Saturday, October 15, 2011

Tasty Alternatives to Traditional Halloween Candy

 Healthy versions of some traditional Halloween treats    

Rice Crispy Chocolate Bars
(my spin on a traditional candy bar)

Ingredients
*I used this recipe for “rice crispy treats” from the Gluten
Free Goddess for the inside of the bars
*One bar of this chocolate for the coating
*Shredded coconut, if desired

How To
*I made the above rice crispy treats, smoothed the mixture out
on a silicone baking mat  – around 1 inch high.  Chilled them
in the fridge until nice and solid.  Then cut them into bars
*Melt an entire bar of chocolate on a double boiler (I fashioned
my own using a small 8″ non-stick saute pan on top of a small
sauce pan filled with some water)
*Quickly cover bars with chocolate, rolling them around
with a wooden pair of tongs.  When fully coated,
transfer immediately to a cooling rack with a baking sheet
underneath to catch the chocolate drippings
*Transfer to fridge until cooled
*These do very well sitting out at room temperature,
the chocolate does not melt.  Perfect to eat like a “candy bar”


These are so decadent.  But I love that the 

chocolate bar is only sweetened with 

filtered beet sugar.  
My husband said the 
coconut covered
ones tasted (like, but much better 
than)
a Mounds bar.



Chocolate Covered Figs
(my spin on a Tootsie Roll Pop)
Ingredients
*Fresh Figs
*One bar of this chocolate for the coating

How To
*Melt an entire bar of chocolate on a double boiler (I fashioned
my own using a small 8″ non-stick saute pan on top of a small
sauce pan  filled with some water).
*Place lollipop stick into fig.  All I had on hand when I made these was a few wooden skewers, a little too sharp on the end for children.  I found some 4″ lollipop sticks here in town the next daymuch better.
*Using a silicone spatchula, drizzle chocolate quickly over fig 
*Be sure to get some chocolate on the area between the stick and the fig, this will provide a nice hold, like a glue, ensuring the fig won’t fall off.  I missed this on a few as you can see in the above picture and these were much more precarious
*Transfer immediately to a cooling rack with a baking sheet 
underneath to catch the chocolate drippings
*Transfer to fridge until cooled
*These do very well sitting out at room temperature,
the chocolate does not melt.  Perfect to eat like a “Tootsie Roll Pop”

These fig pops are so delicious! I was very pleased with 
how they turned out.  These would make super 
cute hors d’oeuvres at a party!


Caramel Pops and Caramel Apples
(My spin on traditional caramel)

Ingredients
*5 Tablespoons brown rice syrup (or Yacon Syrup might work)
*5 Tablespoons coconut sugar
*1 Tablespoon coconut oil

How To
*Spray some oil on wax or parchment paper and strategically place lollipop sticks on paper
*Have a small space on paper sprayed with oil for the apple.  Have apple ready (with wooden skewer firmly in place) 
*In a small non-stick saute pan (same as used above but not as a double boiler) heat brown rice syrup until bubbly, always stirring quickly to avoid burning
*Add in coconut sugar and coconut oil and stir quickly 
*Keep on med/low heat with a slight bubble for about 2 minutes stirring the entire time to prevent burning
*Remove from heat and continue stirring for about 30 seconds
*With a silicone spatchula, pour a small amount of the sauce on the end of each lollipop stick. Let it sit and repeat once more, this will make it a little thicker and give the stick a little more to hold on to
*For apple, hold apple by the skewer and drizzle the sauce quickly over apple and then place on the oiled paper 
*Transfer lollipops and apples into the fridge to cool
*When the sauce has hardened, take out items and remove from paper.  You may get a little paper stuck on your treat, but it peals off pretty easy
*I suggest eating the lollipops right away, as they do get a little soft at room temperature
*Slice apple and let it sit at room temperature before eating.  The sauce turns ooey and gooey when it warms up.  So delicious with the tart apple!
*You will see in the picture below (the pops in the jar) here look a little different than the flat version described above.  For these I made another batch of the sauce and let it cool a little and then started pulling it like taffy.  It took a bit to get the texture just so, but it allowed me to make a thicker sucker
*This recipe may work with honey (instead of the brown rice syrup) or with Yacon syrup, but I didn’t test it out. 

I haven’t had “real” caramel is so long.  It was even years before I was diagnosed.  I never loved caramel, but I thought this would be a fun challenge and I am very please with how it turned out. And I am now remembering that as a young girl I was forbidden to eat caramel apples due to a mouth full of braces.  Bummer.  For fun I looked up a traditional caramel recipe and can I tell you that my stomach started hurting from just reading the ingredients

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Labels: candy alternatives, dessert, Halloween, holidays.

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