Gluten-Free Holiday Baking: Pies, Cakes, and Stuffing

Holiday baking without gluten rewards planners. GF doughs and batters benefit from resting, so mix gingerbread or sugar cookie dough the night before. The flour hydrates overnight and the flavors deepen. Cold dough also rolls and cuts more cleanly.

Pick one flour blend and stick with it for the whole season. Every blend behaves differently, and switching mid-December means relearning each recipe. A blend with xanthan gum already mixed in saves a step.

Spices carry holiday baking, and they are naturally gluten-free. Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and molasses do the heavy lifting. A gingerbread loaf with real molasses and fresh grated ginger tastes like the holidays no matter what flour you use.

Underbake slightly. GF holiday cookies go from perfect to dry fast, and they firm up on the cooling rack. Pull them when the edges set and the centers still look barely soft. This gingerbread loaf never lasts a day in my kitchen: gluten-free gingerbread loaf.

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