For someone with coeliac disease, an explicit gluten-free label matters more than looking like a spritz biscuit: Verkade lists wheat flour in Nobo Sprits Melk. Choose a ready-made gluten-free butter biscuit if you want something to serve with coffee, or gluten-free spiced biscuits for a more Christmassy flavour. If you want to choose the shape and decorations yourself, a gluten-free biscuit mix gives you a base to bake with, provided you also prevent cross-contamination in the kitchen.
You’re looking for a product with an explicit gluten-free label for the Christmas table. If you’re baking from scratch, you’ll also want to prevent crumbs, flour dust or kitchen utensils from transferring gluten to the biscuits, as advised by the Dutch Coeliac Association.
You want to offer a ready-to-serve gluten-free option alongside your usual Christmas biscuits. Spiced biscuits or butter biscuits can do the job, even if they don’t have the same flavour or shape as spritz biscuits.
You want to choose the shapes and Christmas decorations yourself, so you’re looking for a gluten-free baking mix rather than a packet of biscuits. Bear in mind that, according to the Dutch Coeliac Association, gluten-free flour behaves differently from flour containing gluten.
First decide whether you want to serve biscuits straight away or bake them yourself. If you’re choosing for someone with coeliac disease, always check for a gluten-free label and make sure you can prepare the food without cross-contamination.
Best for: a ready-to-serve, spiced biscuit for the Christmas table.
Consider: the spiced flavour isn’t a like-for-like replacement for spritz biscuits.
Best for: a ready-made biscuit when a buttery flavour matters more than a spiced one.
Consider: the shape and texture won’t necessarily be the same as spritz biscuits.
Best for: choosing your own biscuit shapes and decorations.
Consider: a biscuit mix needs to be prepared and won’t necessarily handle like regular spritz biscuit dough.
| What to consider | What to check before buying | Who is this important for? |
|---|---|---|
| Gluten-free options and cross-contamination | Read the current gluten-free label and ingredients list. If you’re baking from scratch, check that you can use clean, separate utensils and equipment. | If I’m baking for someone with coeliac disease, I don’t want to judge by a biscuit’s shape or risk transferring gluten in the kitchen. For around 50% of consumers, this reassurance comes first when choosing. |
| Ready to serve | Choose between spiced biscuits and butter biscuits, and check which pack size suits the number of guests. | When I’m short on time, I want to be able to serve a separate gluten-free biscuit and am happy to choose a different flavour from spritz. For around 30% of consumers, convenience is the deciding factor. |
| Shape them yourself | Check that the gluten-free mix is intended for biscuits and follow the preparation instructions on the pack. | For my Christmas dessert, I want to choose the biscuit shapes and decorations myself, even if that means extra baking. Around 20% of consumers put shaping their own biscuits first. |
Its shape tells you nothing about its ingredients: Verkade lists wheat flour in Nobo Sprits Melk. A biscuit that looks similar isn’t automatically suitable for someone with coeliac disease.
Check the current packaging for a ‘gluten-free’ label before choosing between butter biscuits, spiced biscuits or baking your own.
Gluten-free spiced biscuits offer a spiced option, but they don’t taste the same as spritz biscuits. That difference matters if the biscuit needs to work with a specific recipe or dessert.
Choose spiced biscuits if you want a warming flavour. Consider gluten-free butter biscuits or baking your own if flavour or shape matters more.
According to the Dutch Coeliac Association, crumbs and flour dust from products containing gluten can get onto gluten-free food.
Clean your work surface and utensils, keep ingredients separate and avoid using flour containing gluten in the same area at the same time.
Schär offers both packaged gluten-free biscuits and a gluten-free baking mix for this choice: Jumbo lists Gluten Free Speculoos, PLUS lists Butterkeks and Albert Heijn lists Mix Kuchen und Kekse.
Jumbo lists Lekker Vrij van Gluten Speculaas as a ready-made biscuit and states on the product page that it carries the crossed-grain mark.
PLUS lists its own-brand Glutenvrije speculaas in a 150 g pack and Schär Glutenvrije speculaas in a 100 g pack.
Albert Heijn lists a range of gluten-free biscuits and Schär Mix Kuchen und Kekse glutenvrij as a baking mix.
No. Verkade lists wheat flour as an ingredient in Nobo Sprits Melk and also warns that it may contain other gluten-containing cereals. Choose an alternative based on the explicit gluten-free label on the current packaging, not on the product’s shape.
Under European Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 828/2014, ‘gluten-free’ may only be used in the Netherlands when the food, as sold to the final consumer, contains no more than 20 mg of gluten per kg. Check the label on the product you choose.
Use a clean work surface and keep gluten-free ingredients and equipment separate from products containing gluten. The Dutch Coeliac Association also advises preventing flour containing gluten from becoming airborne in the same workspace.
