Gluten Free Christmas Recipes
We know what you’re thinking – this is a beauty website. This is true, and we also know that many of you will be hosting Christmas this year, and will be catering for guests with gluten intolerances, and may not have “go to” recipes for your guests, so we want to save you some time (and stress) during this busy period, and suggest some fail safe, and delicious recipes all your guests will love (even the gluten tolerant). We have some salad recipes for lunch/dinner, dessert recipes, and some delicious snacks (and a link to the website these recipes came from at the bottom of this article). The images are mouth watering. Read on……..
Fennel, Haloumi and Pomegranate Salad
Serves: 4-6.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 small fennel bulb, finely sliced
- 1 small baby cos lettuce, coarsely chopped
- 1 celery stick, chopped
- 2 shallots, finely sliced
- 200g haloumi, sliced thickly
- 100g pomegranate seeds
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- pinch sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine fennel, lettuce, shallots and celery in a bowl.
- Heat frypan over medium heat, drizzle with oil and pan fry haloumi for 1 minute until golden. Remove.
- Scatter salad leaves with grilled haloumi and pomegranate seeds.
- Whisk dressing ingredients together and drizzle over salad. Serve immediately.
Tip: You can prepare the salad vegetables earlier when entertaining, but pan fry the haloumi just before serving to avoid the cheese going soggy.
Organic Grilled Chicken Salad with Apple, Walnut, and Green Goddess Dressing
Serves: 2
INGREDIENTS
- Green Goddess Dressing
- 3 tbs natural Greek yoghurt
- ½ avocado
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 2 anchovies
- 3 tbs lemon juice
- Handful basil leaves
- Handful flat leaf parsley
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Pinch cracked pepper
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- Chicken
- 1 organic chicken breast
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- sea salt and pepper
- Salad
- 1 cup cos or butter lettuce
- 1 apple, sliced thinly
- 1 celery stick, sliced
- ¼ cup activated walnuts,chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare salad dressing by combining all ingredients in a food processor or Thermomix (5 sec/speed 5) and blitz until paste is formed.
- Slice chicken breast into 4 pieces. Place between two baking sheets and flatten with a meat hammer or rolling pin. Drizzle with olive oil and season with thyme, salt and pepper on both sides.
- Heat frypan over medium heat and pan fry chicken for a couple of minutes on each side until golden. Rest for a few minutes and slice.
- Combine salad ingredients in a bowl. Stir in dressing and place grilled chicken on top.
Tip: The creamy (yet healthy) green goddess dressing elevates this simple chicken salad to another level. If you prefer an even lower fat dressing simply use a fat free yoghurt and omit the olive oil.
Pavlova with Passionfruit Curd
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour
Serves: 10
INGREDIENTS
- Pavlova
- 6 egg whites
- 1 ½ cups or 310g caster sugar
- 1 ½ tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp gluten free cornflower, sifted
- Passionfruit Curd
- 2 eggs, lightly whisked
- 40g fresh passionfruit pulp
- 1 ½ tbsp. lemon juice
- ½ cup or 11g caster sugar
- 80g unsalted butter
- To Serve
- 2 cups thickened cream, whipped
- 500g strawberries, halved
Conventional Method
1 Preheat oven to 150c.
2 Beat eggs whites in a bowl until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, beating well between each addition until glossy.
3 Add vinegar and sifted cornflour and beat to combine.
4 Spoon the mixture onto a lined baking tray and form a dome shape with your spatula. Reduce the oven to 120c and cook for 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave to cool completely.
5 To make the passionfruit curd, whisk eggs in a bowl. Add passionfruit pulp, lemon juice, sugar and whisk together. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat and then slowly whisk the passionfruit mixture. Stir over low heat for about 10 minutes or until mixture thickens.
6 Dollop whipped cream on Pavlova followed by cooled passionfruit curd. Garnish with strawberries and serve.
Thermomix Method
1 Preheat oven to 150c.
2 Beat eggs whites into Thermomix mixing bowl and whip with a butterfly insert 5 min/37C/speed 3.5 until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, beating well between each addition until glossy.
3 Add vinegar and sifted cornflour with butterfly rotating 30sec/speed 3.
4 Spoon the mixture onto a lined baking tray and form a dome shape with your spatula. Reduce the oven to 120c and cook for 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave to cool completely.
5 To make the passionfruit curd, place all ingredients in mixing bowl and cook 8min/80C/speed 3. Chill in fridge.
6 Dollop whipped cream on Pavlova followed by cooled passionfruit curd. Garnish with strawberries and serve.
Tips: Room temperature eggs whip better than cold eggs. When adding sugar to the meringue, ensure the egg white have formed peaks first because sugar can reduce the volume of the meringue if added too early.
Variations
Chocolate Mocha Pavlova: Combine 100g of melted dark chocolate with 1 ½ tablespoons of espresso. Pour the mixture down the side of the bowl and gently fold into the meringue until it is marbled. Garnish baked meringue with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and chopped hazelnuts.
Peach Galette
A galette is so easy to prepare yet it looks like art on plate. It’s really just a matter of tossing sliced fruit in a bowl with a few pantry ingredients and wrapping it in pastry. Don’t get too caught up in making the pastry edges look perfect and neat. You want a rustic finish. Messy equals delicious remember?
Prep Time: 10 min + pastry time
Cook: 45 min
Serves: 8
INGREDIENTS
Gluten Free Shortcrust Recipe (see below)
*only half the pastry quantity is required
- FILLING
- 4-5 yellow peaches, sliced with skin on
- Juice of half a lemon
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tbs plain gluten free flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- Beaten egg for brushing
- Demerara sugar for sprinkling
- Ice cream to serve
- CANDIED ALMONDS
- 2 tbs caster sugar
- 80g almonds
- Pinch of cinnamon
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 160C.
2 Prepare candied almonds by melting sugar over low heat in a frypan. Do not stir, just slightly agitate and swirl the pan to distribute caramelised sugar and promote even melting and browning. Once sugar has dissolved add almonds and cinnamon and toss to combine for about 1 minute until golden. Pour mixture onto baking paper. Cool.
3 To make the peach filling, combine peaches, lemon and vanilla in a bowl.
4 Mix dry ingredients together then add to peaches. Stir to combine.
5 Roll out dough thinly in the shape of a circle. Place peach mixture in centre leaving a 5cm rim. Fold pastry edges over peaches, brush with egg wash and sprinkle entire galette with demerara sugar.
6 Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly before cutting. Serve with chopped candied almonds and ice cream.
Variations
Rhubarb & Blackberry Galette : Replace peaches with 1 cup blackberries and 1 cup chopped rhubarb.
Shortcrust Pastry
Of all the gluten free baking techniques, pastry making is definitely the most daunting. Do not fear, this gluten free shortcrust pastry is easy to prepare and far superior to store-bought gluten free pastry, whch tends to be gluggy and full of artificial additives and thickeners.
This recipe uses cornflour and sweet rice flour as the two main gluten free flours because they are both soft flours that produce a beautiful crumbly texture, as opposed to a tough crust. The addition of sorghum adds a protein, fibre and an antioxidant boost as well as smoothness to the pastry texture.
Prep Time: 5 min
Rest: 1 hr
Serves: Enough to line and top a 30cm tart tin
INGREDIENTS
- ¾ cup or 100g gluten free cornflower; sifted
- ¾ cup or 100g sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
- 2 ¾ cup or 50g sorghum flour
- ½ cup 90g gluten free icing sugar
- 1/3 cup 30g almond meal, sifted
- 125g cold butter; chopped
- 1 egg
*only half the pastry quantity is required
Method
1 Put dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine.
2 Add the butter and egg and pulse until dough roughly comes together. If necessary, add 1-2 tablespoons of water to help form the dough.
3 Transfer dough to a lightly-floured surface and shape into a flat disc. Wrap in cling film and rest fridge for 1 hour before using.
Variations
Savoury Shortcrust: For a savoury shortcrust pastry, omit the icing sugar and add 1 tablespoon of sea salt. At the final stage, add 2-3 tablespoons of cold water and mix to form a dough.
Jam Drops
Kids love to help with the baking, and this is a great recipe to get them involved, creating the indents, and filling the holes with jam.
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 12 min
Serves: 22
Ingredients
- Cookie Base
- 100g unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup or 110g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup or 130g plain gluten free flour, sifted
- 1 cup or 100g almond meal
- ½ tsp gluten free baking powder
- Additional (see recipe below)
- 1/3 cup Strawberry Raspberry Jam
Conventional Method
1 Preheat oven to 180C. Line a banking tray with baking paper.
2 Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a mixer until pale and fluffy.
3 Add egg and beat until combined.
4 Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
5 Roll dough into small balls and flatten slightly with hands. Place on baking tray and create an indent in the middle of the dough with your thumb. Fill the hole with jam.
6 Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. At this point you can add a little more jam to the hole before the jam sets.
Thermomix Method
1 Preheat oven to 180C. Line a banking tray with baking paper.
2 Add butter, sugar and vanilla to a Thermomix bowl and combine 30sec/speed 5.
3 Add egg and mix 5sec/speed 5.
4 Add all dry ingredients and mix 10sec/speed 4, scraping bowl halfway through mixing.
5 Roll dough into small balls and flatten slightly with hands. Place on baking tray and create an indent in the middle of the dough with your thumb. Fill the hole with jam.
6 Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. At this point you can add a litle more jam to the hole before the jam sets.
Tip: If you prefer/need to make a nut-free version, simply replace the almond meal with 100 grams of plain gluten free flour. Always substitute by weight, not cup.
Strawberry Raspberry Jam
If you want a single fruit jam, just replace the raspberries with more strawberries or vice versa. Always substitute by weight.
Prep/Cook Time: 1 hour
Serves: 2 small jam jars
Ingredients
- 250g washed raspberries
- 250g washed strawberries
- 1 cup or 200g caster sugar
- Zest ½ lemon
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Conventional Method
1 Place strawberries in a saucepan and crush with a potato masher.
2 Add sugar, zest and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.
3 Bring to the boil until mixture reaches 100C. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
4 Test to see if it’s set by placing a spoonful of jam on a cold saucer. Run your finger through the jam – if the line remains, the jam is ready. If the line disappears, the jam has not yet set; boil for longer.
5 Pour into sterilized jars and seal tightly.
Thermomix Method
- Place all ingredients into Thermomix and cook 60min/100C/speed 1.
- Test to see if it’s set by placing a spoonful of jam on a cold saucer. Run your finger through the jam – if the line remains, the jam is ready. If the line disappears, the jam has not set; mix for another 5min/Varoma/speed 2.
- Pour into sterilized jars and seal tightly.
Tip: The easiest way to sterilize jars is to place them in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes.
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Make this if you dare! when eaten warm, the gooey molten chocolate oozes out of every bite. Better make 2 batches to have one in the cupboard.
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Serves: 12.
Ingredients
- 150g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup or 250g Brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup or 30g cocoa or raw cacao
- 1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 ½ cups or 200g plain gluten free flour, sifted
- 200g 70% cocoa dark cooking chocolate, melted
- 400g 70% cocoa dark cooking chocolate, chopped
- To serve
- Extra chocolate, melted
Conventional Method
1 Preheat oven to 160C. Line a banking tray with baking paper or prepare a silicone mat.
2 Beat butter and sugar for about 3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
3 Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
4 Add all sifted dry ingredients and melted chocolate and beat until combined.
5 Add chopped chocolate and roll into flat rounds. If the mixture gets too sticky, refrigerate for 10 minutes and roll smoothly between hands.
6 Bake for 15 minutes or until cracks form. Cool on tray then drizzle with chocolate.
Thermomix Method
1 Preheat oven to 160C. Line a banking tray with baking paper or prepare a silicone mat.
2 Beat butter and sugar in Thermomix bowl 20sec/speed 6. Scrape the sides of bowl.
3 Add egg and vanilla and mix 5sec/speed 6..
4 Add all sifted dry ingredients and melted chocolate and mix 10sec/speed 4.
5 Add chopped chocolate and roll into flat rounds.
6 Bake for 15 minutes or until cracks form. Cool on tray then drizzle with chocolate.
Tip: Flattening your cookie dough when rolling creates more surface area for that all-important chocolate drizzle. Feel free to swap your dark chocolate chunks with milk or white as you prefer.
These recipes (and photos) all come from Hungry & Fussy – a fabulous gluten free website, and cookbook. For more recipes, or to buy the cookbook, click here, (you won’t be sorry!)
