Easter Basket Cookie Cups (Gluten-Free!): Surprisingly easy and so good! No one will know they’re gluten-free. Includes dairy-free option.

Let’s Keep It Easy

I’ve seen so many adorable versions of Easter basket cookie cups on Pinterest, but not one of them was gluten-free. So, I decided to make a simple gluten-free version.

With a 23 month old and 3 month old in the house, anything I cook at the moment has to be easy. So, I opted not to cook from scratch. Instead, I used Pillsbury Gluten-Free Sugar Cookie Mix. I found it in the gluten-free area of my Walmart for just under $3.

For frosting, I opted to go with a premade mix (Pillsbury Classic White Frosting) that’s  gluten and dairy-free. You can easily make your own frosting and cookie dough from scratch instead.

Not gluten-free? Here’s how to make them with regular cookie dough:

You can easily make these cookies with regular cookie dough. Just grab a package of break-and-bake sugar cookies, make sugar cookie dough from scratch, or use a regular sugar cookie mix.
If using break-and-bake cookies, you will use two pieces of dough per muffin cup. When using a mini-muffin tin, use 1 piece of dough per cup.

Dairy-Free Option

I’ve discovered that food can be gluten and dairy-free and still be delicious. To make this recipe dairy-free, simply replace the butter in the cookie mix with vegetable shortening. The box recommends adding 1 TBS of water when substituting shortening but I did not add any water and it turned out perfect! The flavor is still incredible!

The frosting I used is both gluten and dairy free. The candy pictured is not  dairy-free. For a dairy-free option, replace the Reese’s Pieces Pastel Eggs Candy with jelly beans like Jelly Belly Spring Mix which are gluten and dairy-free and omit the bunnies or replace with Peeps bunnies.

Don’t miss these other delicious dairy and gluten-free recipes:

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Go Big or Go Mini

I chose to make these using a regular muffin tin so that the chocolate bunnies would easily fit. However, these cookies are rich, so if you’re looking for a bite-sized version, you can use a mini-muffin pan to make an adorable bite-sized version.

Don’t miss this step!

To get a perfect, evenly colored cookie cup, you must adjust the heat! I set my oven for 325, even though the box mix recommended a higher heat. For full-sized cookie cups, bake for 11 to 12 minutes at 325 degrees until the upper edges of each cup are golden and 9 to 10 minutes for mini cookie cups.

Get the Recipe:

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Easter Basket Cookie Cups (Gluten-Free!)

An easy and fun gluten-free Easter treat. Includes a dairy-free option.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 11 minutes

Total Time 36 minutes

Servings 15

Author Rachael

Ingredients

• 1 package gluten-free sugar cookie mix I used Pillsbury
• 1/2 cup butter or vegetable shortening
• 1 egg
• Green food coloring
• 1 can white frosting or frosting from scratch
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
• Optional: candy eggs and mini chocolate bunnies I used Lidnt mini bunnies and Reese's Pieces Eggs

Instructions

• Preheat over to 325 degrees.
• Mix sugar cookie mix, softened butter (or shortening and egg). (If using shortening, knead mixture until well incorporated)
• Place two tablespoons of dough in each cup of a nonstick muffin tin (use 1 tsp for mini-muffin tins) pressing into bottom. Then, smooth dough up the sides of the cup, using fingers to press and smooth dough until it covers sides and bottom of cup with equal thickness.
• Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, until upper edges of cookie cup are slightly golden. (9 to 10 minutes for mini-cookie cups).
• Allow to cool completely, then use a knife to gently pop cookie cups out of tin.
• (Optional) Using a knife, carefully shave the top edge of the cookie cup to smooth and remove imperfections.
• Mix several drops of green food coloring with white frosting. Place in a sandwich size zip-top bag, snip the corner off, and squeeze frosting evenly into each cup. Fill until 1/2 inch of space remains at the top of the cup.
• Place coconut in a zip-top bag and add several drops of green food coloring. (I did about 5). Close and shake bag until coconut is an even green color.
• Sprinkle coconut into each cookie cup.
• Place candy eggs and bunnies on cookie cups and enjoy!

Notes

Will yield 15 full-sized cookie cups. Prep time estimate includes decorating time.
For dairy-free: Use Pillsbury Classic White frosting, or another dairy-free brand. Substitute shortening for butter in the cookie mix. Replace candy eggs and bunnies with dairy-free jelly beans.

Here are the products I used:

I found all of these products at my local grocery store, but you can also find them on Amazon. This is not a sponsored post, but these products worked well for me, so I’m sharing them below for your convenience!

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What desserts are you planning to make this Easter?