Gluten-free Mini Egg cookies recipe – the perfect Easter baking project that’s ready in 30 minutes. Best of all, nobody could EVER tell that they’re Coeliac-friendly and wheat-free.
Gluten-free Mini Egg cookies recipe, anyone? They’re crisp on the outside, soft in the middle and packed with crushed Mini Eggs which are gluten-free here in the UK.
If you’re reading this, it must be near Easter, right? Well, actually, since Mini Eggs seem to appear in supermarkets in January, it could actually be anytime during the first quarter of the year…
But either way, when I see those packed of Mini Eggs in the supermarket once again, I still feel the same way every year: it’s time to get baking!
So I thought I’d revisit a recipe that’s just hit its 3 year anniversary and give this post some love. And guess what?
After 3 years, this recipe still rocks, so I didn’t change a single thing! So here’s what you’ll need to make these Easter treats…
Gluten-free Mini Egg cookies recipe: What you’ll need…
- Caster sugar: The combination of caster sugar and light brown sugar is what makes a cookie taste like a cookie! Using all caster sugar works, but it’ll lack a little of that authentic cookie-like flavour.
- Light brown sugar: The natural molasses in light brown sugar gets all the credit for that distinctive taste in a cookie – however, using all brown sugar can bring a bit of a strong taste, hence the combo of caster and light brown sugars.
- Butter: Butter is key in cookies and why they’ll have a lovely soft, chewy texture in the middle. Hard margarine also works perfectly, but of course, you’ll lose that subtle, buttery flavour.
- Large egg: One egg goes a long way here in terms of texture and binding. I always use large, but a medium one would be ok too.
- Vanilla extract: It’s subtle, but trust. me – it needs to be there for the ultimate flavour!
- Gluten-free plain flour: I use the FREEE (Doves Farm) gluten-free plain flour blend that you can find in supermarkets down the free from aisle. 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 sometimes known as ‘baking soda’ outside of the UK and is NOT the same as baking powder. Baking powder is much weaker and will result in a very dense, dry cookie.
- Mini Eggs: Yes, they’re gluten-free in the UK! You’ll find them with all the Easter eggs in supermarkets.
- Milk, white and dark chocolate chips: These are essentially optional, but I always like to include some in mine!
So what do my gluten-free Mini Egg cookies taste like?
Like pure Easter-tinged joy! Each cookie is crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, making them a little chunkier than some of my other cookies.
They undoubtedly have that buttery, caramelised vanilla cookie flavour with tons of chunky, crunchy, crushed Mini Eggs in every bite.
If you’ve never tried this recipe despite it being on the blog for the last 3 years… well now’s the time to change that!
Gluten-free Mini Egg cookies 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?
Yes, but of course! Here’s all the swaps you’ll need to make to make this dairy-free:
- Instead of using chocolate chips, use dairy-free chocolate chips.
- Instead of using butter, use a block of Stork hard margarine or any hard dairy-free butter alternative.
- Instead of using Mini Eggs use dairy-free mini chocolate eggs
That’s it!
Can I make your gluten-free Mini Egg cookies recipe vegan?
Follow the steps above to make this dairy-free, then simply use 60ml of dairy-free milk instead of the egg. That’s it!
Is this recipe low FODMAP?
The Mini Eggs and chocolate chips are the only things that make this recipe unsuitable for the elimination phase of the low FODMAP diet.
However, if you use lactose-free chocolate chips and substitute the Mini Eggs for a lactose-free alternative, then they’ll be a-ok for the low FODMAP diet. You can also just use more chocolate chips instead of Mini Eggs.
Can I make this recipe using other gluten-free flours like buckwheat flour or coconut flour?
There’s a big difference between ‘gluten-free plain/self-raising flour’ and a *singular* type gluten-free flour. When I say ‘gluten-free plain or self-raising flour’ in a recipe, I mean a BLEND of gluten-free flours, not just one, singular flour.
Most gluten-free flour you buy in the supermarket typically contains a blend of rice flour, potato flour, maize flour, tapioca flour AND buckwheat flour. That’s a lot of different flours!
So to replace it with just one specific type of flour… that’s not going to cut it at all. Definitely go for a gluten-free flour blend.
Do I need weighing scales to make your gluten-free Mini Egg cookies recipe?
In short… yes, yes and yes! And I wouldn’t advise attempting any my recipes without them. One of the worst things you can do in any recipe is alter the quantities by mistake or on purpose.
(unless you know what you’re doing of course)
Why? Well, you’re sort of just gambling with the recipe and praying that it turns out ok, don’t you think? And I’ve generally already done the hard work there for you, so you don’t have to do the guesswork with measurements!
A lot of work went into fine tuning ratios and quantities so I wouldn’t mess around with them unless you really know your stuff. I’d recommending using digital cooking scales like these so you know you’re getting an accurate measurement and replicating my recipe as accurately as poss.
Gluten-free Mini Egg cookies recipe: Tips for perfection!
- Measure out your ingredients for accuracy and please don’t reduce the sugar amounts. Sugar is super important in any cookie, so please don’t experiment with the ratios!
- Ensure the butter is melted and slightly cooled. We don’t want the egg getting partially cooked when we add it in later!
- Ensure all your cookie dough balls are the same size so they bake at the same speed. I measure each cookie dough ball for accuracy – otherwise, smaller balls will bake faster and become more overdone than larger dough balls.
- Space the balls apart on the baking tray and give them generous amounts of space to spread. Otherwise you’ll end up with a tray of cookies that are all stuck together!
- Ensure you allow the cookies to cool on the baking tray once baked. Until they’ve had time to cool and set, they will be very gooey and delicate.
Gluten-free Mini Egg Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 100 g caster sugar
- 100 g light brown sugar
- 120 g butter melted (use Stork hard margarine if dairy-free)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 300 g gluten free plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 160 g mini eggs see FAQ section for dairy-free alternative if necessary
Instructions
- Place your mini eggs into a zip-lock bag and bash them into chunky pieces with a rolling pin.
- In a bowl, mix together both your light brown sugar and caster sugar with your melted butter. Mix until it all comes together and is fully combined.
- Add your egg and vanilla extract to the bowl and continue to mix (i do this by hand) until combined once more.
- In a separate bowl, add your gluten free flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and briefly mix.
- Add your flour mix to your original bowl and mix till combined. Make sure your mixing bowl is big as this is quite a lot of flour. It can be hard work and takes time to really combine it all but it’ll form a perfect cookie dough (you could use a stand mixer but I prefer to do cookie dough by hand).
- Add the crushed mini eggs and optional chocolate chips and give them a good mix in so they are dispersed evenly.
- Cover your mixing bowl with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for about 45 minutes (you can make the cookie dough ahead of time also and keep it in the fridge until you need it).
- Heat your oven to 170C (fan) and prepare a couple of baking trays with good quality, non-stick baking paper.
- Remove your cookie dough from the fridge and roll your dough into balls (about the size of a golf ball) and place them on your trays. Try and get a few bits of the coloured shell near the top of the ball to give the cookies a better chance of looking colourful. The cookies will spread a little so leave some gaps between them – I usually cook mine in a couple of batches.
- Pop into the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes – they should have flattened out to look more like cookies and be a lovely golden colour.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking tray before moving them.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Thanks for reading all about my gluten-free Mini Egg cookies 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 and leaving me a comment on a recent photo!
Thanks for reading,
Becky xxx
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