Just because everyone else is eating loads of candy on Halloween doesn't mean that you have to! These healthy Halloween treats will help you to avoid cavities while still enjoying this spooky holiday.
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Halloween used to scare me. My kids coming home with all that junk food sent shivers through my spine! But with a selection of healthy treats and snacks, Halloween is a joy, a chance to play dress-up with the kids, and a time to parade around the neighborhood at night. Now I can enjoy greeting friends and marveling at carved, candle-lit pumpkins while nibbling on healthy, all-natural candies!
Natural Treats
Along with the chance to play dress-up with the kids, this fun holiday is an opportunity to explore natural food stores for healthier treats. These kinds of markets are well-stocked with natural candies!
- Fruit leather and licorice in many sugar-free flavors: strawberry, raspberry, apple and grape
- Vitamin C lollipops, peppermints, and fruit-juice sweetened sucking candies
- Little bags of organic pretzels and animal cookies
- Different flavored potato chips and corn chips
- Small boxes of raisins
- Healthy chocolates with scary Halloween caricatures on the wrappers
Homemade Mixes
To add to the fun, you can create your own bagged delights from the bulk bins with all-natural pretzels, malt balls, chocolate covered nuts, and raisins. Best of all, you can make your own organic candied apples, chocolate-dipped dried fruits, date nut treats and maple syrup-sweetened chocolate chip cookie treats that kids of all ages love.
Candied Apples
To make your own candied apples, forget the artificial red dyes and sugary caramel coatings. You can dip your apples in agave nectar or rice syrup and then roll the glazed apples in crushed graham crackers or small chunks of all-natural sandwich cookies, granola, chopped up raisins, figs, dates, or calcium-rich ground walnuts and almonds.
Chocolate-Dipped Fruit
Fresh or dried slices of pineapples, pears, apricots, peaches, and oranges dipped in chocolate are beautiful and easy to make. Simply melt dairy-free chocolate in a double boiler over hot (not boiling) water. Then, put a piece of dried fruit on a toothpick or dipping fork. Dip the fruit halfway into the chocolate, swirl it around, lift it out, and let the excess chocolate drip back into the pot. Stick the bottom of the toothpick into an apple or pear to catch the chocolate drippings while the chocolate cools and hardens.
DIY Chocolate Chip Cookies
When making your own chocolate chip cookies, take advantage of the large assortment of chocolate and carob chips available at your local health food store: organic dark chocolate chips, vanilla chips, peanut butter chips, dairy-free espresso chocolate chips, vegan carob chips and sugar-free chocolate chips sweetened with malted barley. Feel free to use any of these alternatives in your favorite cookie recipes.
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
These cookies are quick, easy, and fun to make. I love shaping them with my hands, but you could also use a cookie cutter. Simply mix all the ingredients together, form the cookies, and bake for 10 minutes!
Full directions for how to make Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies are in the first printable recipe card below.
Date Nut Treats
Kids love to make and eat these nutty date delights. Let them help add the ingredients to the food processor and pulse the nuts. All your little helpers will especially love rolling the balls in the ground almonds. Once your kids try a bite of these healthy Date Nut Treats, they won't be asking for candy much longer!
Full directions for how to make Date Nut Treats are in the second printable recipe card below.
Make sure to explore the entire Veg Kids and Teens page on VegKitchen for lots of easy, healthy recipes for vegetarian and vegan kids and teens.
Recipe
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
- ½ tsp mint extract
- ½ tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F, and use olive oil to lightly grease a baking sheet.
- Put all remaining ingredients into a large bowl. Mix together briefly with a wooden spoon.
- Shape dough into cookies with your hands.
- To use cookie cutters, flatten some batter between your hands and place it on a pastry board. Press in a cookie cutter and shake gently. Pull away the excess dough, and place cookie on lightly oiled baking sheet. Repeat till you use all the dough.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes. Let them cool before eating.
Nutrition
Recipe
Date Nut Treats
Ingredients
- 1 cup pitted dates tightly packed
- 4 tbsp water
- pinch of cardamom ¼ tsp or to taste)
- ½ tsp cinnamon or to taste
- ½ cup walnuts chopped
- 3 tbsp brown rice syrup or agave nectar
- ⅓ cup almonds ground
Instructions
- Put the dates, water, cardamom, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if desired. Transfer paste to a small mixing bowl.
- Grind walnuts in the food processor, or coarsely chop them with a knife.
- Mix walnuts into the dates and shape into walnut-sized balls. Drizzle and coat balls with brown rice syrup or honey.
- Grind almonds into a meal in the food processor. Then pour ground almonds onto a cutting board or plate.
- Roll date nut balls in almond meal and serve or wrap up to give away.
Nutrition
Leslie Cerier is the author of Going Wild in the Kitchen. *Visit Leslie at her web site to learn more about her books, classes, and photography.
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Jane Lirios says
wow, halloween is coming, we will make this Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies