Holidays that are food-focused can be especially challenging for families with food allergies. Easter is a food holiday twice over: first there’s a treat-filled Easter basket, perhaps even an Easter egg hunt as well, and then there’s Easter dinner. Lots of food can sometimes lead to lots of stress…but not this Easter! That’s because there are loads of gluten-free Easter treats out there that the whole family will love. And the good news is that none of them will break the bank—some of them are just a dollar each!
Read on to find out about all the yummy gluten-free Easter treats that are available for you and your family to eat and enjoy. While many of these treats are candy, there are several non-candy choices, too!
Traditional PEEPS®: There is a rainbow of marshmallow PEEPS available this season—and this makes me incredibly happy, since they’re my very favorite Easter treat. PEEPS marshmallow chicks and bunnies traditionally come in a variety of colors: pink, blue, yellow, orange, green, lavender, and white. I’m partial to the pink bunnies, even though all of these colorful PEEPS taste the same. (Read more about my insatiable love for PEEPS here—this article covers all the gluten-free Easter PEEPS you can enjoy this season!)
Utz Cotton Tails: These white cheddar cheese balls are addictively delicious. I spotted big bags of them at Target, but was happy I only bought the small bag for $1—even I have to admit that there’s such a thing as too many cheese balls. (Had I bought the big bag, I’d have eaten them all myself—no sharing, no way.)
Annie’s Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle Bunny-Shaped Cookies: These crunchy cookies are great any day of the year, but especially on the day of the year where bunnies are most popular! They’re crispy and cinnamon and sweet—a great snack right out of the box. I like to dip mine in Peanut Butter & Company’s White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter for even more deliciousness! Find them at Target in both the Easter section and in the regular snack section.
Mike & Ike Candies: I’ve come across a few spring-themed Mike & Ikes this season—the Cotton Candy flavor, which I found at Target, and the Easter Treats kind. The Easter Treats are fruit-flavored, while the Cotton Candy ones taste like sweet, delicious spun sugar. Yum!
Chocolate-Dipped Marshmallow PEEPS: What’s better than a PEEP? A PEEP plus chocolate, of course! These individually-wrapped treats are ridiculously good. Smooth chocolate enveloping an ooey-gooey marshmallow…can’t go wrong with that! Buy them for your kids, or enjoy them yourself! They come in milk and dark chocolate.
Kraft Jet-Puffed Bunny Mallows: These little bunny marshmallows are absolutely adorable! I like to eat them straight out of the bag, but they’re perfect for sprinkling atop your mug of gluten-free hot cocoa or decorating or garnishing a dessert with. Find them at Target in the Easter section.
Gimbal’s Sour Gourmet Jelly Beans: These aren’t your typical jelly beans! They’re packed with sour punch and are a flavorful kick in the taste buds. If traditionally-flavored jelly beans don’t really excite you—these will.
Alter Eco Salted Caramel Truffles: I feel like these are more an adult Easter treat than a kid Easter treat. These truffles are meant to be savored and enjoyed slowly—they are so, so good—and kids might be so excited by the chocolate deliciousness that they just wolf ‘em down. Alter Eco has a few different flavors of truffles, all of which are yummy, but these Salted Caramel ones have always been my favorite. Find ‘em at Whole Foods.
Annie’s Organic Summer Strawberry Bunny Fruit Snacks: If your kid likes gummy candies, then they’ll love these gummy fruit snacks! They taste sweet and candy-like, but they’re actually pretty good for you. They’re made with real fruit juice and without high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, synthetic colors, or preservatives. This is one treat you can feel good about feeding to your kids! Find them at Target in both the Easter section and in the regular snack section.
PEEPS Mystery Flavors: This season, there are three mystery flavors of PEEPS chicks available. I tried all three flavors and really enjoyed them. Here are my theories on what each flavor might be:
Mystery Flavor #1: White chocolate (sweet and delicious)
Mystery Flavor #2: Popcorn (unique and a little earthy)
Mystery Flavor #3: Wild cherry (sweet, fruity, and sour—my favorite of the Mystery PEEPS flavors)
Pick these up at Walmart; they’re a store exclusive. Share your own Mystery Flavor theories on social media using the hashtag #mysterypeeps!
CVS Gold Emblem Fruit Cubes: It’s awesome to be able to walk into your neighborhood drugstore and know that there are gluten-free candies available to nosh on. I really enjoy these Fruit Cubes—they’re gummy, fruity, and sugar-coated. Yum!
Blue Diamond Oven Roasted Blueberry Almonds: You might wonder what almonds are doing in an Easter article, as they’re not a traditional Easter basket treat. But trust me, they can hold their own here. These delicious almonds don’t taste like the healthy snack that they are—they taste like candy. Blueberry-flavored candy, in fact. They’re also a dusted in light lavender, which is a great Easter color. Fill up a couple plastic Easter eggs with these scrumptious nuts and your kids will never guess the tasty treat inside is actually good for them!
Lundberg Family Farms Organic Sweet Dreams Milk Chocolate Rice Cakes: Not all Easter chocolate has to come in the form of eggs and bunnies! If I said a rice cake was decadent, you probably wouldn’t believe me. But that’s because you haven’t tried these rice cakes yet! These whole-grain rice cakes are coated in melt-in-your-mouth milk chocolate. It’s a healthy treat that really, truly satisfies.
Hammond’s Cherry-Flavored Cotton Candy: This cotton candy, available at Target for $1.99 when I first saw it, is so delicious. Luckily, one cone of it is one serving, and I ate that serving pretty darn fast because I just couldn’t get enough. Then when I went back to Target and noticed they were on sale 2 for $3, I bought all the Cherry ones they had. (Hammond’s also offers vanilla, blue raspberry, and grape flavors. All of them are good, too. But I’m partial to the cherry kind!)
YumEarth Organics Organic Pops: If your child is old enough to enjoy lollipops, these are a great option. They come in a variety of fun, fruity flavors, and a serving provides 100% of your kid’s Vitamin C needs! Found at Target.
Jelly Belly Jelly Beans: What’s Easter without Jelly Belly jelly beans? I found these boxes for a buck in Target’s Easter section; each box features 20 different flavors of jelly beans. And that polarizing flavor, Buttered Popcorn, is one of the 20—along with more traditional flavors like cherry, peach, green apple, and lemon-lime.
Pez with Easter-Themed Dispensers: What’s better than Easter candy? A fun Easter candy dispenser filled with that candy! Last time I visited Target, they were on sale 2 for $3 and came in bunny- and chick-shaped dispensers.
PEEPS Fruity Flavors with Fudge: These new flavors of PEEPS are out of this world! Combine marshmallow PEEPS with fruity flavors and sweet, delicious fudge, and you’ve got an incredible treat! There are 3 chicks per pack, and flavors include Raspberry Delight, Lemon Delight, Orange Delight, Lime Delight, Strawberry Delight, and Blueberry Delight. While I enjoyed all of them, the Blueberry Delight was my very favorite. Last time I checked, the Blueberry Delight chicks were on sale, 2 for $3 at Target.
Pirate’s Booty Aged White Cheddar: Arrrrrr you looking for a cheesy, crunchy Easter treat? Then treat your kid’s Easter basket like a treasure chest and put some Pirate’s Booty inside! These bags of Pirate’s Booty are decorated for Easter and are available for a buck (or is that buccaneer?) at Target in the Easter section.
Angie’s Boom Chicka Pop Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn: This sweet treat isn’t candy—it’s popcorn! This is one of my favorite kinds of popcorn, and I was pleased to see it offered in Easter-themed bags for $1 at Target. It lives up to its name—it is sweet and salty, which helps satisfy any type of snack craving you or your kids might be having.
Fluffy Stuff Cotton Tails Cotton Candy: I didn’t try this cotton candy myself (I was busy devouring every flavor of the Hammond’s stuff), but I did notice that this was available in the Easter section of Target for a dollar.
Pillsbury Funfetti Gluten-Free Sugar Cookie Mix with Candy Bits: While I haven’t personally made these cookies, my awesome mother has made them for me a few times, and each time they’ve turned out really well. If you’re looking for an easy to make, colorful treat to make to celebrate Easter, these cookies are a great choice. They’re filled with colored candy bits and sweet vanilla flavor. Found at Target, alongside the gluten-free Funfetti Cake Mix.
Lovely Licorice, Strawberry-Flavored: Licorice is one of those things that generally isn’t gluten-free. But Lovely Licorice is! It makes a nice addition to any Easter basket—a great surprise for kid who hasn’t been able to enjoy licorice for a long time. Lovely Licorice’s strawberry-flavored licorice is delightfully flavorful and chewy. Found at Target.
PEEPS Chocolate Mousse Flavored Chocolate Bunnies: These soft, squooshy bunnies really do taste like chocolate mousse! They’re decadently delicious. They come in 8-count packs. These are one of the types of PEEPS I plan to stock up on, as I want to keep them around my house long after Easter has passed.
Smarties: This traditional candy never goes out of style, or out of season. These tart, colorful, fruity candies are perfect for Easter baskets, and a roll or two will fill up a plastic egg nicely, too. Find them at Target, CVS, and your local grocery store.
Albanese Mini Gummi Butterflies: These cute little candies just look like spring! I love these colorful butterflies. Stuff a pack of these in your kid’s Easter basket—or in your desk drawer at work. Found at Target.
Hot Tamales Tropical Heat candies: If you like a little spice with your sweet, this one’s for you! While Hot Tamales usually come in cinnamon flavor, this box has three bold, fruity flavors in it like Mango Tango, Pineapple Picante, and Limon Fever. These will light your taste buds on (mild, fruity) fire!
Want to treat your family to other Easter gifts that are not food-related? There are plenty of fun options available for you! My favorite place to shop for Easter-themed gifts is the PEEPS online store (I actually buy from there all year long, not just around Easter). There, you can purchase plush chicks and bunnies in a wide range of sizes; apparel for the whole family; and fun Easter basket stuffers like nail files, golf balls, socks, and more.
