Gluten Free Easter Eggs and Treats

It’s that time of year when our bunny noses start twitching for chocolate, so here is a round up of some gluten free Easter eggs and other chocolate treats that are available in New Zealand.

An assortment of different brands of Easter eggs and treats, on a mint green background, text overlay reads "gluten free Easter treats"

When there are foods you need to avoid, sometimes celebrations and special occasions can get overwhelming, trying to find out what treats you can eat and what old favourites you need to avoid. While it seems like any chocolate Easter egg should be gluten free, there are a lot that aren’t.

Luckily there are actually a lot of options for Easter eggs that are gluten free, either labelled gluten free or gluten free by ingredient (more on the difference below, if you’re unsure).

This is not an exhaustive list of allllll the gluten free Easter eggs available in New Zealand, just what my arms could carry in several shopping trips to shops that are common in many towns around the country.

Stay tuned on Facebook and Instagram for a giveaway soon – I went a bit overboard buying treats to photograph for this post, and while we’d give it a good go, there’s no way my family can eat them all 😂

Checking Easter Egg Labels for Gluten

Make sure you check the packet ingredients to ensure that what you’re buying is gluten free, don’t just take the word of someone on the internet (even if it is me, I’m still human). I’ve added the info available to me on the packets of the products I purchased and on the brand’s websites, but sometimes labelling and ingredients change, so always make sure that what you’re buying is safe.

When checking Easter egg labels for gluten, remember the acronym BROW – barley, rye, oats and wheat.

Note: In New Zealand, glucose syrup from wheat is considered by Coeliac NZ to be so highly processed that it is gluten free. However, Coeliac Australia notes that there is a small chance some highly sensitive Coeliacs may still react to it and that it is an individual’s choice whether to consume it.
Glucose syrup from wheat is not safe for those with a wheat allergy.

There are two kinds of gluten free Easter eggs in this list – the first are those that are labelled gluten free, which means they have been tested to ensure they meet the gluten free labelling regulations in NZ.

The second are those that are gluten free by ingredient, which means that they are not made with any gluten-containing ingredients, but have not been tested for gluten and may be made on equipment that also handles gluten. Some may state “may contain gluten”, but this doesn’t make them any more or less safe than those without that label, as it is a voluntary label.

Many Coeliacs (including my Dad) eat “may contain” products, however always assess your own (or whoever you’re buying for’s) risk appetite for products made on shared equipment.

Most of these, except the NOMO products and the Whittaker’s dark chocolate kiwi, contain dairy. I have added other allergen warnings below where I could find them, but again, always check for anything you need to avoid.

Right, let’s talk treats!

Gluten Free Easter Treats

Cadbury

We’ll start with Cadbury because they really are ubiquitous when it comes to easter eggs in NZ, and many Cadbury Easter products are gluten free by ingredient.

Available from pretty much anywhere that sells Easter eggs.

✅ Many are gluten free by ingredient
✅ Many are egg free by ingredient
❌ Most contain soy and may contain nuts.

Are Cadbury Creme Eggs Gluten Free?

Cadbury Creme Eggs state “contains gluten” on the wrapper, however, Cadbury have confirmed that the “gluten” referred to is in the glucose syrup which is derived from wheat. As mentioned above, glucose syrup from wheat is considered to be gluten free in NZ and safe for Coeliacs, however there is a very small chance that some Coeliacs who are highly sensitive to gluten may still react to glucose syrup.

Avoid the products with biscuit pieces (Oreo), any Moro products, as they contain barley, and avoid eggs that come with Favourites or Roses chocolates, as some of those contain gluten.

Whittaker’s

Whittaker’s chocolate Kiwis are gluten free by ingredient, made in NZ with their dark chocolate and creamy milk chocolates, and 20c from each one sold is donated to Save The Kiwi.

The dark chocolate kiwi doesn’t contain milk but is manufactured on the same equipment as milk-containing products.

Available from most places where easter eggs are sold.

✅ Gluten free by ingredient
✅ Dark kiwi is dairy free by ingredient (see above)
❌ Contains soy
❌ May contain nuts

NOMO

NOMO is an excellent option for those with multiple food allergies or intolerances, as their products are free from gluten, dairy, eggs and nuts. They have large eggs and little bunnies as well.

They are definitely the priciest of all of the products in this post, but for those with multiple foods they need to avoid, this could be the safest option.

Available from The Warehouse and New World.

✅ Gluten free
✅ Dairy free
✅ Egg free
✅ Nut free
✅ Vegan
✅ Not labelled as such, but soy free by ingredient

Rainbow

Made here in NZ, the Rainbow range of marshmallow Easter eggs are labelled gluten free.

They have several different flavours of marshmallow eggs, and the ones in bags are individually wrapped, making them great for Easter egg hunts.

Available from Countdown and the Warehouse.

✅ Gluten free
❌ Contains soy
❌ Contains dairy

Queen Anne

Queen Anne have a range of gluten free marshmallow eggs in a variety of flavours. There are boxes of 8 half eggs, and individually wrapped eggs and bunnies.

Available from New World, Pak n Save and online.

✅ Gluten free
❌ Contain soy
❌ May contain eggs, nuts and sulphites

Waikato Valley Chocolate

A Waikato Valley choc marshmallow fish egg and hokey pokey balls egg on a min green background.

Waikato Valley Chocolates have some Easter treats that are gluten free by ingredient, including these choc marshmallow fish and hokey pokey eggs.

Available from The Warehouse.

Please note they do also have products that are not gluten free, including their bubble crunch egg and cookies and cream egg.

✅ Some are gluten free by ingredient
❌ Contain soy
❌ May contain peanuts and tree nuts, made on equipment that also handles gluten.

Kinder Surprise

Surprise, these are gluten free by ingredient (as are regular Kinder Surprises). Along with these eggs, they also have large and small chocolate bunnies and mini eggs. Avoid any of the Bueno products, which have wafer pieces that are not GF.

Available from most supermarkets and The Warehouse.

✅ Gluten free by ingredient
❌ Contains soy

KitKat

These cute mini Kitkat bunnies are gluten free by ingredient and come in packs of 6.

Be careful when purchasing – the large, individually packaged Kitkat bunnies are NOT gluten free – they contain biscuit pieces. Only buy the little ones in the bags.

Available from Countdown and The Warehouse.

✅ Gluten free by ingredient
❌ May contain tree nuts

After Eight

These are one of my own favourite Easter treats, After Eight bunnies. If you love after dinner mints, then you’ll love these dark chocolate and mint bunnies. Available at the Warehouse and some supermarkets.

Available from Countdown and The Warehouse.

✅ Gluten free by ingredient
❌ May contain nuts and soy

Baileys

These are a nice little grown-up treat, luxe mini eggs filled with a double chocolate Baileys cream filling.

Available from The Warehouse, New World and Pak n Save.

✅ Gluten free by ingredient
❌ Contains soy
❌ May contain nuts

Other Brands

There are some other brands that are available online that you might want to check out (I only bought products that were available in the stores I visited in person).

Sweet William have bunnies and eggs that are gluten, dairy and egg free.

Moo Free have eggs that are gluten, dairy, egg, soya and palm oil free.

Devonport Chocolates have a range of eggs and bunnies that are gluten free.

Products to Avoid

We’ve talked about some options that are safe, so let’s quickly cover a couple that aren’t safe, particularly ones that are common traps that people fall into.

Lindt – Many of Lindt’s chocolate products contain barley malt syrup, which isn’t safe for Coeliacs. Their milk chocolate bunnies and chicks are definitely not safe, but some of their dark and white chocolate products are gluten free by ingredient, so if you’re perusing the Easter aisle you can always check the ingredients on the products they have available.

M&Ms – Most of the M&M products are not safe, including their speckled eggs which contain barley extract.

🐰 Happy Easter! 🐰

Please let me know in the comments if I have missed any of your favourite gluten free easter eggs or other treats!