No All-Purpose Flour? Turn To These Gluten-Free Italian Desserts

These delicious gluten-free Italian desserts are all made sans all-purpose flour!

It's ironic - the time that we all would like to be baking the most happens to be the time that all-purpose flour has disappeared off the shelves. Worry not, though - delicious desserts aren't just reserved for those lucky enough to have found flour at the store! In our experience, there seems to be another type of flour still gracing the grocery store in abundance - almond, coconut, oat, and all the gluten free contenders. That means one thing: it's time to make some gluten-free Italian desserts!
This is an excellent time to get familiar with gluten-free baking. We know, we know - it can seem intimidating, and quite frankly, unappealing to some. However, we find that most people who were previously uninterested in gluten-free flours actually came around once they start trying some delicious sweets... ourselves included, quite frankly! Some of us got our families to hop on the gluten-free appreciation train with Giada's banana bread alone. (SO GOOD.)
It might help to know that there are a lot of traditional Italian desserts that just so happen to be gluten-free. Not by design necessarily, but just because some of these flours lend themselves to delicious textures that wheat flour sometimes can't achieve. The torta caprese is a great example - the almond flour gives it such a velvety texture, and that recipe is always listed as a favorite when we talk about Giada's desserts!
So, let's dive in to some of our favorite gluten free Italian desserts! Whether they happen to be flourless all by themselves (looking at you, cheesecake!) or use alternatives to get them there, you can still totally get your dessert fix without all-purpose wheat flour in the cupboard.

Our Favorite Gluten-Free Italian Desserts

Torta Caprese

This flourless cake is a quintessential dessert in Capri, and one of the dishes you can’t miss when you vacation there. It’s light, airy and fudgy all at once - and it gets its structure from almond flour!

 

Chewy Almond and Cherry Thumbprint Cookies

Almond and cherry is a delicious and classic flavor combo that comes together in these easy cookies! They’re perfectly just sweet enough, and the almond flour gives them such a great texture – and happens to make them totally gluten free!

 

Lemon Torta Caprese

This lemon and white chocolate spin on torta caprese might, maaaybe be even BETTER than the original torta caprese somehow.

 

Chocolate Almond Sandwich Cookies

Thanks to oats and cocoa powder, these tasty chocolate almond cookies are naturally gluten free. They're extra good after chilling in the fridge for awhile - so they're a great treat to make on a Friday and snack on throughout the weekend!

 

Honey Ricotta Cheesecake

Okay, this recipe isn't TECHNICALLY gluten-free, but it is flourless. You can make it gluten-free pretty easily, though, by using gluten-free biscotti or amaretti cookies for the crust!

 

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Behold, the banana bread that convinces all gluten-free skeptics to hop on board. The texture is just perfect thanks to a combination of almond and brown rice flour, and we firmly believe this ranks among even the best banana breads out there!

 

Sweet and Salty Chocolate Chip Granola

Granola might not be the first thing to come to mind when you're ready to hunker down for a baking project, but hear us out - this one is seriously, seriously delicious. The oats get perfectly candied, and the salt and olive oil balance it to make for a perfect snack. Not to mention, the recipe is really simple - so go make it!

 

Mascarpone Cannoli Cheesecake

More cheesecake! This cannoli-inspired number was an absolute hit among the crew on set. Similarly to the ricotta cheesecake, you can use any gluten-free biscotti or amaretti cookies to make it fully gluten-free!

 

Orange and Fennel Fudge

One sophisticated Italian dessert, coming right up! This fudge recipe is so easy, and it results in a perfectly soft-but-slightly-chewy fudge texture. The combination of chocolate and orange is a longtime favorite, but the addition of fennel adds a really lovely aromatic note - however, if you don't have any on hand, don't worry about it!