Gluten-free celebration cookie bar recipe – a chunky cookie bar that’s packed with all my favourite sweet treats. Perfect for any occasion where a celebration is in order!
Gluten-free celebration cookie bar recipe, anyone? It’s crisp on the outside but soft and chewy in the middle, with each slice being totally different. Feel free to fight over who gets the middle slice!
When I first started a gluten-free diet, I could only dream of something like this existing. In fact, I think if you told me that I could eat this back then, I probably wouldn’t have even believed you!
To be honest, I don’t think my brain could quite comprehend eating a thick, chunky slab of chewy cookie like this, let alone one that’s packed full of M&Ms, Kinder chocolate, giant chocolate buttons and gluten-free Oreos.
But yes, this celebration cookie (and everything in it) is gluten-free! Check the FAQ section to find links to the exact products I used.
Because this recipe undoubtedly has that ‘I can’t believe I can eat this’ vibe about it, it’s absolutely perfect for birthdays, anniversaries and any special occasion… or even if the occasion is just that you felt like it!
Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe…
Gluten-free celebration cookie bar recipe: What you’ll need…
- Butter: Make sure you remove it from the fridge before you need it as it must be softened first – it cannot be hard like a brick!
- Caster sugar: Sugar isn’t just for sweetness – it helps to achieve a lovely crisp exterior and helps the cake to form a perfect crumb.
- Light brown sugar: A mixture of sugars not only forges that unique, almost caramel-flavoured cookie flavour, but also brings that distinctive chewy texture too.
- Egg: I used a large egg for these, but a medium egg works too.
- Vanilla extract: The better quality yours is, the better your cookie bars will taste!
- Gluten-free plain flour: I use a simple commercial blend from the free from aisle in the supermarket. If you can’t find a blend like this where you live, you can always make your own using my gluten-free flour recipe.
- Bicarbonate of soda: This is also known as baking soda, but don’t confuse it with baking powder! Bicarb is much stronger and certainly not replaceable with baking powder.
- Xanthan gum: This helps to bind the cake crumb together so it doesn’t become crumbly, replacing the gluten that would otherwise do the same job.
- Cocoa Powder: Ideally sieve before using or it can be quite lumpy. This is used for the chocolate section of the cookie bar.
- Fillings and additions: In this recipe I used white chocolate chips, giant chocolate buttons, gluten-free Oreos, Kinder chocolate bars and peanut M&Ms. But in reality, you can use whatever you like! See the FAQ section for links to the products I used.
So what does my gluten-free celebration cookie bar taste like? Well, as you can see from the photos, no two slices are the same – that’s one of the best things about this bake.
The cookie bar itself however is crisp on the outside, but chunky and soft and chewy in the middle, packed with whatever sweet treats your heart desires… providing your heart’s desires are all gluten-free of course!
Instead of just mixing all your chosen treats into the dough at once (creating a chaos of madness), we’ll instead be mixing them into the dough in sections, thus creating sections of specific treats. That way, you give someone more choice over which slice they’d prefer. Which is always more fun!
Lets kick things off with the ever important FAQ before I get to the recipe…
Gluten-free celebration cookie bar recipe: Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this recipe gluten-free? Is it suitable for Coeliacs?
It is gluten-free, though nobody would know just by tasting it – trust me!
Bear in mind that minimising cross-contamination is hugely important if you’re Coeliac or making this for someone who is. Here’s some tips from Coeliac UK on minimising the risk of cross contamination.
Also, make sure that all ingredients used don’t have any gluten-containing ingredients. Then make sure that they also don’t have a ‘may contain’ warning for gluten, wheat, rye, barley, oats (which aren’t gf), spelt and khorasan wheat (aka Kamut).
Here’s some more info from Coeliac UK on identifying safe gluten-free products.
How do I make this recipe dairy-free?
It’s super simple to make this dairy-free:
- Use Stock hard margarine block instead of butter
- Ensure your cocoa powder is gluten-free
- Use dairy-free treats for your fillings – heading to the supermarket free from aisle is best for this
Can I make your gluten-free celebration cookie bar recipe vegan?
If you follow the dairy-free advice above, then all you need to do is swap the egg for 3 tbsp aquafaba (whisked until frothy).
Is this recipe low FODMAP?
Everything in this recipe is low FODMAP… APART from the fillings (ie. the chocolate chips, M&Ms, chocolate buttons etc) as they contain lactose.
The best solution to this would be to use whatever lactose-free chocolate you can find – though this may not be as exciting or colourful, it would be safe for the elimination phase of the low FODMAP diet!
Do I need any special equipment to bake your gluten-free celebration cookie bar recipe?
Certainly not! Just a simple 9x9in baking tin like this will do.
Which treats and chocolate bars did you use in this recipe?
I just wanted to quickly emphasise that these products were just what I had leftover in my cupboards so don’t feel like you have to use what I used specifically. As long as your treats are gluten-free, feel free to use whatever sweet treats you’ve got hanging around.
Recipes like this can be a great way to use up leftovers and transform them into something totally new. So with that in mind, here’s what I used:
- Peanut M&Ms
- Cadbury Dairy Milk Giant Buttons
- White chocolate chips
- Gluten-free Oreos (aka. Cookies and cream biscuits)
- Kinder chocolate bars
Please note that these brands have products that are NOT gluten-free (for example, whilst the Cadbury giant buttons are gluten-free, their chocolate bars have a ‘may contain wheat’ warning) so please double check ingredients lists before buying.
Gluten-free celebration cookie bar recipe: Tips for perfection!
- You’ll need a decent amount of bowls for this recipe, so get them out and ready first – I use 4 small glass mixing bowls, but anything bigger than a small cereal bowl works!
- Don’t forget that you can ‘lazy line’ your baking tin. Simply place baking paper into the tin and press it into the shape of the tin – then use pegs to hold it in place. Pour in the cake batter, then remove the pegs and bake – no greasing or paper cutting required!
- Chop up any larger biscuits or chocolate bars you intend to add. This allows a nice ratio of cookie to filling in each bite.
- Wait until the cookie slab has fully cooked before slicing. Cookies need time to set and cool, otherwise they can be very wobbly and wet!
- Watch the video below the recipe before you start. Then you definitely can’t go wrong!
Gluten-free Celebration Cookie Bar
Ingredients
- 130 g butter softened
- 50 g caster sugar
- 50 g light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 280 g gluten-free plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
Fillings and additions:
- 25 g giant chocolate buttons
- 25 g white chocolate chips
- 50 g gluten-free Oreos
- 50 g Kinder chocolate bars
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 50 g M&Ms
Instructions
- Cream together softened butter, caster and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg and vanilla and mix once more to combine.
- Add gf flour, bicarbonate of soda and xanthan gum and mix again, you’ll have a soft cookie dough.
- Separate your cookie dough into 4 separate bowls.
- Mix chocolate buttons into one bowl, broken up gf oreos in the second, chopped kinder chocolate in the third and a tsp of cocoa powder and m&ms in the fourth.
- Press your cookie dough down into a 9×9 inch square tin with non stick baking paper in it.
- Add extra chocolates to the top of each if you like / have some spare.
- Bake in a preheated 160C fan oven for about 20 minutes.
- Allow to cool in the tin before removing and cutting into squares.
- Serve warm, cold OR at the moment with a big scoop of ice cream ?
Nutrition
Thanks for reading all about my gluten-free celebration cookie bar recipe! If you make it, I’d love to see how it turned out so don’t forget to take a snap of your creations and tag me on Instagram!
Any questions about the recipe? Please do let me know by following me on Instagram or TikTok and leaving me a comment on a recent post!
Thanks for reading,
Becky xxx
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