Gluten-Free Show-Stoppers
Easy ways to turn recipes you already love into desserts and party food that stop the table. Every idea starts with a recipe on this site, plus one simple trick to make it look like you tried way harder than you did. Every one of them has fooled a table full of gluten eaters.
1. Skillet Cookie Sundaes
The one that gets the biggest reaction. Press cookie dough into buttered mini cast iron skillets, bake until the edges are golden and the middle is still gooey, then pile on soft serve or a scoop of cookies and cream. Make 4 or 6, one per guest, and bring them out warm on little wooden boards.
Get the brown butter cookie recipe and skillet method →
2. Mini Brownie Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Sandwich a small scoop of ice cream between two toffee brownie cookie bites, roll the edges in mini chocolate chips or toffee bits, and freeze for an hour. Pile them in a chilled bowl and let everyone grab their own. Make them a day ahead.
Get the toffee brownie cookie recipe →
3. Churro Ball Dessert Bar
Heap warm churro balls on a platter and set out little bowls of chocolate sauce, dulce de leche and extra cinnamon sugar for dipping. It turns dessert into something people gather around. Make the balls ahead and rewarm them in the oven for a few minutes.
4. Warm Apple Cake à la Mode
Serve the cinnamon crunch apple cake warm on a cake stand, then top each slice at the table with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel. It’s the easiest fall dinner party dessert there is, and it’s perfect for Thanksgiving.
5. Pumpkin Bar Trifle
Cube the pumpkin bars and layer them in a glass trifle bowl with whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel. Finish with a sprinkle of cinnamon. One pan of bars becomes a centerpiece dessert that serves a crowd, and it’s even better made a few hours ahead.
6. Shaped Rice Krispie Treat Platters
Cut treats into hearts, stars or pumpkins for whatever you’re celebrating, dip half of each one in melted chocolate and sprinkles, and stack them high on a cake stand. Kids’ parties, birthdays, holidays: done. Check that your cereal and sprinkles are labeled gluten-free.
Get the Rice Krispie treat recipe and GF cereal list →
7. The Party Board: Pizzette and Brazilian Cheese Bread
Not every show-stopper is dessert. Fill a big wooden board with warm Brazilian cheese bread and mini pizzette, then add a bowl of marinara, olives, fresh basil and sliced salami (check the labels). It looks abundant, everyone can eat it, and no one asks whether it’s gluten-free.
Get the Brazilian cheese bread recipe →
Get the pizzette recipe →
My Show-Stopper Hosting Kit
The few pieces that make simple recipes look like a big deal.
- Mini cast iron skillets for skillet cookie sundaes
- Small wooden serving boards to set hot skillets on
- A good ice cream scoop for perfect round scoops
- Glass trifle bowl for the pumpkin bar trifle
- Cake stand for apple cake and treat towers
- Large wooden board for the party board
- Small dipping bowls for the churro bar sauces
- Cookie cutters for shaped treats
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Lisa Belle Marsh | The Undercover Gluten-Free Baker