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Deidre Schoo
These gluten-free cupcakes are sure to be a hit.
While friends and family joyously consume piles of cookies, fruitcake, latkes and other assorted holiday treats, people with celiac disease (an autoimmune disorder) and gluten allergies are left holding the tray of raw veggies and ranch dip. This holiday season, help the gluten-free foodies in your life suffer no more! We have a list of goodies that make perfect gifts for folks who love holiday treats despite dietary restraints.
Cupcakes
These agave-sweetened cakes from Babycakes will satisfy any sweet tooth, even one with a wheat-free diet. Flavors include vanilla with lemon frosting, carrot topped with creamy vanilla, chocolate on chocolate, and a classic red velvet — and they're all gluten, dairy, and soy-free and shipped via Fed-Ex. Available at Babycakesnyc.com for $49.50 a dozen.
Gluten-free cookbook
Where would any chef be without a few solid cookbooks? For ones who want to avoid wheat, try “The Intolerant Gourmet: Glorious Food without Gluten and Lactose,” the latest book by the popular food writer Barbara Kafka. Recipes include ground lamb and flageolets, the ultimate quinoa side dish, and mocha meringues. Available at Amazon.com for $18.21.
Bouchon Bakery
Chocolate-chunk cookie mix
Bake away with this gluten-free cookie mix from Thomas Keller’s famous Bouchon Bakery. This easy-to-use kit utilizes gluten-free flour, bittersweet chocolate chips, and molasses to give the treats a super rich and decadent taste. Available at Williams-Sonoma for $19.95.
Gluten-free beer gift basket
Finally, beer for people with wheat allergies. Halftime beer distributors offers a selection of seven beers (most made with sorghum), including Redbridge, Bard’s Tale, Estrella Damm, Green’s, and New Planet, which brews three ales: light, raspberry, and pale. Available at Halftimebeverage.com for $79.99.
Triumph Dining
Triumph gluten-free restaurant guide
Stop struggling to find a restaurant that caters to dietary constraints; get your loved one this guide and skip seeing their sad face when they are stuck with a salad while you happily chow down. The guide started in 2005 and the team behind it just released its fifth edition. You can also pick up wallet-sized dining cards that come in 10 languages and explain to servers and chefs around the world what you can and cannot eat. Available at Triumphdining.com for $35.95.
Gourmet olive oil
Not everything for people with dietary restraints has to read “gluten-free.” Everyone can use a good olive oil (even vegans!), and some of the best is found at Fig & Olive, who offer more than 30 types from around the world. Try their blood orange-infused version, or one made with Mission olives. Available at Bestoliveoilstore.com for $13.99 to $20.
Gluten-free sampler of the month
Don’t know what to get for your gluten-free loved one? Give the gift that always changes: a box of various tasty treats delivered to their door monthly from the Mariposa bakery in California. Boxes have included samples like coffee cake, truffle brownies, and coconut lemon squares. Available at MariposaBaking.com for $81 for a three-month membership.
Breadstick mix
Risotteria, a famous gluten-free restaurant in New York, not only dishes out amazing entrees, but uses brown rice flour to make the best bread around. Now you can get their mix shipped anywhere and make your own hot, buttery, breadstick goodness at home. One pack yields 12 sticks. Available at Risotteria.com for $7.95.
Williams-Sonoma
Popcorn gift set
Popcorn is a classic gluten-free dish, so what could be better than a sleek popper and some gourmet kernels with different flavorings to try out? This set at Williams-Sonoma features a Waring popcorn maker, two heirloom kernel varieties, white cheddar powder, and a spicy Southwest seasoning. Available at Williams-Sonoma for $66.95.
New York-style pizza crusts
The secret to authentic light and crispy New York pizza crust is in the water, or so they say. For gluten-free folks, pizza is one of those dishes they often have to skip. Happily, Mozzarelli ships their tasty crusts all over, so give the gift of real pizza. Available at Mozzarellis.com for $44.95 for six crusts.
Linnea Covington is a freelancer writer and eater who will try any drink, dish, or sweet at least once, especially if it involves chili or bourbon.
Leave a Comment:
The article states gluten free cupcakes are $9.50/dozen. The website linked in the article indicates the price is $49.50.
Thanks for the catch BK! That was a typo and we've fixed!
Try the Kransekake bars from Ingebretsens.com. They are made with only almond paste, egg whites, sugar and frosted with powdered sugar, water and egg whites. You get six five inch bars for $9.00. Really great!
Thanks so much for writing this! Now I know where to get the perfect gift for my brother-in-law who has Celiac. :)
I am concerned about this list. It is fine if someone is on the gluten free diet for fun. Many of the products are not safe for people on a medical gluten free diet. I have been sick so many times at places listed in that guide, and there are no indications of which products are tested on this list.
If you are shopping for someone who has Celiac's Disease or another form of gluten sensitivity here is what to look for:
1) tested under 20 ppm
2) made in a dedicated gluten free facility
3) no xanthan or guar gums. they are painful laxatives that bind food into a gel mass in your gut as your body hates you for two days
4) dairy, especially cows milk, is tough on people who have issues with gluten.
5) make sure there are no issues with yeast before you buy beer. that is also a common enough correlated problem.
6) when in doubt, gift certificates work. if the person you care about isn't up to taking these precautions to avoid infertility, T cell lymphoma, bowel re-sectioning, osteoporosis, or GI cancer, let them make that choice for themselves.
It's "celiac disease," not "Celiac's Disease." It's not named after someone called "Celiac." :)
Excellent points about 20ppm and other aspects of "Gluten Free" labeling, but I have to say, my wife is sensitive to 3 ppm, and she doesn't have the reaction to dairy or Xanthan gum you speak of, but hey, everybody is different. I've been cooking GF for 6 years now and she has yet to get sick; but that is due to A LOT of time calling customer service lines, reading labels, and double checking the message boards online. I can't stress that last one enough; if there is a product that is labeled Gluten-Free but is making people sick, a quick Google search for GF blogs will let you know. The Celiac Community is AWESOME when it comes to helping each other out.
I believe that there are more cost-efficient alternatives to this list. $70 for popcorn? $11 per "beer?" $20 for a batch of cookies? I know that we can do better than that!
Being a Celiac and a former stout drinker, Gluten free beer is the bane of my existence. Finding a good one is rare...Green's is very good...but then having to pay $5 to $7 a bottle at a liquor store, even if you can find it, is infuriating. It seriously chaps my @ss that because it is Gluten Free, you have to pay double or more for it.
I make my own delicious Gluten Free Breads because I refuse to pay $8/loaf at whole foods for a loaf that could, at best, be described as "sponge-like". Pamela's makes a fantastic bread flour. $$14 for 4 pounds, but it's better than $8/loaf. I have also recently discovered Domata living Gluten Free Flours...OH MY GOD...just like all purpose flour...no funky after taste...translate recipes line for line. Just DO NOT pack the flour...you want to be on the light side of 1 cup of flour, not the heavy side. Give 'em a try. You won't be disappointed.
Gluten Free does not have to be a punishment. I make a pizza crust that all of my family and friends now ask for becasue it is better than what they get at the local pizza places. Guess I'm lucky that I love to cook and am really good at finding alternatives that allow me to do so without sacrificing quality. On another note, I have been to Mariposa several times in Oakland and SF...fabulous products. All of them. Love the almond biscotti.
I think people describe themselves as "gluten intolerant" to attract attention and make themselves feel special. I think gluten free products cater to this manufactured condition. In general, "health" food is for people with a bit more money than common sense.
I see how your name is Stupid. Next, you're going to say that the entire medical profession, in America and abroad, are also manufactured.
There has been research for hundreds of years about gluten and its impacts on the human body. As it stands today, Celiac Disease is an autoimmune response brought on by the presence of Gluten in one's diet.
I do not think the entire medical profession is manufactured, but do maintain that a large component of American health care is dedicated to the creation of and subsequent treatment by prescription drugs of non existent or manufactured conditions. Examples - ADHD, BiPolar Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Restless Leg Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Dry Eye, Insomnia, Sleep Apnea.
Also, we now classify as diseases conditions that are in reality wholly a result of behavior, so that treatment can be billed to health insurance companies. Two examples would be obesity and alcoholism.
Also I believe the health food "movement" is in fact a sort of religion in that it is based on faith, not fact. Companies have siezed upon this and created supposed "healthy" products that are in reality simply more expensive.
MSNBStupid- while i agree that these conditions can be over diagnosed, they are not made up. i take serious issue with that statement! my father was a manic-depressive (now called bi-polar) with psychotic episodes (hallucinations). our lives with this man were a living hell. his life was a hell. he was a brilliant man who spent the last 30 years of his life institutionalized. bi-polar disorder is a cousin to schizophrenia. sleep apnea: a close friend of mine woke to find her husband unresponsive and bleeding from the mouth. celiac (gluten intolerance): i know a young man who took a piece of cheese off a cracker and ended up in the hospital, just from the traces of wheat left from the cracker. it irritates me too when people claim they suffer from these illnesses - cathrine zita-jones, has what they are now calling "soft bi-polar" (my guess is she's just a bitch) because we need to label everything; but these illnesses are very real.
MSNBstupid: I am with you, I think there are so many over diagnosed issues with too many acronyms. Interestingly though, I feel diet is at the core of many of them. I have four children and my oldest has been sick since he was three-years-old and covered with massive eczema always with headaches or stomachaches. In August, after his 14th birthday, he decided for himself to try to go without gluten, sugar and dairy. I encouraged him to try just one. Without gluten his skin started to grow all new skin. After a month he tried a piece of pizza and had a migrane for two days. It has been four months now and he will never go back. Eczema is gone, his smile has returned and a new day has dawned. Gluten actually provides zero nutrients, so from that point it isn't an issue. Parties are the hardest, thus the list of goodies helps in those situations, especially for a teenager.
You just never know. I consider myself to be "gluten intolerant". I don't react horribly, but I tried cutting it out and discovered that many of the minor digestive problems and discomforts I've fought with over the years disappeared within a few weeks. No amount of other changes to my diet or probiotics helped and that was all the doctors ever suggested.
If I eat it again the symptoms come back. I'm not making it up, it's just the problems it causes aren't always serious enough to avoid my mom's mac and cheese. Doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to be comfortable any other time though. I don't try and worry about replacing the foods that have gluten, I just eat something else that naturally doesn't have it anyway.
Gluten intolerance is determinable via a blood test. Not all intoleant people have Celiac. You might want to read a little before flaming - unless you don't care about facts, of course.
MSNBStupid - Manufactured conditions? If you really feel this way then why are you even reading this article or participating in this thread?
I certainly have not manufactured my gluten intolerance. Or my dairy intolerance. Or my soy intolerance. Nor have I manufactured the conditions for which I have been hospitalized when I have eaten gluten or dairy or soy by accident.
This is not a fad. Or a cry for attention. Or a choice. It is my life. My real, true every day life. You are obviously an extremely fortunate individual who has never dealt with a complicated condition - count your lucky stars and leave the rest of us alone.
I actually didn't care for this article, because it misses a bigger point about the Celiac diet; there is a whole world of food that doesn't need wheat substitutes at ridiculously overpriced costs. I understand that folks like cake and cookies and pie and pasta, but I have found in my 6 years of cooking for my wife with Celiac, that breaking away from dough and processed sugary foods has made our diet far more interesting and made us far healthier people.
This article, on the surface seems to give gluten intolerant people options on sampling the 'favorites they miss', but really it seems to infer that fitting one's allergy to the American diet of pizza and cake were the only option--I simply wished the author mentioned more about delicious foods that don't involve substitutes to avoid wheat flour, but are naturally wheat/oats/barley free.
@Darren, I agree with your sentiments that there are tons (literally) of foods that are naturally Gluten Free out there and that they are delicious. However, being a Celiac mother of a Celiac child, sometimes allowing that child to feel "normal" is just as important as experimenting with the "unusual". I try to strike a balance between both worlds without going to extremes in either direction. That being said, I still say I make a killer Gluten Free bread and Pizza crust. ;)
Best of luck to you in your continued search for Naturally Gluten Free food items. It certainly is an adventure. I currently have my home brewing husband working on a Gluten Free Stout. Miss the taste and nothing that I have tired since going Gluten Free 6 years ago has replaced that...
I do understand the "feeling normal" aspect of it...I just think consumers get taken advantage of by retailers who try to convince folks a "regular" diet is all there is...And best of luck with that Stout...I homebrew myself,but have so far only worked with Ciders (apple, pear, cranberry)--I was thinking of trying to get some sorghum and brown sugar for my first crack at a GF Beer.
Yes, there is certainly enormous pressure to "eat like a normal person" these days. And the fact that half of the restaurants with "gluten free" menus don't train their staff on what gluten is...adds to the problems of trying to "eat normally". I've been "glutened" on several occasions by a meal out that was supposedly "gluten free". And it doesn't help that "gluten free" was being touted as a fad diet there for a while. It's not a fad for me...it's how I have to eat to live.
The pricing on "Gluten Free" processed foods is what pushed me into learning use alternative flours that are naturally "gluten free". When I first started on this journey, it was all about finding suitable "replacements" for my old favorites. Really the only "old favorites" that I still stick by are my homemade pizzas, my fried chicken (Originally a Southern family...this is not negotiable) and my own breads. Never been a huge bread eater, but I like the occasional sandwich and sandwiches for the school lunch box are almost a must for an 11 year old. (no refrigeration no heating source) As I have branched out, my family has branched out with me. However, said 11 year old still insists on cake or cupcakes for birthday parties..
Good luck with your first shot at Gluten Free beer. I've tried many ciders...and I like them, but I was never much of a beer/cider drinker EXCEPT for Stouts...I know weird...so I really miss my stout. That's about it though.
All I can recommend is that if you are truely a celiac person, DO NOT go off of your diet. I tought that I out grew my celiac. I ended up with a twisted intestine. Today I stick to my diet. I was born, in 1942 with celiac. It was a lot harder then to keep a gluten free diet.. Stick with your diet folks.
I personally have Celiac disease, and felt that there was a HUGE gap in finding gourmet gluten free gifts for those of us that LOVE food but NEED to eat gluten free. We started www.soluckygifts.com for JUST that reason. Check us out at www.soluckygifts.com - and we welcome suggestions for favorite gluten free products to add to our gift collections.