Schär Gluten Free Custard Creams: Ingredients and Packets

Schär Gluten Free Custard Creams

None of the 14 major allergens appears on the published ingredient list for these custard creams, which is unusual for a filled biscuit.

Published 26 Sep 2026 Curator-written, not crowdsourced

Schär Gluten Free Custard Creams, in summary: Rice and maize shells around a sweet vanilla-style cream, in five sealed 25g packets. Schär's published list for these custard creams names none of the 14 major allergens. Keep them in their packets, out of the mug, and pour a proper black tea.

Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in September 2026.

None of the 14 major allergens appears on the published ingredient list for these custard creams, which is unusual for a filled biscuit. The shells are rice flour and maize, the cream is sugar, palm oil and potato starch, and every portion comes in its own sealed packet.

Three parts, rebuilt without wheat

A custard cream is two thin shells and a filling, and all three have to behave together for months on a shelf. In a wheat biscuit, gluten gives the shells most of their stiffness. Here they are built from rice flour, maize starch and maize flour, held with xanthan gum, sweetened with sugar and syrups and lifted with raising agents. They need gentler handling than a wheat custard cream, but they do the job.

The cream makes up a quarter of the biscuit, 25% by the list, and it is where the flavour lives: sugar, palm oil, potato starch and dried glucose syrup, with natural flavouring and beta-carotene for colour. Gluten never had a part to play in the middle of a custard cream, which is why a free-from version gives up less than you might expect.

No milk or soya on the list

Milk and soya usually turn up somewhere in a filled biscuit. This one uses sunflower lecithin as its emulsifier, in both the shells and the cream, and the published list for the product names none of the 14 major allergens. That makes it a useful biscuit for a household juggling more than one restriction, provided the pack in hand still says the same.

Recipes and warnings do change, and a statement on a shop page is no substitute for the box itself. Check the current pack each time you buy, especially when you are buying for someone with an allergy rather than a preference. It is a habit worth keeping even with a specialist brand you have trusted for years.

Why the packets stay sealed

Five sealed packets of 25g make up the box, 125g in all. In a home where one person eats gluten free and the rest do not, a packet that has never been in a shared tin or on a shared plate is worth more than the convenience. Resist tipping them into the family biscuit barrel, because any tin that once held ordinary biscuits will have wheat crumbs in its corners.

Store the packets in a cool, dry cupboard rather than the fridge, which firms the cream and brings condensation onto the shells. Do not try to crisp a softened one in the oven either, since the filling runs before the shells dry out. And skip the dunk: hot tea loosens the cream and the halves part company in the cup.

The packs we stock

Schar Gluten Free Custard Creams, 5 x 25g

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Schar Gluten Free Custard Creams, 5 x 25g names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current box first; Schär may change the custard cream recipe and allergen advice.

Ingredients, as published: Biscuit: Rice Flour, Maize Starch, Maize Flour, Palm Oil, Sugar, Inverted Sugar Syrup, Glucose Syrup, Sunflower Oil, Rice Starch, Raising Agents: Ammonium Hydrogen Carbonate (E503), Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate (E500); Thickener: Xanthan Gum; Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin; Salt, Natural Flavouring, Filling 25%: Sugar, Palm Oil, Potato Starch, Dried Glucose Syrup, Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin; Natural Flavouring, Colour: Beta-Carotene (E160a).

Typical values per 100g	Per 100g
Energy	481 kcal
Fat	19g
of which saturates	8,6g
Carbohydrate	73g
of which sugars	23g
Fibre	0,9g
Protein	3,5g
Salt	0,33g

Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. Your box of custard creams is the final word.

What to drink with it

Yorkshire Tea Original Everyday Blend, 80 Tea Bags 250g: a proper everyday black tea with enough body to balance a sweet cream filling.
Dragonfly Organic Pure Rooibos, 40 Tea Bags 100g: a plain rooibos for later in the day, mild enough to leave the vanilla cream in charge.
Twinings English Breakfast Decaffeinated 40, 109g: a decaffeinated breakfast blend, so the biscuit tin can stay open after supper.

Elsewhere in the Schar range

The full range is on the Schar brand page.

FAQ

What are Schär custard creams made of? Rice flour, maize starch and maize flour in the shells, and a cream of sugar, palm oil and potato starch, with sunflower lecithin rather than soya.

Do they contain milk? Going by Schär's published ingredients, these custard creams carry none of the 14 major allergens, milk among them. Check the current pack before serving, as recipes can change.

Can I dunk a gluten-free custard cream? It is best not to. The cream loosens in hot tea and the two shells come apart.

Should I put them in the biscuit tin? Keep them in their sealed packets instead, especially if the tin has ever held wheat biscuits.

How many packets are in a box? Five sealed packets of 25g, 125g in total.

Curator's note: Keep the box on the top shelf, well away from the wheat biscuits, and hand out a packet at a time. The cream is what people remember, so a strong cup beside it keeps the sweetness in line. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Schär Gluten Free Custard Creams

Field	Detail
Brand	Schar
Packs we stock	5 x 25g
Category	Free From Biscuits
Allergens (as published)	Of the 14 major allergens, Schär's published custard cream list names not one.
In the mug	Best kept out, the halves separate
Best with	A strong everyday black tea
Storage	Sealed packets, cool cupboard, not the fridge