As someone who loves gluten in theory but can’t seem to digest it in practice, finding gluten-free gifts during the holidays can be daunting. Too many cookie exchanges with friends, pizza parties at the office, Hanukkah festivities, and family brunches. Gluten is everywhere at these events, and it can be annoying to constantly avoid it. This year, consider giving these gifts to those in your life who are living a gluten-free lifestyle. Bake a chocolate cake or enjoy a dim sum brunch at home. Read on to find 15 gluten-free gifts perfect for your friend with celiac disease, your gluten-intolerant cousin, and everyone in between.
Bakery quality mix:
Stella eats baking mix
These Stellar Eats baking mixes fit nearly any dietary restriction, are paleo-friendly, gluten-free, low-sugar, and plant-based. It’s also delicious and super easy to make with just a few add-ins and alternative options. This best-selling bundle makes bread baking (and pizza making) so much easier.
sweet laurel paleo cake kit
If you have a friend in Los Angeles who prefers their desserts to be gluten-free, refined sugar-free, or dairy-free, chances are they’re a fan of this bakery. sweet laurel. With chocolate cake mix, vegan caramel, and grain-free vanilla extract, this cake kit lets you bake your own chocolate caramel cake at home and share it with your friends. If you think even that is too much work, choose a ready-to-eat cake like this one. raspberry lemon crunch cakea collaboration with one of your favorite granola brands. pure elizabeth.
Berry collage pancake, waffle, cookie & brownie mix
You certainly don’t need bovine collagen in baked goods, but consider it an added bonus in berry brand mixes. It seems like a win-win situation to me that a moist, cake-like brownie packed with 3 grams of collagen protein is low FODMAP, paleo, and still tastes this good. Mixes are also surprisingly easy to make. All you need is eggs, oil and water and you can have a pancake breakfast on the table before your morning coffee starts.
Better than takeout:
Nom Wah Gluten Free Chicken and Cabbage Dumplings
Since I couldn’t walk or talk, I’ve been eating dim sum at Nom Wah, which opened in New York’s Chinatown in 1920. So imagine my excitement when I learned that we make gluten-free chicken and cabbage dumplings and can ship them nationwide. Add a sauce or two (I love black vinegar ginger and chili sauce) and send the dumplings to your favorite dim sum friends.
Carrie’s Hot Little Biscuits Gluten Free Biscuits
There are few things in this life better than hot biscuits fresh from the oven, slathered with honey butter. Thanks to Charleston’s famous Carrie’s Hot Little Biscuits, you can experience the same joy without gluten (and without hopping on a plane to Charleston). This 8-pack of biscuits arrives frozen and ready to heat in the oven when you feel like eating. Send it to your dearest friend who is gluten-free.
Fried chicken dinner at The Coop
Winner, winner, gluten-free chicken dinner! Blue Ribbon has spent 28 years perfecting its fried chicken recipe. Get gluten-free fried chicken with all the ingredients at the click of a button. Send this to a hungry gluten-free friend who can use the chicken, creamy mashed potatoes, brown butter collard greens, and gravy for four. If that’s not enough, the kit also comes with Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken Seasoning, Habanero Hot Sauce, and Wildflower Honey.
For Cookie Monster:
Levain Bakery Vegan & GF Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie
Nothing says decadence like a thick, warm levain cookie. Luckily for our vegan and gluten-free friends, Levain has launched a signature chocolate chip walnut cookie that’s just as delicious, baked with vegan cashew butter, gluten-free flour, and vegan chocolate. While ordering a pack for your loved one, buy one for yourself as well.
Tate’s Bake Shop Gluten Free Cookie Variety Pack
Few things can match the crispness of Tate’s cookies. Gluten-free cookies made with rice flour retain their characteristic chewy texture. This variety pack includes Bakeshop’s Lemon, Chocolate Chip, and Ginger Ginger Cookies, but if you’re like me and grew up with the classic chocolate chip, you can’t get enough of them. 3 packs for you too.
Siete Grain Free Cookie Variety Pack
We’re big fans of basically everything by Mexican-American snack brand Siete Family Foods, but these cookies are in a class of their own. Grain-free, dairy-free, vegan, and non-GMO, these bite-sized treats check all the boxes for whoever you’re gifting them to. Order one or two variety packs. Limiting yourself to just a handful of Mexican wedding cookies (fresas con crema if you always opt for fruity flavors) can prove extremely difficult.
Sweet Lauren’s Best Selling Variety Pack
The best part about baking cookies is that they fill your kitchen (or your entire studio apartment) with aroma, but sometimes baking from scratch can be a lot of work on a weeknight. With Sweet Loren’s slice-and-bake cookies, you’ll have freshly baked cookies in under 20 minutes with minimal effort. My favorite part? It’s just as easy to bake one slice at a time when you feel like eating, or bake all 12 for a crowd.
Snacks every pantry needs:
main crisp variety pack
A proper pantry should always have crackers on hand. You never know when you’ll need to assemble a cheese board on the fly or need something crunchy to dip into your go-to nut butter. Gluten-free or not, Maine Crisps Buckwheat Crackers have just the right amount of nuttiness and flavor, boasting flavors like olive and za’atar and savory fig and thyme (my personal favorite). The perfect gift for the snack lover who wants to keep things interesting and just can’t get enough of just crackers.
unreal snack custom box
Unreal Snacks basically helped my family survive the pandemic. The most exciting decision of the day was whether to have a dark chocolate coconut bar or a peanut butter cup as an after-dinner snack. Since then, in addition to chocolate covered almonds, they have introduced my personal favorite, chocolate covered pretzels. All of these are certified gluten-free, so make a box of different treats. The only warning is that it will all disappear quickly.
Breakfast essentials:
Give this Sweet Deliverance Gift Box Trio to a friend who is as obsessed with granola as I am. The Hudson Valley-based brand boasts no gluten or refined sugars, and aromatic flavors with lots of seeds like sour cherry and pistachio rose. The packaging also makes you want to keep the can out even after breakfast is over.
Wild Grain Custom Gluten Free Box
We’re big fans of Wild Grain’s subscription boxes. This is a freeze-to-bake membership for people who are busy but love fresh bread and chocolate chip cookies. All items are shipped no-bake and can all be baked in just about 20 minutes from the freezer. The brand recently launched gluten-free boxes filled with everything from slow-fermented brioche rolls to cheese tortellini to mini layer cakes. Why not gift this to a friend who wants to become a baker but doesn’t have the time?
very nice breakfast oats
I don’t usually include oatmeal on my wish list for Santa, but Quite Nice’s gut-friendly breakfast oats are worth asking for. The packaging alone is cute enough to be used as a stocking stuffer. The brand produces four flavors (Creamy Matcha & Vanilla, Rich Cacao & Sea Salt, Spiced Turmeric & Cardamom, and Classic Cinnamon & Sugar) from their fiber-rich and protein-rich oats, served warm as overnight oats. You can also enjoy it cold. Sure, it’s exciting to see breakfast products boasting resistant starch, glyphosate-free oats, peeled buckwheat, and hemp seed protein, but the most thrilling part is how good these taste. That’s what it means. It’s also versatile enough to be enjoyed hot or cold right out of the pack with water or your favorite milk, making it equally delicious on the go.
And everything in between:
As the saying goes, life is a box of gluten-free chocolates. And the perfect gift for a friend who can’t live a day without chocolate could be this amazing chocolate from Compartés. Take my advice and order one for yourself too. It’ll be the fanciest thing you eat all holiday season (or all year).
Mochidoki bestseller collection
I’ve previously written about my love for Mochidoki, a New York-based mochi ice cream company with an ingredients-driven ethos that gives way to flavors like jasmine boba and purple sweet potato. Perhaps one of the best benefits of mochi is that it is naturally gluten-free. That means frozen treat lovers can feel safe enjoying any flavor (there’s even a dairy-free option!).
Canel and Vanille cookbook
Get this cookbook for someone in your life who wants to transform their kitchen into a high-end bakery. This book by author Alan Goyoaga goes beyond the basics with recipes like chocolate hazelnut torte and lemon meringue tart. You might want to plan a visit to the home of the recipient of this book so you can sample a treat that will convince you that you underestimated the potential of gluten-free baking.
Masienda Tortilla Starter Kit + Masa cookbook
Another great gift for a friend who is looking for a project and wants to become an expert at making tortillas at home. This Masienda Starter Kit includes blue and white corn masa harina (a naturally gluten-free nixtamalized corn flour) and a tortilla press in your choice of color. Once you’ve mastered the art of making tortillas, take it to the next level with these tantalizing recipes from Masienda founder Jorge Gaviria’s new cookbook. Next time you’re craving tostadas, flautas, or quesadillas, you don’t have to leave the house.
Cheerful pasta variety pack
Cheerful Organic Brown Rice Pasta is so delicious that even my gluten-loving parents keep it in their pantry. No matter the shape (fusilli is my favorite), Jovial perfects the texture. No matter what sauce you pair it with, it’s equally delicious in a large bowl with butter and Parmesan cheese. Plus, it’s free of the top 8 allergens, so you can share your pasta feast with everyone.
