When I was in 4th grade there was a girl in my class who never ate candy. I’m serious, we went to school together for 8 years and that whole time, I never once saw her eat a piece of candy. 

Being the child of a nutritionist, I was quite the opposite when sweets were offered in school—before you could blink I’d have the empty wrapper in one hand and already be scarfing down whatever candy you had handed me. 

At first, I thought maybe her parents believed candy was the root of all evil (which we all know is not even close to true). Then, I considered that maybe she had a bad experience with candy like one time she tried to eat a year old jolly rancher from the bottom of her book bag and it got her sick for a whole week—yes, that happened to me once.

After years, and I mean years, of trying to figure out why she wouldn’t eat any candy, finally one day I mustered up the courage to ask my mom to ask her mom about why she didn’t consume the best food in the world (bold move, I know). 

A few days later, my mom came back with an answer—she’s gluten-free. 

For clarity, let me remind you I was in 4th grade, which was right around 2003, so the whole gluten-free movement had its roots, but was still very new to the mainstream world.

I had no clue what she was talking about. What was this gluten-free thing? 

If there was something stopping me from eating candy (ie my mom), I was finding a way around it and getting my hands on the good stuff. Meanwhile, this poor girl had no choice but to forgo the goodies and stick to her homemade snacks that consisted of ants on a log and bananas. 

When I think back to those days, I realize how funny it was to think that gluten-free to me was completely candy free. Fast forward over a decade, and candy brands all over the world offer gluten-free sweets, which begs the question, what candy can gluten-free people eat?

At OldTimeCandy we believe everyone deserves to have some sweetness in their life, and candy is the catalyst for making that happen.

But not everyone likes the same kinds of candy. 

Some like chocolate, others like sour. Some like hard candy, some like soft. Some people only eat candy with peanut butter in it, and some avoid the peanut butter for something sweeter like a starburst.

No matter who you are and what you like or dislike, we at OldTimeCandy are not going to let you leave until you’ve found yourself the perfect sweet to tickle those taste buds.

For those who are practicing the gluten-free life, instead of scouring the back of nutrition labels or scrolling through endless Google forums, we figured we’d make it easy and talk about the best gluten-free candy options to get your hands on.

Here are 32 gluten-free candy options you probably didn’t know were gluten-free and need to try.  

Candy Bars 

• Almond Joy 
• Baby Ruth 
• Butterfinger 
• Hershey’s Chocolate Bar
• Mr. Goodbar
• Pay Day
• Snickers
• Heath
• Mounds 
• Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews

Hard Candy 

• Bit-O-Honey
• Bottle Caps
• Dots
• Gobstoppers
• Hot Tamales
• Jolly Rancher
• Laffy Taffy
• Life Savers
• M+Ms
• Mike and Ike

Gummy, Sour, & More

• Sour Patch Kids
• Swedish Fish
• Warheads
• Skittles (Sour and Regular)
• Ring Pop
• Sugar Daddy
• Caramel Apple Pop
• Pixy Sticks
• Pez 
• Now and Later 

I’ll be the first to tell you that’s just a preview of the gluten-free candy that is out there today.

If you’re looking to explore more and grab yourself a few pieces of gluten-free goodness, hop over to our Gluten-Free Aisle and checkout everything we’ve got there for you. Be sure to check the ingredient list as some candy brands have changed their recipes lately and it’s hard to keep track of what’s new.

Now go find yourself some gluten-free candy and enjoy!