Halloween

Tips and Tricks for Healthy Halloween Treats

Catherine Roberts

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Halloween potlucks, parties, and trick-or-treating can be sneaky business—even if the scariest part is you trying to avoid the kids’ treat bags full of candy, chocolate, and chips.

It is possible to enjoy Halloween treats without ruining your healthy diet! The best way to go about it is to infuse the holiday with these scary, but good tips on how to have a healthful Halloween…

1. Recreate Classic Halloween Candy

It’s fairly easy to give classic Halloween candy the fruity treatment. For example, to make a healthier, more natural form of candy corn layer a wedge of pineapple, a wedge of cantaloupe, and a piece of banana on wooden skewers. You can also make healthy apple monsters by using a melon baller to carve out eyes, mount them on toothpicks, and use a large apple slice as a mouth with slivered almonds to create the toothy grin.

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2. Hand Out Homemade Treat Bags

I know that the kids love Halloween for the treats! However, I make sure mine are eating the healthiest treats possible by making my own DIY treat bags. I fill them with homemade candies, such as healthier peanut butter cups made with dark chocolate and raw almond butter rather than store-bought brands full of Trans fat and refined sugars.

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3. Add Just a Touch of Sweetness

Sometimes there can be just too much sinfully sweet ingredients in Halloween desserts…I’m looking at you double chocolate tombstone brownies. However, you can satisfy a sweet tooth without killing your entire diet by creating a healthy dessert with just a touch of sweetness. For example, try creating spooky bananas by using 2 dark chocolate chips for eyes and a dark chocolate kiss as a surprised mouth or make witches cauldrons by coring apples and filling with quick oats, raisins, and a touch of maple syrup.

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4. Pumpkin Inspired Sweets

For a sweet treat that will satisfy your haunted Halloween cravings—try whipping up batches of pumpkin inspired cookies, brownies, cakes, and muffins. Pumpkin is actually a nutritionally fuelled substitute for butter, margarine, and oil in a lot of lower fat recipes.

5. Carve Up Spooky Veggies

Who says that vegetables can’t be festive? In addition to buckets of candy and chocolate at your Halloween party, feature a platter of carrots, cucumbers, and pepper pieces cut into spooky shapes—such as ghosts, witches hats, bats, cats, and pumpkins for dipping into healthy hummus, salsa, and guacamole. Or spoon salads into cored peppers carved into mini Jack-o-lanterns.

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6. Get Creative With Halloween Potlucks

By getting creative with your Halloween potluck dish, your imaginative recipe will wow folks and make them forget that what they’re eating is actually good for them. For example, try cutting apples, pears, melons, and pineapple into spooky shapes and serve along with a dip made of Greek yogurt and cinnamon.

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7. DIY Your Favorite Halloween Snacks

If there’s one snack I just can’t resist, it’s peanut butter rice crispy treats! However, instead of getting mine from a box, I choose to make a healthier version in my own kitchen, and I use nutritious ingredients—like raw almond butter and whole-wheat rice crisps—to redeem my Halloween sins.

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8. Air Pop Your Halloween Treats

Air popped corn (especially if it’s whole grain) can provide a filling foundation for sweets and snacks without haunting you for weeks after. Indulge your taste for something sweet by air popping corn; rolling it into balls using a bit of honey or maple syrup, raisins, and chopped nuts; and drizzling with dark-chocolate and melted almond butter. Or simply serve an air popped bowl of corn sweetened with a bit of maple syrup for a healthier version of caramel corn.