Gluten-Free Candy List (Updated 2020)

A gluten-free diet doesn’t mean your child can’t enjoy any candy ever again. Whether it’s Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, birthday parties or regular special treats throughout the year, there are plenty of gluten-free candy your child can enjoy without worrying about a tummy ache or other issue later on.

As we all know, limiting your gluten intake can be a challenge. It seems like reading labels becomes a pastime. Memorizing the hidden names for gluten derived ingredients is an ongoing process. This year, you can put down your reading glasses and step away from the fine print of the package labels. I have researched the matter for you so you don’t have to.

This gluten-free candy list will help you know quickly and confidently which candy is safe for your child (and you) to eat or not.

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What Popular Candy is Gluten-Free?

Note: you should use this list as a guide only. Recipes and ingredients can change at any time. This list only includes candy that contains no gluten in their ingredients. This doesn’t mean there was no cross-contamination with equipment; some brands avoid cross-contamination while others do not.  Additionally, this is for candy in the United States; ingredients may be different in other countries.

Let’s start with the most popular candy.

Are snickers bars gluten-free?

Yes, according to the Snickers website, all Snickers including Snickers Dark, fun-size, and minis, are gluten-free!

Here are a bunch more popular candy options that are gluten-free: 

• 3 Musketeers – these fluffy and chocolatey treats are gluten-free. Grab a bag and have no worries as you enjoy a treat for yourself before you share them!
• Airheads – regular and sour only – avoid Xtreme
• Almond Joy and Mounds – avoid almond joy pieces – all others are gluten-free
• Atomic Fireballs
• Baby Ruth
• Bit-O-Honey
• Black Forest gummies and fruit snacks
• Butterfinger – the original flavor in single size, fun-size, and share packs are gluten-free- avoid bites, minis, cups, seasonal shapes, crisp bars, etc.
• Charms Super Blow Pops
• Dots
• Dove Chocolate – avoid milk chocolate cinnamon graham, cookies and cream and holiday options, such as milk chocolate truffles – all others are gluten-free
• DumDum Pops

• Heath bars
• Hershey’s Chocolate Nuggets – these ARE gluten-free: milk chocolates, milk chocolate with almonds, extra creamy milk chocolate with toffee and almonds, special dark chocolate
• Hershey’s Kisses – the following ARE gluten-free – milk chocolate, special dark mildly sweet chocolate, kiss deluxe, creamy milk chocolate, creamy milk chocolate with almonds, giant kiss (7 oz only), plus these specialty flavors: hot cocoa, hugs candy, milk chocolate filled with caramel, milk chocolate filled with cherry cordial creme, dark chocolate filled with mint truffle, meltaway milk chocolates.
• Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars – milk chocolate bar (1.55oz only) and milk chocolate bar with almonds (1.55oz only) are both gluten-free – avoid other versions
• Hershey’s Milk Duds
• Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Snack Bars
• Hot Tamales – except Licorice Bites
• Jelly Belly beans
• Jolly Ranchers – they appear to be gluten-free; their website says: ” While JOLLY RANCHER Candies have not been fully evaluated to qualify as gluten-free by FDA standards, they do not include any gluten-containing ingredients. “
• Laffy Taffy and Laffy Taffy Rope
• Lemonheads
• Lifesaver gummies
• M&M’s – avoid the pretzel and crispy varieties as well as the seasonal flavors. All others, including milk chocolate and peanut, should be safe without gluten.
• Mike and Ike
• Milky Way Midnight and Milky Way Caramel – avoid the original Milk Way but Milky Way Midnight and Milky Way Caramel Bars are gluten-free
• Necco Wafers
• Nips
• Oh Henry!
• Peeps – except Rainbow
• Raisinets
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – avoid seasonal shaped items- all other Reese’s cups, including unwrapped Mini Minis milk and white chocolate, are safe for gluten-free (make your own peanut butter cups with this easy recipe.)
• Reese’s Candy – the following ARE gluten-free: Reese’s Fast Break Bar, Reese’s Nutrageous Bar, Reese’s Pieces candy (all except Reese’s Pieces Eggs)
• Ring Pops

Gluten-Free Halloween Candy

• candy corn – I have heard that Brach’s Natural Candy Corn is safe, however celiac.com advises caution. This Happy Candy gluten-free candy corn is a good safe gluten-free version.
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – avoid seasonal shaped items, like pumpkins – all other Reese’s cups, including unwrapped Mini Minis milk and white chocolate, are generally okay
• see the above main list for many more gluten-free Halloween candy options

Gluten-Free Easter Candy

These Easter candy favorites ARE gluten-free:

• Jelly Belly jelly beans
• Starburst jelly beans (original, tropical, red fruits)
• Just Born Jelly Beans
  • assorted fruits
  • spice jelly beans
  • licorice jelly beans
• Peeps
  • Peeps Pink Marshmallow Bunnies
  • Peeps Yellow Marshmallow Bunnies
  • Peeps Blue Marshmallow Bunnies
  • Peeps Yellow Marshmallow Chicks
  • Sour Watermelon Flavored Peeps Chicks
  • Blue Raspberry Flavored Peeps Chicks
  • Party Cake Flavored Marshmallow Peeps Chicks
• Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops
• Cadbury Cream Eggs – according to celiac.com, most if not all Cadbury Cream eggs are gluten-free
• Dove chocolates
  • Dove chocolate eggs
  • Dove hollow chocolate bunnies
  • Dove solid chocolate bunnies
  • Dove truffle eggs
• Almond Joy eggs
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – avoid seasonal shaped items- all other Reese’s cups, including unwrapped Mini Minis milk and white chocolate, are generally ok
• Mounds eggs
• Palmer’s chocolate bunnies and candies
• Reese’s peanut butter
  • Reese’s Easter peanut butter eggs, including white and miniatures
  • Reese’s miniature peanut butter cups
  • Reese’s pieces pastel eggs
  • large Reese’s bunny (LARGE only – the mini-sized bunnies are unsafe according to celiac.com
  • Avoid the foil-wrapped mini eggs as those do contain gluten.
• Starburst
  • original fruit chews
  • Easter fruit chew

Are Lindt or Lindor Chocolate gluten-free?

It appears that most of their chocolate, including their popular truffles are NOT gluten-free. Their website states: Gluten can be found in several premium chocolate products that Lindt & Sprüngli produces; either as a cereal ingredient or as a barley component. For consumers who are sensitive to gluten, we do offer certain premium chocolate products that are manufactured without cereal or barley malt, which may be suitable for consumers with such dietary restrictions. These offerings include our white chocolate products, as well as high cocoa content chocolate bars from our EXCELLENCE line – 70%, 78%, 85%, 90%, 95% and 99%.

Did you know these candies are NOT gluten-free?

• gummy bears are typically NOT gluten-free
• Wonka Everlasting Gobstoppers
• Wonka Gummies
• Wonka Nerds are NOT gluten-free

Of course, there are a bunch more candy that are not safe, but I wanted to let you know about those 3 Wonka candies because I thought they were gluten-free until I checked more closely.

What’s your child’s favorite gluten-free candy? Know of any I missed? Leave a comment to share and I’ll update the list.