Okay, so Thanksgiving is coming up, and I’m on this whole gluten-free kick, right? I love desserts, like, seriously LOVE them, so I figured I had to figure out some gluten-free Thanksgiving desserts. Here’s how it went down.
First, I hit up the internet. Started searching “easy gluten free thanksgiving desserts.” Man, there are a LOT of options. Pie crusts made from almond flour, pumpkin bars with oat flour, all sorts of stuff. I was kinda overwhelmed, to be honest.
Then I narrowed it down. Decided to try a couple of things: a gluten-free apple crisp and some gluten-free pumpkin pie bars. Figured those were classic Thanksgiving flavors, and relatively simple.
Apple Crisp: I found a recipe that used almond flour and oats for the topping. Sounds good, right? I grabbed some Granny Smith apples from the store – gotta have that tartness! – peeled ’em, chopped ’em up, and tossed them with some cinnamon and sugar. For the topping, I mixed the almond flour, oats, brown sugar, and melted butter. Smelled AMAZING. I dumped the apples into a baking dish, sprinkled the topping all over, and baked it until it was bubbly and golden brown. It looked pretty good!
Pumpkin Pie Bars: This one was a little trickier. The recipe called for a gluten-free graham cracker crust. I couldn’t find any at the store, so I had to improvise. I ended up using some gluten-free cookies I had on hand, crushed them up, mixed them with melted butter, and pressed that into a baking pan. For the filling, it was pretty standard pumpkin pie stuff: pumpkin puree, eggs, sugar, spices. I poured that over the crust and baked it until it was set.
The Taste Test: This is the important part, right? The apple crisp was REALLY good. The almond flour gave the topping a nice, nutty flavor. Definitely a winner. The pumpkin pie bars were… okay. The crust wasn’t quite right. It was a little too crumbly, and didn’t really hold together. The filling was good though, nice and pumpkin-y. I think next time I’d try making my own gluten-free crust from scratch, or maybe just skip the crust altogether and make pumpkin pudding instead.
Lessons Learned: Gluten-free baking can be a little finicky. You gotta be prepared to experiment. And don’t be afraid to improvise if you can’t find exactly what you need. Most importantly, have fun with it! Even if something doesn’t turn out perfectly, it’s still a homemade dessert, and that’s always a good thing. This Thanksgiving, I’ll have at least one decent gluten-free dessert to share!
- Tip #1: Don’t be afraid to use a mix! There are some pretty good gluten-free baking mixes out there. They can save you a lot of time and effort.
- Tip #2: Almond flour is your friend. It adds a nice flavor and texture to gluten-free baked goods.
- Tip #3: Spices are key! Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger… they can really elevate a gluten-free dessert.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it was a successful experiment. I’m feeling much more confident about tackling gluten-free Thanksgiving desserts this year. Wish me luck!
