Gluten free

This website--not mine, but a personal friend's--is a terrific resource. She has celiac, so does her son, and she is a support group leader. She has personally tested the recipes on her site. Here is the URL: http://glutenfreeeasily.com/recipe-index/

Question for Nancy on your reply, which I couldn't reply to because it's already a 'reply' :-) ... Can you post your favorite chick pea flour pancake recipe? I tried an Italian one with flour and water, but I'd like to try another (French, Indian, whatever), maybe with yogurt as an ingredient. Do you have a fave? Thanks!

Also, flavored oils and vinegars. Use herbs, garlic, citrus zest, etc.

How about some homemade mixes? I've done 7-bean soup, with the dried beans layered in jars attractively, and a recipe attached (there was also a 'poem' with each bean having a symbolic meaning). Seasoning mixes for chili, poultry, cheese balls, or sweet spices for pies/cookies. Mulling spice mix for wine or tea or a chai blend. Refrigerator jams. BTW, someone else mentioned hummus...which freezes beautifully until you can gift it.

You'll have to double check the brand of powdered sugar but this is a great cookie recipe. I've omitted the nuts (or swapped them for others), used chocolate chips and other various chocolate candies, etc. So they are very forgiving of alterations too.

https://food52.com/recipes/12478-flourless-chocolate-hazelnut-cookies

For medical reasons, I've been eating gluten (and dairy) -free for over 3 years. Here are some quality, fun desserts that people LOVE:

Chocolate Swiss Cake Rolls - lots of work and they're showstoppers: https://food52.com/recipes/38968-chocolate-roll-snack-cakes
Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse - super easy, read the instructions and comments carefully: https://food52.com/recipes/20911-earl-grey-infused-blender-chocolate-mousse
Marshmallows - Medium level of work/patience. Cover 'em in chocolate, mix up the extract, or roast over smoldering coals. Everybody will love you: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-marshmallows-recipe.html
Molten Chocolate Cake: Lots of work and GLORIOUS: https://food52.com/recipes/40653-ooey-and-gooey-double-baked-chocolate-cake

Clearly, I have a love affair with rich, chocolate desserts. If you're looking for something specific, just holler!

I've made all of these recipes repeatedly and love them. Good luck!

THE BEST gluten free baking flour (not a baking mix) is from Bob's Red Mill. It is called 1:1 flour (One to one flour). It has a blue label. You sub it exactly 1 to 1 for regular flour in any baking recipe (ie: cookies, cakes, bars, etc). It does NOT work as a sub in a loaf of bread though. You need an actual GF bread recipe. I am a pastry chef and we use the Bob's flour all the time. Most of the time, those without a GF allergy don't even realize they are eating GF.

As for a "gift" idea, try mixing equal proportions of any of the following:
Nuts, dried fruit, coconut, chocolate bits, toffee bits, etc (try 1/4 cup of each...the more you use of each thing, the bigger your batch will be)
Then, bind together with honey and a nut butter or Nutella. You want it sticky enough to hold a ball, but not so sticky it runs. Then press them and roll them tight, and then roll in coconut or something similar. I call them "power bites" and they stay well in an airtight container! You can make them more granola like or sweeter (by adding chocolate etc). Full of protein too depending on what nuts you use!

Have fun!

Home made marshmallows with hot cocoa mix.

Is your pantry gluten-free, or not yet ? If it is, you can make almost anything you used to make, but using a gluten-free flour mix instead. Otherwise, there are some fairly easy things you could make: everything suggested by Alisha above, plus:
- coconut macaroons (unsweetened shredded coconut +egg whites +sugar)
-sweet or savory granola (make sure the oats are marked gluten-free, which means they were processed in a gluten-free facility)
- homemade marzipan treats
- homemade nut butters, or spreads based on nut butters (honey-cashew butter, chocolate-peanut butter etc)
- a special homemade spice blend or flavored salt or sugar (lemon or vanilla sugar, celery salt, gomasio)
- pretty much any type of homemade candy: marshmallows, salted butter caramels, brittles, toffee, candied fruit, candied ginger, candied chestnuts
- instant hot chocolate mixes made from grated chocolate (and a side of homemade marshmallows !)
There's lots of other ideas out there, but it does depend on what you have in your pantry.

Fudge, truffles, gluten free cookies and bars, candied nuts, trail mix...

Forgot to say - doesn't have to be sweet