of year pomegranates are a special treat. It takes a fair amount of time to remove all the seeds, and many people probably don't bother with them, so a container of ready-to-eat pomegranate seeds is also nice. Or fruit salad with pomegranate seeds included.

[fidgiegirl]

Peanut Butter Balls (http://www.food.com/recipe/peanut-butter-balls-21812) is another idea.

I couldn't tell if you typically bring something for everyone, and then something ELSE just for her. If so, consider making something GF that everyone might like. Less work for you, and then she can just simply partake.

[JaneV2.0]

Fudge? Combinations I particularly like: dark chocolate cherry, milk chocolate macadamia raisin, dark chocolate candied orange peel. A little cheese ball or cheese log? Mixed or specialty nuts?

Fidgie makes a good point about just bringing one GF treat.

[peggy]

Sugar plums. Easy, fairly fast, gluten free, and everyone will feel special getting them. Do you have a food processor? Ok, get several bags of different kinds of dried fruit. Prunes, craisins, apricots, golden raisins, coconut flakes, nuts if you want, etc...The blend is really to taste, although I do recommend having some apricots in there to cut the sweetness. Dried apples also add the tartness you need to offset the sweet. What I would do is go to the store and see what's on sale as many dried fruits are this time of year. Put handfuls of each in the processor bowl and process until you have a sticky blob. You can add more coconut and/or nuts to reduce stickiness. You can also add a bit of rum or orange liquor if more moisture is needed. Taste as you go along to get a blend you like, but really most anything you come up with will be good. Then wet your hands (shake off the wetness) and roll this into little balls. If you frequently wet your hands it won't stick to your hands. Then you can either roll the balls in granulated sugar, or dip them in chocolate (yum!)
Sugar plums are a special treat as we all want 'visions of...' this time of year. How I have presented them in the past is to get some of those little paper doilies and rolled them into cones (folding the tip over to hold it all together) then dropped a few sugar plums into the paper cone. You can fold the top down or leave them open for presentation. Cones like this nestle sweetly in a basket for delivery at the office. I suppose you could add a candy cane to the cone before you add the sugar plums, or dress it anyway you wanted.
Although I have been a purist in the past with my sugar plums, I think this year I might try adding some cake crumbs to the mix and see how that is. I think it would make them a bit more cookie/cake like rather than pure candy. (but candy that is actually pretty good for you!):)

[JaneV2.0]

Just make sure none of the dried fruits have been floured to prevent stickiness.

[Blackdog Lin]

Well I was both wrong (that there was no good idea for this) and right (that you guys would come through with excellent ideas). Thanks! to everyone for all the great suggestions.

The winner for my particular situation is fidgiegirl with her peanut butter ball (or buckeyes) idea. Few and affordable ingredients, ingredients already on-hand, quick and easy sounding, and DH - along with the rest of the office - would enjoy them too as a Christmas treat. It's perfect.

A little more help with gluten-free food prep? Do I need to find specific gluten-free peanut butter, or are all brands inherently gluten-free? The same with powdered sugar and chocolate? And what about cross contamination? If I just use common sense prep techniques (I'm thinking only metal or glass bowl/utensils/platter, all of which have come straight from the dishwasher, and don't let them touch anything around my kitchen while preparing) wouldn't that take care of any cross contamination concerns? I know that her condition is such that she has to be very careful, and any bit of cross contamination will make her sick.

Thanks again y'all!

[Kestra]

My sister has Celiac disease to the extent that you describe. And I'm quite sure she has to get gluten free brands for everything she uses. She can't just buy legumes, spices etc in bulk. There are probably websites that show what brands are ok for baking ingredients, but I don't know any off hand, not being that level of sensitive myself. As far as the cooking utensils, that's what I did when I cooked for her. I think I washed everything a second time as well, careful to not touch anything to the sink and use a new cloth. It helped that I was off gluten as well, so it was really only my husband's toaster that was really contaminated. I hadn't been doing any gluten containing baking for quite a while, so most of our utensils were quite clean of gluten already. And I managed to not make her sick - yay! For putting the food in a container, I'd make sure to use foil or wax paper as well. And of course if you're bringing gluten products as well, everyone has to not touch the gluten free items if they've handled other foods.

[fidgiegirl]

*fist pump!*

I am not sure about the cross-contamination. I think everything you said sounds good, but I am not full-blown Celiac and am not that careful in my own kitchen, even. Perhaps peggy can add something, I know her daughter is celiac (hoping I'm remembering right on this!)

Here's the thing about the ingredients themselves . . . some items can be natively gluten free, but commonly contaminated in processing. Oats are one example. I also know that some baking items are specifically GF like vanilla. But those 3 sound safe. I hope if anyone knows differently they will chime in! Checking of labels is always good - one time I got a chocolate bar that I assumed to be safe, but the toffee bits had flour in them.

[peggy]

*fist pump!*

I am not sure about the cross-contamination. I think everything you said sounds good, but I am not full-blown Celiac and am not that careful in my own kitchen, even. Perhaps peggy can add something, I know her daughter is celiac (hoping I'm remembering right on this!)

Here's the thing about the ingredients themselves . . . some items can be natively gluten free, but commonly contaminated in processing. Oats are one example. I also know that some baking items are specifically GF like vanilla. But those 3 sound safe. I hope if anyone knows differently they will chime in! Checking of labels is always good - one time I got a chocolate bar that I assumed to be safe, but the toffee bits had flour in them.

You are right on all accounts! Every now and then my daughter gets something accidentally. Check the label. Most products now will tell you at the end of the ingredient list if that product was processed in a factory that also processes wheat/gluten. If in doubt, all products list where you can call or email to ask. I've done this plenty of times and usually they are quite nice about it. Chocolate has soy, so keep that in mind if there is a sensitivity to that. And powdered sugar has cornstarch, as does baking powder, if corn is a problem. One ingredient to watch for is maltodextrin. Although it is usually made from corn in this country, it can be made from barley, and that is gluten. Again, if the product doesn't specify, call and ask. I have found that more and more products are specifying this on the label now.
One thing you need to be aware of is that labeling is still iffy on gluten free. Even if it says gluten free on the label, still read the ingredient list and the disclaimer at the end of the list that says if it was processed in a factory that also processes wheat. I have found some products that claim gluten free but state the cross contamination disclaimer. Good luck. Your friend is very lucky to have a friend like you who wants to treat her at this time.

[creaker]

I wish I had a tried and true recipe available to share - but I've made flour-free peanut butter cookies in the past and they were great.

[fidgiegirl]

Your friend is very lucky to have a friend like you who wants to treat her at this time.

Second this. It feels good to have people remember this important need. I have a lot more food anxiety now that I'm off gluten and part of it is being forgotten and having to watch others eat goodies.

[Zoebird]

I would make raw fudge:

gluten free raw cocoa powder
honey
coconut oil

If you want, you can add other things to it (nuts, dried fruit, etc, but simple is good.

And basically you melt the coconut oil, put in the honey (stir), and then stir in the cocoa, and then put it on a baking sheet/tray/whatever, and let them set in the fridge (doesn't take long). Cut into cubes and you're good to go.

Also, keeps at room temp, since coconut oil stays solid at room temps.

[Rosemary]

Fidgiegirl, I keep a supply of safe treats on hand for myself and if I know I will be in a situation where there is going to be a lot of wheat-based stuff (e.g. any event in the month of December!), I bring plenty of things that I can eat.

OK, I want to ask this question. Why are there so many people who seem to favor coconut oil in place of cocoa butter, Zoebird? e.g. why not use unsweetened chocolate in place of cocoa plus coconut oil. From my reading cocoa butter has a healthier mix of fats than coconut oil, as well as a good dose of vit E. I suppose the coconut oil would keep the 'fudge' more solid than cocoa butter, which seems to be softer at room temp. I know the purported benefits of coconut oil, so I'm not looking for a treatise on that point.

[AmeliaJane]

These peanut butter cookies are my favorite treat for gluten-free folks: http://glutenfreegirl.com/yum-yum-peanut-butter/. It's great with any kind of nut butter. I used to be able to get my hands on cashew butter from Trader Joe's and those cookies were amazing. Not only are the cookies terrific, I like that the recipe doesn't require specialty flour whose leftovers would go to waste.

[CathyA]

You can make some yummy chex mixes that are gluten free.

[Blackdog Lin]

I feel bad about it.....but gonna be honest here. Y'all have been so helpful, but I can't do it. Finding out that there's a big difference between just eating a gluten-free diet, and being seriously gluten-intolerant, as she is.....it's just too much.

We are very rural, with very rural shopping choices. I checked the local grocery yesterday and no GF vanilla, no GF peanut butter, couldn't figure out if the various chocolate possibilities were GF or not.....and throwing in that my kitchen has definite cross-contamination considerations..... Actually, she gave me a mostly-full bottle of vanilla 6 weeks ago - I'm sure that she bought it for herself as GF, but then found out it really wasn't so she passed it on to me. I have Wal-Mart still to check - but I know in my heart now, thinking it through, that even if I go to all this trouble, she probably still couldn't take a chance on eating anything I might fix.

So again I thank you for all the ideas, but I think I'd better just write her a nice Christmas note (maybe a humorous one detailing my vast GF research, and telling her I had people all over North America helping me with trying to make her a Christmas treat) and call that enough. It was worth a try, anyway.....

[Rosemary]

It was very thoughtful of you to research this to include her, and very understanding to realize how serious her condition is.

[treehugger]

Totally understandable, Blackdog. Simply choosing and making a recipe with ingredients that are inherently gluten-free (nuts, rice, fruit, etc.) is the easy part. But avoiding all cross-contamination? Much more difficult, and fraught with peril. You bake bread, I believe. Just that fact means that your kitchen has yeast and gluten "floating around." I think it would be impossible to safely cook for your friend.

My husband is allergic to nuts, but not super-sensitive. That is, he can't eat them, but he can certainly be in the same room with them, and we don't have to worry about cross-contamination with clean utensils and such. That said, I know some people are extremely sensitive and I would be reluctant to cook for them.

Just let her know you are thinking of her and write her a nice note. Know that you are a good friend.

Kara