Sugar, artificial colours and flavourings… that’s the nutritional horror story at Halloween right? It’s enough to make your teeth fall out.
Over 81% of UK mums feel pressured to buy their kids unhealthy sweets at this time of year, according to an Organix No Junk Challenge Survey, and 46% don’t even dare look at the label for fear of all the artificial nasties they’d find.
I’m not suggesting a total ban of sugar this spooky season, but I just want to show there are alternatives. It is possible cut down on the junk and have some healthier spooky and seasonal treats at this time of year.
So here are my Top 10 Healthier Halloween Treats
1. Spooky Strawberries
Photo by Sharron Gibson
These zombie inspired strawberries are fun to make with kids and oh so delicious. A little bit of chocolate and a little bit of fruit… you’ve got the best of both worlds here. Just make sure you find a good quality chocolate.
The recipe’s over on The Good Food Channel Website
2. Toxic Swamp Smoothie
Photo by Helen Best Shaw
I adore the green colour of this quick and easy spooky drink, and of course it’s packed with bananas and spinach so there are no nasties to be found! You can even make it muddy by adding cocoa powder
Get the recipe over on Fuss Free Flavours
3. Halloween Fruit Kebabs with Monster Blood
Calling all fruit bats… these juicy kebabs are extremely virtuous but the addition of Monster Blood splats gives the dessert a gruesome edge.
Get the recipe on Parentdish.co.uk
4. Pumpkin Cupcakes with Avocado Icing
Photo by Veggie Desserts
These are a great recipe for using up the insides of the pumpkin once you’ve carved it. They’re from a fabulous website called Veggie Desserts – you won’t believe the amazing creations Kate comes up with on her blog!
5. Sausage Roll Mummies
A delicious savoury treat for Halloween parties, this spooky take on the sausage roll are loads of fun to make and even better to eat dunked in some creamy honey mustard dip!
Get the recipe on Parentdish.co.uk
6. Banana Ghosts and Clementine Pumpkins
Turn fruit into a spooky table party piece with these ghostly bananas with chocolate splodge eyes and clementines peeled to look like pumpkins using kiwi fruit for the stalks.
7. Pumpkin, Ginger and Orange Traybake
This cake is moist and utterly scoffable due to the lovely pumpkin flesh used to bake it. The cream cheese frosting has an orange tang – just make sure you look at the label when choosing your sprinkles.
Get the recipe on Parentdish.co.uk
8. Spiced Warm Apple Punch
Heat up chilly trick or treaters with a mug of this warming apple drink full of seasonal spice. It’s freshly pressed apple juice heated in a pan with cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fresh ginger and a dash of maple syrup. Simple, delicious and absolutely no nasties!
Get the full recipe on Parentdish.co.uk
9. Spooky Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Very simply these are like little pizza sandwiches spread either with pesto or tomato paste topped with grated mozzarella and grilled until golden and oozing. Cutting spooky faces in the top layer of bread transforms the butty into a great pumpkin-faced snack!
Get the recipe on Parentdish.co.uk
10. Pumpkin Patch Halloween Rolls
Photos from Fab Food 4 All
I love these gently spiced home made rolls from Camilla at Fab Food 4 All, a spooky version of the McChicken sandwich without any junk – I think my boys would go wild for these over the holidays!
The Organix No Junk Campaign
This is the third in a series of posts i’m writing in association with Organix for their No Junk campaign to encourage everyone to eat more healthily and cut down on processed food full of weird and wonderful ingredients. I hope you’ve found plenty of inspiration here to try out on your kids this Halloween!
Join the No Junk Challenge
We know it can be difficult to eat food with no junk so join us to say no to junk and yes to healthy, real food for our families. Sign up to get involved.
Disclosure: I have been commissioned by Organix to write this blog post to promote their No Junk Challenge campaign. All views are my own. Thanks to my amazing foodie blogging friends for their contributions.
Fantastic alternatives to the traditional American-style rubbish we are encouraged to buy {and make}. Spooky grilled cheese looks surprisingly effective for such a little tweak!
Thanks Kellie… yes it’s good to branch out a bit and make a few spooky things from scratch. The toasties worked especially well because of the rounded shape of the loaf 🙂
I love the spooky strawberries. They look ace! The spooky sausage rolls do too! 🙂
Hehe thanks Jo… the spooky strawbs are my fave too… the sausage mummies are such a fun take on a sausage roll – my boys go crazy for them!
Love the sound of those spooky strawberries – bet my kids would love them too. I usually feed them so much healthy stuff (I cram veggies into EVERYTHING, juices, cakes, even chocolates) so sometimes I like to let my hair down. Halloween is a great time to do this, but these are some fab healthier ideas for sure!
Thanks Elizabeth… it’s definitely good to have a balance between giving your kids healthy food and a few treats along the way. I think it helps them have a healthier approach to food as they grow up.
I loath junk food at any time of year and always try to steer away from it no matter what. Love the look of those bloodied fruit kebabs and lots of really healthy ideas here:-) Thanks for linking up to my rolls:-)
Your pumpkin rolls are so cool Camilla! It’s definitely possible to create junk free treats… it’s good to be able to make stuff from scratch so you know exactly what you’re giving your kids.
Great idea Katie 🙂
Thanks Jac!
Oh these are so useful thanks Katie.. I love the shocked looking strawberries!
It’s always good to have a few healthier treat ideas up your sleeve… my kids go NUTS if they have too much sugar… and it’s the crash afterwards that’s scarier!!!!
Nice recipes thanks dor sharing. I will try at home.