Gluten-free Halloween Candy Cookies

Okay, be honest. How many of you have a “Candy Tax” where your kids have to give you some of their Trick-or-Treating loot?

Whether your kids scored a ton of candy or you just bought way too much candy this year, you might find yourself with a LOT of candy around. After I go through all of the candy my kids bring home, getting rid of all of the candy that has gluten in it, then I snag a lot of the chocolate treats for baking.

This time, I used Reese’s Pieces and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in my cookies, but you could also use Plain or Peanut M&Ms, Heath bars, and Hershey milk chocolate bars. Verify that the chocolate candy/bar is gluten-free by double-checking on the Hershey’s US Gluten-free List or consult the Celiac Disease Foundation’s Halloween Gluten-free Candy List which includes phone numbers for each company so you can call them directly with questions. Please please note that Hershey’s says the seasonal shaped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are not considered gluten-free. So stick with the regular peanut butter cups, not the pumpkin shaped ones!

Also, feel free to adjust the amount of candy that you use. I just kept opening more packages to add more candy to the dough or press into the dough balls. Use as much or as little candy as you’d like! Also, don’t forget that most of the stores have their candy on sale now after Halloween, so you can even buy a bit more just for your baking!

Leftover Halloween Candy Cookies {Gluten-free}

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Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups good quality gluten-free all-purpose flour blend
• 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum(*omit if your flour blend has xanthan already)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup Dutch or regular cocoa powder
• ~1 cup chopped candy bars (such as Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Butterfinger, Heath, Hershey's chocolate bar)
• ~1 cup candy pieces (Reese's Pieces or M&Ms)
• ~1/2 cup additional candy pieces to press into top of cookies, if desired

Directions

1. Line a large cookie sheet or baking pan with parchment paper or a silpat liner.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. In a stand mixer, beat butter & sugars until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well until combined.
4. Place flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a large bowl and whisk together to mix.
5. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing slowly mixing just until combined.
6. Using a spatula, gently stir in chopped candy bars and/or candy pieces.
7. With a medium cookie scoop , scoop dough onto lined cookie sheets, leaving about 2" space between cookies. I did 6 cookies per sheet on my large cookie sheets.
8. Press additional candy onto surface of cookie balls. (This is just for looks really. I did about 3 pieces of Reese's and a candy bar chunk on the surface of each.)
9. Bake at 350° for 14-16 minutes, until set.
10. Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
11. Makes about 28 cookies.

by Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen

Recipe Notes

Please note: DO NOT eat Reese's "Seasonal" shaped Peanut Butter Cups as Hershey's says those are NOT gluten-free. That means the pumpkin shaped ones, Christmas shaped ones, Easter shaped ones, etc.

Use a good quality gluten-free flour blend such as Gluten Free Mama's, gfJules, Pamela's, Cup4Cup or King Arthur flour. Results will vary, but those blends should all do well in this recipe.

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