More on the Easter Bunny's progress

Getting a bit impatient with the Sainsbury's/Kinnerton's Dairy Free Easter Bunny now. Supposedly available in 'selected' stores, I've been to the three Sainsbury's near me several times (two of which are large stores) and am yet to find one - and I have family (in different parts of the UK) on the case too!

They may, of course, just be waiting for Mother's Day to be over and done with first - to make more room in the seasonal aisle. But time is running out now... (taps toe in frustration).

Meanwhile, the dairy free 'milk' chocolate egg that I was looking for in Tescos has made an appearance elsewhere! Spotted in Holland & Barrett alongside a 'white chocolate' one!! The white one is smaller but has cute bunnies on it - now that's a bit more like it!! The packaging on the others hasn't changed from last year, but at least I know what to look for. And if you're shopping in Holland & Barrett right now it's 'Buy one get one half price time' - bargainous!! 

Woo hoo! Choices - aptly named!

Update on the hunt for the Dairy Free Easter Bunny

Wow! That was unexpected! No sooner have I posted on the subject of dairy free Easter eggs, than there is an important update, or two in fact!

First of all, the Easter bunny has visited Tescos! Kinnerton's dark chocolate bar has morphed into the form of an egg. The egg's packaging very much reflects the design of the chocolate bar's and so perhaps appeals more to adults.

Secondly, at some Sainsbury's, it is apparently possible to obtain perhaps the most normal looking dairy free Easter egg I have come across so far!! Kinnerton's have created an egg definitely aimed at children - clearly packaged with the intention of appealing to the Simpson's and Winnie the Pooh fans in our midst! It looks like it could be a 'milk' chocolate type of egg, accompanied by jelly sweets.

So now all I have to do is hunt that Sainsbury's Easter bunny. I think Baby might well be up for one of those Winnie the Pooh ones... now how to track one down?

On the trail of the Dairy Free Easter Bunny!

The Hub has made it easy for me this year (not that he's dairy free anyway). 'Don't buy me anything,' he said (having left his eggs of previous years gloriously uneaten). Baby, however, has already caused me problems by diving on tubs of creme eggs, left (quite negligently, in my opinion) within her reach in the aisles of the supermarkets or by grabbing chocolate bunnies from the shelves. She clearly has her eyes on the prize - chocolate!! 

No one has had to teach Baby, funnily enough, how to enjoy chocolate - she just does! Neither has anyone had to teach her how to spot it in the supermarket - she just can -even when it's disguised as a brightly coloured bunny!! What she doesn't yet know, though, is how to tell apart the chocolate she's allowed from the chocolate that would make her feel bad. And is it just  me, or have you also noticed that the big stores have been selling Easter Eggs since Christmas? So much temptation in Baby's way, whenever we go to the supermarket! 

Last year it wasn't so bad - Baby was in ignorant bliss of the chocolate lined shelves and was quite happy with the big fluffy bunny that Granny gave her... as well as the odd morsel of dairy free chocolate that she filched from me, but this year... Thinking that (come Easter) Baby might like an Easter Egg of her own, I've been desperately scanning the shelves at Tescos for weeks now - looking for the dairy free egg they stocked last year, right alongside all the others. 

It was almost unique in the dairy free Easter Egg world for being the nearest thing to a milk chocolate egg that (even if it was a bit on the small side) looked 'normal'. The reason I've been keeping my eyes open, is that last year (not surprisingly) it disappeared quickly from their shelves. However, this year it has been disappointingly absent... so far! Thankfully, should it not appear on the shelves, there are some other options!

Speciality Chocolate 

A lot of speciality chocolate makers also make chocolate that is Vegan and therefore dairy free but the chocolate they produce tends to be dark chocolate.

The prize for the most extravagant should almost certainly be awarded to Hotel Chocolat for their Gianduja  egg. Thankfully they also produce a smaller cheaper version as well as some Dark Chocolate Tiddly Chicks which are cute! These are all marked as Vegan.

Cocoa Loco - makers of organic chocolate, who produce Vegan and dairy free chocolate as part of their range. Look out for their dark chocolate bunny lollies.

Montezumas - apparently one of the Guardian's Top Ten ethical traders, they produce 'Traded Fairly' chocolate, some of which is also Vegan.

Willie's Produce dark chocolate slabs, but not eggs unfortunately. Definitely aimed at the discerning customer, you may think that they're very expensive (for what you get) but then you are buying artisan chocolate! These are available from Waitrose. 

Dairy Free Easter Eggs Online

Chocolate makers that solely produce dairy free chocolate do exist. Not always quite so widely available, but obtainable online, these often produce a chocolate which is more like milk chocolate.

Moo Free chocolate prides itself on being organic. I've read reviews that rate this chocolate quite highly. In my opinion, it is quite similar to milk chocolate but is a bit sugary for my liking. 

D & D Chocolates also seem to produce a 'milk' chocolate. I've not personally tried these. Their selection offers eggs of various sizes, from the bunny hunt variety to the larger boxed version.

Siesta Carob produce a pack of small hollow eggs which are available from Goodness Direct (who sell quite a range of different options, some of which have been featured here).

Perhaps the most decadent looking of the dairy free options, and certainly the most exquisitely packaged, are Booja Booja's  truffle-filled papier-mache eggs. These can be bought online, but their website can also direct you to your nearest stockist. They are organic but be warned - they aren't that big and are quite a pricey option!

If you're interested in investigating some of these options, then it could be worth taking a look at Animal Aid - which is basically an online Vegan shop. 

Dairy Free Easter Eggs at the Supermarkets

There are not many options in this category, but there are a few!

Celtic Chocolate's Easter Egg is available at Ocado and Waitrose and is made of dark chocolate. It's fine, if you like dark chocolate, but the packaging is a bit uninspiring - although you could buy one of these as well as a 'normal' Easter egg in more interesting packaging and do a swap!

Sainsbury's Free From Easter Egg is also dark chocolate (it's not on their website unfortunately). Not that attractively packaged in my opinion! I'd want to sprinkle some (tasteful) spring daisy stickers all over it.

Humdinger's Dairy Free Easter Bunny milk chocolate bar (not an egg unfortunately) really is an Easter Bunny - if a little on the flat side! It is another milk chocolate alternative. It was available from Sainsbury's last year and is apparently also being sold at Waitrose this year.

'May contain traces of milk'

Available at supermarkets and therefore fairy easily obtainable. These are suitable for those that are comfortable with the fact that a minuscule amount of milk may find it's way into the chocolate, during production.

The dark chocolate bunny!

Divine - chocolate manufacturers that pride themselves on their fair trade credentials. They produce some dark chocolate eggs which may be suitable for you.

Green and Black's  Also produce dark chocolate eggs. They pride themselves on producing organic chocolate that also now bears the fair trade logo. Their 'Maya Gold' is Vegan and therefore guaranteed Dairy Free!

Lindt dark chocolate bunnies - spotted in Waitrose only, so far! Watch out, 'cos it looks very similar to the other bunnies. You'll know it's the right one, if you pick up the one with the dark brown ribbon.

Feeling the pinch or feeling creative?

It's not always cheaper to make your own, but in this case, it may pay - as dairy free options are not cheap! If you need any ideas on this score, look out I'll be addressing this one shortly, in the meantime...

Whatever most appeals to you, I hope you can find at least one helpful suggestion here and that you truly do have a most enjoyable and blessed Easter.

Sharing the love - it's the little things...

This morning, as anticipated the Hub and I exchanged cards and chocolate. Not wanting Baby to be left out, there was a card for her too. 


What I had not expected (although perhaps I should have done, knowing her love of both bags and chocolate) was that she would take possession of first my husband's bag of chocs, then mine too! Not in any hurry to devour them, as we had to get out fairly quickly this morning, we did not demur but let her cart them around from one place to the next - until it was time to leave. 

This evening, Baby was presented with a tiny gift bag of her own, containing a little box with a silver heart in it. The heart emits a gentle jingle jangly sound when shaken. Nothing could sound more heartfelt than the 'Fwank you!' that my little tot uttered - her joy had been made complete, and the other bags were completely forgotten, redundant, dismissed. 


Her cup ranneth over, when having eaten her dinner, I slipped a few Free From chocolate coins into the bag, along with the box. Again came the artless and heartfelt tones of before, as she 'Fwanked' me. At this point, my heart swelled and my cup ranneth over too. Definitely more blessed to give than receive!


Not expensive, just little things, but the joy that they brought to one dairy free tot... priceless!! 

Celebrate Valentine's Dairy Free!

So Valentine's Day is coming up and I just thought I'd slip this one in, to give us all time to reflect on it (soon find out if my husband is following my posts).

When I was younger, Valentine's Day seemed like a big deal. Not getting a card from anyone was usual - still disappointing, but usual. Funny that these days (old married woman that I am) it doesn't seem like such a big deal. My husband and I had a bit of a discussion and agreed that, for us, remembering our wedding anniversary was much more important. In fact, four years in, even that doesn't get much of a look-in because there's always our baby around!

Valentine's for us, usually means a card, chocolates and cooking for each other, at the very least. If The Hub is lucky, I might make him creme brûlée (his fave pud, but sadly not dairy free) in the heart-shaped ramekins that I bought a few years ago. I'll probably get a card for baby too, just to share the love. She loves ripping cards open and then putting the card back - heaps of fun for her and of course it's completely dairy free!

Of course there are plenty of ways of celebrating Valentine's Day dairy free. However, if you are after anything of the chocolate variety this Valentine's Day, I noticed on my way through Waitrose the other day that they're stocking small packs of chocolate hearts by Divine. They may be suitable for you, if you're OK with labels saying 'May contain milk...' although I've noticed that some of Divine's dark chocolates warn that they're not suitable for milk allergy sufferers.

However, don't despair - if you can't have these, quite a few supermarkets stock small packets of chocolate caramels by Celtic Chocolates that are completely Free From (and can be found in the Free From section). These I've had before and they're quite yummy. 

Other Free From chocolate brands exist, like Moo Free Chocolates. They have been on the Free From shelves in Waitrose, but if they can't be found locally they can be found online. Pricier brands like Green and Blacks and specialty chocolate makers like Willies and Hotel Chocolat are also worth investigating (if you're OK with 'May contain traces of...') as they make chocolate with higher percentages of cocoa solids, which is made without milk. Growing up, and in the early days of being dairy free, I found such chocolate a bit bitter on the palate, but it's amazing how you can adjust when there's chocolate at stake!

I've not seen anything else around, like these chocolate hearts, yet, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled, just in case!!

Update: 

Since I wrote this post, my knowledge of dairy free chocolate has expanded somewhat. You might like to read the following posts:

Oo! Ah! Chocolat!

Sweets for my Sweet