It can be difficult to find vegan store bought candy for any holiday, especially one so close to Easter. Jelly beans, malted milk eggs, fun-size candy, and dozens of different chocolate bunnies line the store shelves, but most of them contain milk and gelatin, or are coated with bees wax and confectioner’s glaze. So, what can a vegan use to fill an Ostara or Easter basket? I am making several Ostara gift baskets, so I needed to come up with some ideas.
You can make your own candy, and I have already posted a recipe for Chocolate Dipped Apricots & Chocolate Bark.
I will also be sharing recipes for white chocolate coconut nests, chocolate pretzel nests, rice crispy treat carrots, and peanut butter eggs, so subscribe if you want to be notified when they are posted!
Sometimes, though, you really need the convenience of being able to buy candy from the store. And, what about dyeing eggs? Is there a way that vegans or those with egg allergies can participate in this traditional activity? I spent several hours scouring my local store shelves and reading labels to see what is available this year for vegans and people with food allergies. I am not claiming that any of the candy I found is healthy, but they are all vegan to the best of my knowledge, and all but one are gluten free as well. If you have food allergies, please double check the labels to be sure I didn’t miss anything!
There are two brands of vegan friendly jelly beans. Neither has any top 8 allergen ingredients or any allergen declarations. The Sweetarts ones really do taste like chewy Sweetarts! They are not actually sour, though, just a bit tart. The Jolly Rancher ones are much shinier, and not at all tart. Both were too sweet for me, but I have never been a fan of jelly beans! If you are, then either of these is a good choice:
I found two kinds of fruit snacks that are made with natural colors and flavors, but are gelatin, beeswax, and confectioner’s glaze free! Neither has any top 8 allergen ingredients or any allergen declarations. They are both very good, and are actually firm and chewy, unlike so many others I have tried. I slightly preferred the flavor of the Mott’s, but like the colors of the Sunkist better:
The Sour Patch bunnies and Swedish Fish eggs are cute, and they both look good from a vegan and top 8 allergen free perspective:
The Sour Patch strawberries are both cute and really tasty! The Skittles are not themed, but I got them anyway to fill some plastic eggs. Neither has top 8 allergen ingredients nor any allergen declarations. (The Skittles do have palm oil as an ingredient, though):
I also got Mamba candy in both regular and sour versions to use as egg fillers. They contain wheat, but no other allergens are listed. Both are labeled vegan, but they do contain palm oil. There are three flavors in individually wrapped smaller packs in each long package, and each small pack has six wrapped pieces:
Lindt has dark chocolate bunnies that are vegan! My Wal-Mart only had the milk chocolate ones, but Meijer had the vegan dark chocolate ones. They are labeled as may contain peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and milk, so are not suitable for people with allergies to those ingredients. However, they are gluten free and vegan! If you want more information on what the “may contain” statement means, I recommend watching this video by The Vegan Activist.
Update: I recently saw an article that said that none of the Lindt bunnies are gluten free, because they are not on Lindt’s gluten free list. I called Lindt and found out that they do not include seasonal items on their GF list, but the dark chocolate bunny IS gluten free!
I didn’t buy either of these, but the Dum-Dums bunny pops are vegan and are labeled as major allergen free. The Sweetart chicks, ducks, & bunnies look ok for vegan, and the only “may contain” ingredient listed is egg:
I found biodegradable grass for my gift baskets, and some large plastic eggs to fill with candy:
I was really excited to find craft eggs to decorate for an Ostara wreath at both Wal-Mart and Meijer! They look pretty much the same, but the Meijer ones were twice as much as those from Wal-Mart:
I still needed baskets, but they were fairly expensive at both Wal-Mart and Meijer. So, I went to a dollar store and found plastic baskets, basket bags, and pretty favor boxes. Then, I found the woven baskets at a thrift store and they were only $2.50 for all three:
I’ll be posting again soon with more candy recipes, part two of the Ostara baskets, and some of my very favorite vegan recipes that are not full of sugar!
Are you sure the “natural” ingredients you speak of are vegan? I know the industry uses natural color made from cochineal which are female beetles that have a red coloring. Just an FYI
Thanks for commenting! The fruit snacks and Mamba candy are the only ones with natural coloring, and they specifically list their color sources as fruit and vegetable colors. Did you know that you also have to watch out for confectioner’s glaze? It contains shellac that is made from beetles, and is used as a coating on many candies and sprinkles to make them shiny. I did find vegan sprinkles, though, and will do a post about them soon!
Thank you for sharing this post! It has helped me out, but I did not comment until now. I love the spring and it’s holidays. I hope you will be adding to your Ostara/Easter posts this year.
I enjoy reading your blog, so much!
Have you ever visited the Go Dairy Free site? It is not a vegan site, but because it is a dairy-free website, vegans can get a lot of use out of it. I mention it because they do a holiday candy post every year and you may find some more recommendations for vegan sweets to share here ?
Thank you, Elizabeth! It makes me very happy to know that you enjoy reading my posts! I will be adding to the Ostara/Easter posts this year, but I have not decided on all of the recipes yet. Carrot cake for sure, but I need to choose a couple more. Do you have any requests? I do like the Go Dairy Free site, so I’ll have to check out their candy list!
Great! The more the merrier, I say. I look forward to the new recipes/crafts. Thank you for taking the time to craft all of these posts and share them with us. I can only speak for myself, but I appreciate them!
I do not know what recipes you may have coming down the pipeline, but in years past I/we liked recipes like impossible coconut pie, or coconut cake. Chocolate chip poundcake. Chocolate eclair cake.
Mom’s pineapple bread pudding. Easter egg cookie dough truffles. Butter cookies, or Scottish shortbread. Yes, carrot cake, too. Lemon poppyseed bread. Lemon blueberry muffins. Eggs benedict. Ham and split pea soup. Brioche rolls. Potato rolls.
Yikes! I have to stop there or this list could keep going and growing.
There may be an idea to be found in there? I know many people like to utilize lemon-based recipes in the spring.
Now, something I would like to find a suitable vegan recipe for, is flourless macadamia white chocolate chip cookies, by The View from Great Island. The only animal-based ingredient the recipe calls for is 1 large hen egg. The same for the flourless peanut butter cookies, by The Spruce.
Spring vegetables are always nice.
I like the Rustic Oven-Roasted Spring Dinner.
How about something artichoke…?
Have you ever made any variation of vegan deviled “eggs”?
I have not. Yet.
I think I am going to try to make a Chebe mix, in the shape of rabbits, for Ostara/Easter this year. I have not made a Chebe mix before, but I saw the recipe on their website and I thought “why not”? If it does not turn out, I’ll keep it to myself. I am intrigued by Chebe. It is a tapioca bread product. Have you ever tried it?
Thanks Deborah.
Thank you, Elizabeth! There are lots of great possibilities here!
I will try making a test batch of flourless cookies with The Plant Based Egg today and will let you know if it works!
I have not tried making vegan deviled “eggs” but have seen some great looking ones on Instagram!
I have not tried the Chebe mixes, but I do have a grain free flour blend that I make that I love and use a lot. It is on my flour blend post if you want to check it out!
Elizabeth, The Plant Based Egg worked really well in the flourless cookies! I used almond butter, walnuts, and chocolate chips (instead of macadamia nut butter, macadamia nuts, and white chocolate chips.) I would definitely add a bit of vanilla and maybe a pinch of salt, but they are really good! I whisked 4.8 g (2 tsp) of The Plant Based Egg into the sugar, then whisked in 45 g (3 TBS) of soy milk. After that, I followed the original recipe as written. I will experiment a bit more to be sure that is the optimal amount of The Plant Based Egg (and will add vanilla and salt), and then will do a blog post with my recipe!
Thank you, thank you!
That would be great to read a post dedicated to vegan flourless cookies.
Note: I could not read your reply. It appeared as a blank space on my device. I had to read the amp version, to see your response.
You’re welcome! Thank you for letting me know about my responses not showing up and that the amp version is working. You are the second person to have difficulty, and I hope that WordPress can figure it out!