Gluten Free Reese's Pieces Cookies

If you love chocolate and peanut butter, then these Gluten Free Reese's Pieces Cookies are right up your alley. Picture a deliciously rich and chewy gluten free chocolate cookie with the added crunch and flavor of the Reese's Pieces candies. And since Reese's Pieces are the perfect Halloween Colors, I love decorating Chocolate Reese’s Pieces Cookies with edible candy eyes for a spooky, irresistible Halloween treat that everyone loves.

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Gluten Free Flour: I have tested this recipe for Gluten Free Reese’s Pieces Cookies with my own GF Flour Blend, Bob's Red Mill, and Cup4Cup. While all 3 flour blends worked perfectly fine in this recipe (they all contain xanthan gum), the cookie made with Cup4Cup did spread the most while the cookies made with my own gluten free flour blend and Bob's Red Mill stayed more compact. If you choose to make this recipe with Cup4Cup, I recommend adding an additional 10 grams of flour to this recipe. (ONLY IF YOU USE CUP4CUP!) This will help to reduce the spreading of the cookies while being baked.

Cocoa Powder: This is a recipe where I highly recommend using dutch processed cocoa. While my go-to brands are DeZaan Crimson Red and Valrhona Pure Cocoa Powder, I understand they are not affordable for everyone. Hershey Special Dark is a great grocery store option. Using high-quality cocoa not only will give the double chocolate cookies a richer flavor but will also give them a fudgier brownie like texture. Natural cocoa tends to give cookies a bitter taste, drier crumb, and lighter color.

Reese’s Pieces®: Reese’s Pieces® are bite-sized, colorful, and candy-coated confections that feature a crunchy, candy shell exterior filled with a smooth, creamy peanut butter center. They are similar to M&M's but instead of chocolate, they are packed with peanut butter flavor.

Candy Eyeballs: To turn these Chocolate Reese’s Pieces Cookies into the cutest Gluten Free Halloween Cookies, I love decorating them with some edible candy eyeballs. I use Sweet's Indeed Eyeballs which are gluten free according to their website. I have had not any issues with them.

How to make Reese's Pieces Cookie Dough

The dough for this Gluten Free Reese's Pieces Cookie Recipe is very straightforward. Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature and your dry ingredients are sifted. This cookie dough must rest for at least 2-4 hours. It will be very soft when you first make it so don’t be tempted to add more flour.

Step 1: In a medium bowl sift or whisk together the gluten-free multi purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt and set aside.

Step 2: In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl combine the room-temperature butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Use the paddle attachment to mix until light and combined. Around 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of your bowl to make sure everything is combined properly.

Step 3: Reduce the speed of the mixer and add the room-temperature large eggs, one at a time. Mix until combined.

Step 4: With the mixer on low, slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until just combined. Stir in the Reese's Pieces Candy and combine everything.

Step 5: Transfer the gluten free dough for Reese's Pieces Cookies to an airtight container. Refrigerate for at least 2hrs up to 3 days. Chilling the dough helps to hydrate the flour and develop a rich chocolate flavor.

How to bake Reese's Pieces Cookies

Step 1: When you are ready to bake Gluten Free Reese's Pieces Cookies, preheat the oven to 350F. It will take a while for the oven to be fully preheated.

Step 2: Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside. Get a small bowl with the granulated sugar for rolling each cookie.

Step 3: With a medium cookie scoop (around 1.5 tablespoons), portion out the cookie dough and roll it into balls. You should get around 18-20 cookie dough balls from this batch.

Step 4: Roll each ball in granulated sugar and divide your cookies between your sheet trays. I like to bake 6-8 cookies at a time.

Step 5: Bake the gluten-free cookies on a tray at a time at 350F for 11-13 minutes. The gluten-free cookies are done when they are puffy and still look slightly underbaked. Slightly underbaking them gives them a delicious chewy center. Remove the cookies from the oven, and with a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie scoot them into a round shape. 

Step 6: Top each cookie with additional Reese's Pieces and decorate them with some edible candy eyes if you like.

Step 7: Allow the Chocolate Reese's Pieces Cookies to cool for a few minutes on the sheet tray before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Repeat with the rest of the cookie dough or freeze the unbaked dough for future use.

Storage & Freezing

To store them, make sure the gluten free reese's pieces cookies are fully cooled before transferring them to an airtight container. Keep them at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze the baked cookies for the future when a craving for gluten free chocolate peanut butter cookies hits.

To freeze the fully baked cookies, place them in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I like to arrange the fully cooled cookies on a sheet tray, place them in the freezer and once they are fully frozen, I transfer them to an airtight container. When ready to eat, thaw them at room temperature or carefully thaw them in the microwave.

Another option is to freeze the dough for Chocolate Reese’s Pieces Cookies and bake it directly from frozen. To do this, form the dough into balls and place them in a single layer on a sheet tray. Freeze the tray until the gluten-free double chocolate chunk cookie dough is solid, then transfer it to an airtight container or a ziplock bag. Keep it in the freezer for up to 8 weeks. When baking the cookies from frozen, allow the dough to sit at room temperature while preheating the oven. Follow the recipe instructions for baking, potentially adding 1-2 extra minutes to ensure thorough baking.

Variations of Reese's Pieces Cookies

While I make my Reese's Pieces Cookies with just Reese's Pieces candies and no additional chocolate chips, feel free to mix things up. Replace some of Reese's Pieces with Peanut Butter Chips, Milk Chocolate Chips or even white chocolate chips. To turn them into a peanut butter lover’s dream, you can even add some chopped up Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Baking in grams

I share my recipes in grams and by weight since baking by weight is the most accurate way to bake. Digital Scales are very affordable and easy to use. You can purchase them on Amazon for less than a set of measuring cups. Measuring cups are very inaccurate and can cause significant errors when it comes to gluten-free baking or baking in general. Especially since I bake with gluten-free flours which weigh differently than “regular” flours. I do provide some ingredients like spices and leavening agents in measuring spoons. To learn more about Baking with a digital scale, make sure to check out my post about Baking by weight.

Note about Ovens and Oven Temperatures

All my recipes are tested and developed with a conventional oven. I always bake my baked goods on the rack placed in the MIDDLE of my oven. This way the heat coming from the bottom will not burn my baked goods.

If you are baking with convection (fan-forced), please adjust the recipes accordingly. Be also prepared that the convection oven can cause your baked goods to dry out quickly and still be raw inside. Be aware that it takes at least 15-20 minutes for a standard American Oven to be fully preheated. I highly recommend investing in an Oven Thermometer.

Substitutions and Modifications

Any dietary or ingredient modifications/substitutions to this recipe may alter the end result in appearance and taste. I test my recipes several times as published in this post and The Gluten Free Austrian Blog is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe you find on our website.