I love Halloween, but with it comes an abundance of sugar. Now Logan and Kaia are old enough to go trick or treating, I try harder to reduce the amount of refined sugar they have. I know I’m not alone, so I’ve put together some of my favourite alternative Halloween treats & snacks. Recipes have been split between super simple quick treats and ones that require a bit more time. Both are really fun to make with your little ones, so get them involved.
I would like to note, these are not sugar free treats. They are simply an alternative to the packets of candy usually given at Halloween.
More will be added, so keep checking!
Quick Treats
Ghost Bananas Two Ways
Peel a banana making sure to keep the ends pointy. Cut in half.
Ghost Bananas with chocolate:
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a flat plate/dish.
Take a small stick (old lolly sticks work well) and push gently into the cut end of the banana.
Melt some chocolate and dip 2/3rds of the banana in the chocolate. Place on the parchment paper. Pop on two edible eyes. Pop in the fridge to set.
Ghost Bananas with raisin eyes:
Take the cut bananas, three raisins and a small dab of nut butter.
Place a bit of nut butter on each raisin and stick them to the banana, two for eyes one for a mouth.
Spider Crackers
Peel and thinly slice an apple. You want the pieces of apple to be long and thin, so they resemble a spiders leg.
Take a wheat cracker, two raisins, some nut butter and 6 pieces of apple.
Pop some nut butter on one end of the apple slices and stick them to the bottom of the cracker, 3 on each side, to resemble spider legs.
Take some more nut butter and place on the raisins and stick them to the top side of the cracker for eyes.
Little Bit of Work Treats
Monster Bliss Balls
Makes 10 balls, it all depends on the size of each ball. If the consistency doesn’t seem quite right, add more oats or honey (even some water) to increase or reduce the thickness.
INGREDIENTS:
150g Pitted dates
50g Oats
5tbsp Honey (substitute for maple syrup for under 1s)
25g Cacao Powder
30g Desiccated Coconut
1tbsp Chia Seeds
Pretzels
Edible Eyes
METHOD:
Blitz all ingredients (except pretzels and eyes) in a food processor.
Scoop out a small palm sized amount and roll into a ball. If you have one a small ice cream scoop or melon baller works well for this. Snap a pretzel in half and stick on each side of a ball to resemble a wing/arm/ear.
Add two eyes. Pop on a piece of parchment paper on a flat plate/dish. Chill in the fridge.
Eye Ball Bliss Balls
INGREDIENTS:
All the same ingredients as the Bat Balls, but swap the pretzels for red icing pen/tube
METHOD:
Follow the same method to make the Bat Balls. But skip the pretzel and eye ball step.
Place one eyeball in the centre of the ball and using the red icing pen/tube, create arteries from and around the eye.
Pop on a piece of parchment paper on a flat plate/dish. Chill in the fridge.
Monster Flap Jacks
Makes 12 squares, but it depends on the size of each square.
INGREDIENTS:
250g of porridge oats
125ml of honey (substitute for maple syrup if serving to under 1s)
2 tbsp nut butter
Large handful of blueberries, fruit of choice, dried fruit, chocolate chips or nuts (whatever takes your fancy)
Water (add as required for stickyness and texture)
Green or purple food colouring
Edible eyes
Chocolate Sauce or melted chocolate
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180c (fan)
Line a baking tray with parchment paper
Mix all ingredients (except water, edible eyes and chocolate sauce) in a bowl. Add food colouring of your choice. Heat nut butter and honey if not at room temperature.
Check the stickyness of the mix, it needs to stick together well so when cooked it remains a solid bar and doesn’t crumble. If it’s loose, add small amounts of water, more honey/nut butter until it is the correct consistency.
Put into the baking tray and pack down well. I use a glass/cup to really press it down.Bake for 20-30mins or until golden brown. Leave to cool.
Once cooled cut into squares and place on a piece of parchment paper on a flat plate/dish.
Drizzle chocolate sauce or melted chocolate on the top end of a square to resemble hair. Pop on two eyes and make a jagged smile with the chocolate sauce or if you have it, with an icing tube. Leave to set.
If you like these alternative Halloween treats & snacks, our Halloween Lunch Box ideas are coming soon.