When you think of Halloween, you may think of spooky costumes, trick-or-treating, and, of course, super sweet candy.
The massive amounts of syrupy, sickly candy being passed out from door to door can be a little overwhelming. Sure, candy is great, but there are other options that are just as wonderful for children to receive (and I’m not talking about a disappointing toothbrush or a bag of pretzels.)
If you’re looking for a healthier, but just as scrumptious, alternative to Reeses Peanut Butter Cups or Sour Patch Kids, you’ve come to the right place! Here are some healthy treats you can give out this year at Halloween.
Fruit wraps, also known as fruit leathers and fruit strips, are made from 100% fruit and still somehow manage to taste just like your classic gummy bears! And an added bonus — they come in many different flavors including apricot, strawberry, apple, blueberry, and many, many more!
Trader Joe’s has a scrumptious, inexpensive version of organic fruit wraps (pictured below.) Other options you can choose from include Good & Gather Fruit Strips (from Target), Stretch Island Fruit Leathers, and Simply Balanced Fruit Strips.
Honey sticks come in many flavors, from strawberry to watermelon honey, and more. You can also get different types of honey, like clover or wildflower. Shop local if you can, or find your honey sticks online!
Organic raw honey is your best bet if you’re trying to find something healthy, as some honey sticks can have food dyes or added sugars. Honey sticks are also pretty affordable when you buy them in bulk.
Annie’s Homegrown makes delicious bunny-shaped fruit snacks in a few flavors: berry, tropical fruit, strawberry, and more! Made with real fruit juice, Annie’s certified organic, vegan, gelatin-free, and gluten-free fruit snacks are the perfect candy alternative to serve to trick-or-treaters.
If you want to hand out something sweet and salty with better ingredients than artificial candy, get some bags of mini kettle corn! There are plenty of all-natural and organic brands offering small, individual bags.
Angie’s Boom Chicka Pop Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn is the perfect healthy popcorn for trick-or-treaters. Sweetened with fair trade organic evaporated cane crystals, this healthier kettle corn is incredibly tasty.
Squeezable fruit pouches are the perfect easy and healthy treat for trick-or-treaters. Apple sauce is the most common choice, but you can also get other combinations: banana mango, strawberry kiwi, blueberry apple, and more!
GoGo squeeZ has some great organic apple-based squeezable fruit pouches — check them out here!
YumEarth Organic Pops aren’t exactly healthy, but they are healthier (definitely way healthier than a box of Nerds or a pack of Twizzlers.) YumEarth is a good option if you are determined to give trick-or-treaters candy but would rather not distribute overly-processed junk. Also, lollipops are one of the easiest and cheapest candies to hand out if you have a large number of trick-or-treaters stopping by your home.
YumEarth also has other candy varieties — gummy bears, fruit snacks, sours, and more — check out their website here. All are made with certified organic ingredients and zero artificial dyes.
Banana chips are deliciously sweet and crunchy. Make sure to opt for a version without any added sugars otherwise the banana chips will be unnecessarily and overly sweetened.
You can get these Bare Baked Crunchy Banana Chips, but they are quite expensive. York’s Nut House by Truly Good Foods also sells individually packaged banana chips, which are a little cheaper than Bare Baked (although a single bag is still more than $1.) Get a pack of 12 bags here.
Raisins are the ultimate candy replacement. In fact, some parents will give their young children raisins as their only form of candy. So, when you’re handing out miniature boxes of raisins on Halloween to the trick-or-treaters, they may already have an embedded appreciation for this dried fruit.
Sure, there are still plenty of children who do not adore raisins with all of their hearts and yes, it is true that raisins are high in sugar, but nevertheless, raisins are still one of the best options for a healthy Halloween treat! Raisins are made from 100% seedless grapes and contain a substantial amount of fiber.
You can also decorate your raisin boxes so they look like ghosts or cute googly-eyed monsters! (See the picture below.) Get the tutorial here! This way, children are more likely to get excited when they receive them (at least the younger ones will.)
Sure a child may grimace when you pull out a basket of clementines rather than a bucket of candy, but does it really matter? (Maybe it does, lol.) Cuties are a great trick-or-treat candy alternative! And if the child refuses to eat the clementine, their parent will probably be more than happy to snack on it.
Getting a piece of fresh fruit is a great break from the endless amounts of candy, and cuties are the best fruit option because of their thick peel, small size, and sweetness.
Healthy granola bars — although a great option — are usually pretty pricey. However, if you’re willing to splurge or if you only have a small number of trick-or-treaters come by your home anyway, mini bars are the way to go!
Some noteworthy options include Kind mini bars, RX Kid’s mini bars, and GoMacro’s Kids MacroBars. HappyKid also sells fruit & oat bars without any added sugar or preservatives.
Lärabars are also a premium option! They come in mini sizes and are made from a few simple ingredients; dates, some type of nut, and fruit or chocolate. I would recommend getting one without peanuts, just to be safe.
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