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These Chocolate Cornflake Cakes bring back SO many childhood memories! Often made into chocolate Easter nests, these old school cornflake cakes are just like the ones I used to make as a child. Great for a rainy weekend or school holiday activity!
What you need to know at-a-glance
- Child-Friendly: The only ‘cooking’ involves heating the chocolate on a hob or microwave, so this is perfect for children to make!
- Top Tip: If you want to lower the sugar content you can either omit the gold syrup, or use a mixture of milk and dark chocolate.
- Easy Ingredients: You can find gluten free cornflakes in most supermarket free from aisles, and the other 3 ingredients are just storecupboard staples.
These Gluten Free Cornflake Cakes are such a joy to make – and the perfect gluten free recipe to make with kids.
They only need 4 ingredients (plus some Mini Eggs, if you’re making cornflake easter nests) and can be whipped up in a matter of minutes.
And with no cooking needed (other than a bit of supervised heating on the hob or microwave) this is something you can easily let the kids bake!
I make mine using gluten free cornflakes – which are easy to find in the free from aisle – but you can also make Chocolate Easter Nests as well.
Why not have an Easter baking sessions and whip them up alongside my Mini Egg Rocky Roads, easy Mini Egg Cookies and Creme Egg Brownies?
Table of Contents
Ingredients
You only need 4 ingredients to make these easy chocolate cornflake cakes:
- Chocolate: I use milk chocolate, but you could use a mixture of milk and dark chocolate if you prefer. A lot of chocolate has a ‘may contain’ warning for gluten. I use the Dr Oetker baking chocolate which (at the time of writing) are gluten free.
- Unsalted Butter
- Golden Syrup: If you’re making these in the US the closest to Golden Syrup is probably a light treacle or light corn syrup. You can omit this to lower the sugar.
- Gluten Free Cornflakes: Most supermarkets have their own brand of gluten free cornflakes in the free from aisle. You can also check the Coeliac UK scanner app to find suitable non-free-from brands, or use your favourite gluten free cereal instead.
- Mini Eggs: These are optional, if you want to make Easter nests. Cadbury’s Mini Eggs are gluten free, or alternative use your favourite miniature gluten free Easter eggs.
You’ll also need some cupcake cases for this, as well as a heatproof bowl and mixing bowl.
At-A-Glance: How To Make Cornflake Cakes
The basic premise of making these cornflake cakes is so simple:
- Melt the chocolate, butter and syrup together
- Stir in the gluten free cornflakes
- Spoon the mixture between colourful cake cases
- Top with Mini Eggs and refrigerate!
How To Make Chocolate Cornflake Cakes
Here are some step-by-step photos to show you how this recipe should look at each stage. I know it’s a simple recipe but I thought this would be handy if making it with kids!
Break the chocolate up into small pieces and add to a heat-safe bowl along with the butter and golden syrup.
Heat the mixture either by placing the bowl over a pan of hot water, or by microwaving it in 30-second intervals. Be careful not to overheat it – you want it to be *just* melted together.
Set the chocolate mixture to one side to cool for 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile lay out your cake cases on a baking tray or plate/s so they are ready to fill.
Add your gluten free cornflakes to a large mixing bowl. Pour over the chocolate mixture and use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix everything together evenly.
Spoon the mixture evenly between the cake cases. If you want to make Easter nests, top each one with 2-3 chocolate eggs.
Place the chocolate cornflake cakes in the fridge for at least 30-60 minutes until they have set, before tucking in!
Top Tip
Be VERY careful if melting the chocolate mixture over hot water not to get water in the chocolate. Especially when you may have enthusiastic young helpers with you!
This will cause the chocolate to ‘seize’, where it goes lumpy, thick and grainy – and basically beyond repair. You’ll usually have to start again when this happens.
Storing and Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: I recommend keeping these chocolate cornflake cakes in the fridge. They usually keep for up to a week, but can go a bit soft towards the end of this time. All the more reason to scoff them quickly – or share them with family and friends!
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this easy cornflake cake recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
It’s important to heat the chocolate, butter and syrup together *slowly* otherwise it can go a little, er, odd. If you heat it over rapidly boiling water, or leave it in the microwave too long, it can separate and go kind of thick and weird.
See my top tip above on ensuring you don’t get water in the chocolate mixture, as this will also cause it to seize and go lumpy and grainy.
To make gluten and dairy free cornflake nests, use a dairy free chocolate and swap the butter for a vegan margarine or something like Stork. Always double check the ingredients on your cereal, but free from cornflake are usually dairy free too.
I usually find after about a week in the fridge, these cornflake cakes can go a little bit soft. That is, if they even last that long without being scoffed! That being said, they’re still perfectly edible after a week – just not quite as crunchy.
I recommend leaving these cornflake cakes in the fridge for at least 30-60 minutes, as difficult as that can be! If you want to speed the process up you can pop them in the freezer, where they’ll usually set in 15-20 minutes. Handy when you have eager young helpers waiting to try their creations!
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Chocolate Cornflake Cakes Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 200 g milk chocolate, (or you can use a mixture of milk and dark chocolate if you prefer)
- 80 g unsalted butter
- 60 g golden syrup
- 200 g gluten free cornflakes, (I usually find these in the free from aisle of the supermarket)
Instructions
- Break the chocolate up into small pieces and add to a heat-safe bowl along with the butter and golden syrup. Heat the mixture either by placing the bowl over a pan of hot water, or by microwaving it in 30-second intervals. Be careful not to overheat it – you want it to be *just* melted together.
- Set the chocolate mixture to one side to cool for 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile lay out your cake cases on a baking tray or plate/s so they are ready to fill.
- Add your gluten free cornflakes to a large mixing bowl. Pour over the chocolate mixture and use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix everything together. The cornflakes should be nicely coated.
- Spoon the mixture evenly between the cake cases. If you want to make Easter nests, top each one with 2-3 Mini Eggs.
- Place the chocolate cornflake cakes in the fridge for at least 30-60 minutes until they have set, before tucking in! The wait is the hardest bit, but worth it!
Notes
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos of this method – perfect if you need a visual aid for young helpers!
- Storing: These chocolate cornflake cakes should really be kept in the fridge, and they’ll last up to a week. Sometimes longer, but they may start to go a little soft.
- Top Tip: Want to speed up the setting process? Pop them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes and you can eat these cornflake Easter nests much sooner!
- No Mini Eggs? If it’s not Easter time, don’t worry. You can top these with your favourite gluten free treats like M&Ms, some gluten free sprinkles, or keep the plain! They’re delicious either way.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating with a little comment about how much you loved these Cornflake Cakes! It really helps to support my website. Thank you! xx
Nutrition
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These bring back SO many childhood memories! If you love this recipe as much as I do, please come back and share a comment and your experience! xx
Gorgeous! Are also very yummy made using Rice Krispies instead of cornflakes!
Ooo yes I love a good rice krispie cake too!
Thank you!!!