Always a welcome gift, homemade food gifts are an extraordinary gift for someone with Celiac disease or gluten-intolerance and can also be a cherished gift to those without Celiac disease. No, we’re not kidding. We proudly give gifts from our kitchen to non-Celiac family and friends who are always excited to receive them. Gluten-free cooking can and should be that good!

We feel there is something special about homemade food gifts that are more meaningful and thoughtful. Who doesn’t have fond memories of the cookies and baked goods that Grandma used to make for the holidays? I remember those special tins that came in the mail and were opened with mouth-watering anticipation.

One of my favorite Christmas gifts was a gift I received from my daughter the first Christmas after my diagnosis. There amidst the colorful gifts was a beautifully decorated box addressed to me from her. As soon as I lifted off the top of the box, I could smell something wonderful. I folded back the tissue to discover a box full of beautiful Christmas cookies. Perfect Christmas cookies, unbelievably gluten-free! I still remember that the contents of the box contained Stained Glass Cookies, Lace Cookies, Christmas Wreaths and Truffles. Each of these cookies was a delectable treat that I thought I would never experience again, and they were all mine! Needless to say, I hoarded that box as if it were treasure, because to me it was.

To make your gift even more special, enhance your gift with interesting packaging. Many attractive and creative packaging ideas can be found in craft stores, cooking stores and even stationary stores. Tins, boxes or specialty bags are all great choices and can be decorated with ribbon or raffia and finished with cinnamon sticks or fresh herbs.

We’d like to offer a few holiday food gift ideas that could become family traditions.

Stained Glass Cookies

Stained Glass Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon gf vanilla
• 3 cups Gluten-Free Pantry French Bread Flour Mix
• Gf apricot or seedless raspberry jam
• Royal Icing

Directions:

With an electric mixer, beat butter with sugar and salt until creamy. Beat in egg yolks, lemon zest and vanilla. On low speed, beat in gf flour, 1 cup at a time, until just combined.

Divide dough into 4 equal pieces and flatten each into smooth disks. Wrap separately in wax paper and refrigerate until firm, at least 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out one disk at a time between two pieces of parchment paper to 1/8" thickness.

Using cookie cutters, cut dough into star and moon shapes (or other holiday shapes of your choice). Using mini-cutters to stamp out patterns in half of cookies.

With a metal spatula, transfer cookies to a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until pale golden.

Let cookies cool on parchment, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining disks. Spread a rounded teaspoon of jam on each of solid cookies and top each with a windowed cookie.

Decorate with Royal Icing.

Tips

Our secret ingredient is the Gluten-Free Pantry’s Country French Bread Mix (order at 1-800-291-8386 or visit www.glutenfree.com). We use this as a substitute for wheat flour. It works great!

Lace Cookies

Lace Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1-1/2 cups finely chopped almonds
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon gf flour
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a heavy, medium saucepan, melt 3/4 cup butter over medium-low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in nuts, sugar, flour, orange peel and salt; then stir in egg.

Drop batter by generous tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, spacing 3 inches apart (cookies will spread).

Bake cookies until lacy and golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Gently slide parchment paper, with cookies, onto cooling rack; cool completely. Transfer cookies to paper towels. Repeat with remaining batter; lining cooled sheet with clean parchment for each batch.

Christmas Wreaths

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 40 gf marshmallows
• 6 cups gf cornflakes
• Green food coloring
• 1 box Red Hots candy

Directions

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows; cook until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in green food coloring until marshmallows are dark green. Add cereal; mix lightly until well coated.

Using buttered hands, grab a small handful of coated cereal and form into a ball. Place ball onto a sheet of wax paper. With your thumbs create a circle in center to form a wreath shape. Press a few red hots around wreath. Repeat process with remaining coated cereal. Let cool completely before serving.

Bourbon Espresso Truffles (See our Class on Making Truffles in our Cooking Class archives)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
• 2 Tablespoons instant espresso coffee
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon bourbon

For coating:

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

In a small saucepan combine cream, butter and corn syrup; bring to a simmer over low heat. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

Stirring constantly, gently melt 8 ounces of chopped chocolate in the top of a double boiler, over a pan of simmering water. Remove from simmering water. Add cream mixture to chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk in espresso, cinnamon and bourbon. Let mixture cool at room temperature for 2 hours.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whip chocolate mixture until it lightens in color, about 1 minute.

Spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2" plain tip. Pipe 3/4" balls onto a baking sheet covered with parchment or wax paper. Chill centers in refrigerator for a least an hour.

Melt remaining 12 ounces of chocolate in top of a double boiler over simmering water.

Remove from simmering water and let cool until it reaches 90 degrees F. When chocolate has reached 90 degrees F., dip centers, one at a time, into chocolate to coat. Drop coated truffles into a bowl of powdered sugar and toss to coat.

Set finished truffles on a plate and repeat with remaining centers.

Tips

We used Scharffen Berger’s Semisweet Chocolate which is gluten-free and a spectacular chocolate.

Rich Chocolate Truffles

Rich Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 cups cocoa powder

Directions

To make centers, simply combine cream, butter and corn syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Remove pan from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

Melt chocolate by placing chopped chocolate in the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Stir with a rubber spatula as chocolate melts. The chocolate will melt quickly. When chocolate is almost all melted, remove from simmering water, continuing to stir until it has melted completely.

Slowly pour cream mixture into melted chocolate, whisking until blended and smooth.

Let center mixture sit out for 2 hours on a counter.

Before you begin to pipe centers, prepare the pasty bag fitted with the tip and the jellyroll pan or baking sheet.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whip chocolate mixture until it lightens in color, about 1 minute. You will see a definite change in color. Spoon chocolate mixture into the pastry bag. Roll up open end of pastry bag until your fingers are pressing against the chocolate. Hold pastry bag upright and squeeze a 3/4" ball straight down onto the jellyroll pan. Space balls about 1-2" apart. Repeat until all chocolate has been used. Refrigerate and chill for at least 1 hour.

Melt 12 ounces of chocolate just as before. Remove centers from refrigerator and have ready.

Sift cocoa into a small bowl and have ready.

Allow melted chocolate to cool to 90 degrees F. Place a center on a chocolate dipping fork or a fondue fork and dip center in melted chocolate until completely coated. Drop coated truffle into bowl of sifted cocoa. Repeat for all centers.

Gently toss truffles in cocoa until completely coated and roll them in a strainer or on wax paper to remove excess cocoa. Resift leftover cocoa and you can re-use it.

Rubs are easy to make and a great gift to give for the holidays.

Rubs are a combination of spices, sugars and salts. Rubs can be made with almost any combination, and are only limited by your imagination. The following is a formula that will help you to develop your own special rub.

To make a rub, use 1 cup sugars, 1 cup salts, 1/3 to 1/2 cup paprika, 2-4 Tablespoons chili powder, 1-2 Tablespoons pepper, 3-4 spices and up to 1 teaspoon each.

Sugars:

• White sugar
• Gf brown sugar
• Corn sugar
• Maple sugar

Salts:

• Garlic salt
• Onion salt
• Celery salt
• Seasoned salt

Spices:

Allspice, basil, cayenne, celery, cilantro, chervil, chives, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, dill, dry mustard, fennel, garlic, ginger, horseradish powder, lemon pepper, lemon zest, marjoram, mint, nutmeg, onion powder, orange zest, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, tarragon, thyme, turmeric

Use the above combination and mix all ingredients together.

Here are a few rub recipes to get you started:

BBQ Rub

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1/8 cup onion powder
• 1/8 cup garlic powder
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 1/8 cup chili powder
• 1 Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon celery salt
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Tips

Use this rub for any True BBQ recipe. It also works great for grilled steaks, pork or poultry. To save, just seal in an airtight container.

BBQ Poultry Rub Makes 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup garlic salt
• 1/2 cup onion salt
• 1/2 cup maple sugar
• 1/2 cup can sugar
• 1/2 cup paprika
• 2 Tablespoons lemon pepper
• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 Tablespoons lime zest
• 1 Tablespoon parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground anise
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Combine all ingredients together and mix well. Rub generously over poultry. Store leftover rub in an airtight container.

BBQ Pork Rub Makes 2-1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup gf brown sugar
• 1/2 cup celery salt
• 1/2 cup paprika
• 3 Tablespoons chili powder
• 2 Tablespoons black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Rub generously over pork. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes, or in marinate in refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Store in an airtight container.

Kansas City Rub Makes 2-1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cane sugar
• 1/3 cup paprika
• 1/4 cup seasoned salt
• 1/4 cup garlic salt
• 1/4 cup celery salt
• 2 Tablespoons onion salt
• 2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 2 Tablespoons black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon lemon pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Rub generously over meat. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes or marinate in refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Store in an airtight container.

(For complete instructions, see our class on smoking salmon in our cooking class archives)

This year we will be giving homemade smoked salmon for gifts. A Northwest treat, smoked salmon is a delicacy that makes a fabulous gift. We have a large smoker that will accommodate 3 medium sized salmon at once and will be making three different flavored brines, Smoked Salmon, Teriyaki Smoked Salmon and Peppercorn Smoked Salmon.

Smoked Salmon:

Smoked Salmon

For brine:

• 1 cup Non-Iodized salt
• 1-1/4 cups gf brown sugar
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 quarts water

Combine all ingredients in a large glass baking dish and stir until salt and sugar have dissolved.

Teriyaki Salmon:

For brine:

• 1/2 cup Non-Iodized salt
• 1 gallon cold water
• 1 lb. Gf dark brown sugar
• 1/2 bottle dry white wine
• *2 cups teriyaki sauce
• 3 ounces garlic powder
• 3 ounces onion powder
• 2 ounces pickling spice
• 1/2 ounce cinnamon
• 1/2 ounce mace
• 2 Tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 Tablespoon dried basil

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, mix and let stand 1 hour. Place salmon in brine, cover and refrigerate over night. Rinse thoroughly under cold water.

Pat fish dry and let sit for 1 hour before smoking.

Peppercorn Smoked Salmon:

For brine:

• 1 cup gf packed brown sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Non-Iodized salt
• 1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 cup mixed color peppercorns

Directions:

Bring 1-1/2 cups water, sugar, salt, ginger, bay leaves and allspice to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, cook and stir until sugar dissolves. Let cool.

Pour brine over salmon, cover and refrigerate over night. Rinse fish in cold water and pat dry. Pour 1 Tablespoon honey over top of fish and sprinkle with drained peppercorns from brine. Smoke.

Any of these gift ideas will be a welcome gift to be enjoyed by all.

Happy Holidays,

-Glutenfreeda