Category Archives: Halloween

Monday, October 12, 2015

Healthy Halloween Treats the Whole Family Can Enjoy

alternative treats cover

Yay!  It’s almost Halloween!  My favorite holiday.  There is something about Halloween I’ve always loved.  And it’s not all about the candy and treats (as you might know, I’m not a huge sweet tooth). Truth be told… I’m a big ole’ scaredy cat and don’t even believe in ghosts, but man I love the spirit of Halloween.  It’s so fun to dress up and I remember how exciting it was as a kid walking around in the dark gathering candy with the anticipation of being scared out of my Princess Leia buns any minute.  My kiddos participate in Halloween, but they agree to eat mommy’s healthy treats and they turn in their trick-or-treating candy for a gift from the “Great Pumpkin” (who comes the morning of November 1st).  I’ve done this for years now (since my daughter was 2) and my kids love it.  We usually come in early from trick-or-treating and I make some popcorn and other favorites like caramel apples and ginger cookies (via Ricki Heller) and we snuggle up on the couch and watch a low-key Halloween cartoon.  And I’m the nerdy neighbor who does NOT give out candy (I know…booo to me) please don’t egg my house.  I hit up the dollar store for festive stickers, pencils, erasers, and other little trinkets and that’s my “treat.”  It’s nice to have some variety, right.  

Below are my family’s favorite treats for Halloween. Continue reading

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Labels: candy alternatives, carob, chocolate, dessert, Halloween, holidays.

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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

Posted by Amber at

Labels: candy alternatives, dessert, Halloween, holidays.

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