Yesterday on my blog I wrote about ways to prepare some of the signature ingredients of fall in a healthy way. I realise that many people who have children may struggle this time of year as there are so many unhealthy kids’ treats and it can be hard to steer them away. The thing about children is that it’s less about the ingredients of what they’re eating and more about the fun of eating it, or the presentation. So if you’re having a Halloween party for children, Ive included a variety of healthy halloween treats recipes and ideas here that are very healthy, but also very good at disguising themselves—just like a Halloween costume!

If you want ideas to give you to trick or treaters or as little goodie bags, you can make your own popcorn on the stove and colour it orange with paprika, a natural spice and flavouring. You can also make little goodie bags with dried apricots and black liquorice, as kids will love the Halloween colour combination. If you have a food dehydrator, dry out strawberries, rasberries, blueberries at a very low heat. The result is a sweet and strangely textured sweet snack that you can call “astronaut candy.”

For another festive party snack idea, make sweet potato or yam chips by thinly slicing sweet potatoes and coating in just a little bit of olive oil and sea salt. Bake at gas mark 5 or 6 for about 25 minutes or until crispy. Kids will literally have no idea these aren’t real crisps and will be thrilled by the idea of eating orange crisps! You can also leave out tangerine segments at your party to sneak a little Halloween-themed fruit at your party.

This flour-less chocolate cupcakes are gluten free and have beetroot, which is fantastic for your endocrine system and is known as an anti cancer food. It makes a chocolate cake extra rich and moist but there is no beetroot taste at all. Almonds replace flour so the cake is dairy and gluten free. For Halloween, decorate with little plastic skeletons, spiders or orange pumpkins on top instead of icing. Kids will be so excited to eat this, they’ll have no idea that they’re healthy and they won’t miss the icing!

Healthy Halloween Treats Recipe

Ingredients for your healthy halloween treats.
300 g unseasoned beetroot (freshly cooked or precooked and vacuum packed), cubed
4 eggs
4 tbsp acacia or manuka honey or agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp pure cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
125 g ground almonds
125 g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), plus 3 squares of the same chocolate for covering
4 tbsp olive oil

-Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the bottom of a cupcake tins with greaseproof paper and lightly grease with olive oil.
-In a blender combine beetroot, eggs, honey or agavae nectar, vanilla essence, cocoa, baking powder and salt, and blend for 2-3 minutes until thick and creamy. Add the ground almonds and blend to combine.
-To melt the chocolate, break into small pieces (leave aside 3 squares for decoration) and place in a glass or metal bowl together with the olive oil. Boil some water and pour into a larger bowl. Set smaller bowl on the hot water and stir chocolate and oil until they have blended into a smooth, velvety liquid.
-Add this to the cake mix in the blender and whizz to combine.
-Pour into prepared cake tin and bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. To test if they’re done, skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean.
-Remove from oven and place the three squares of chocolate on top of the hot cake; leave to melt and spread over the surface with the back of a teaspoon.

These peanut butter oat bars are super healthy yet delicious. Kids absolutely love peanut butter as it’s in lots of different chocolate bars. You can add coconut, raisins, pumpkin seeds and other healthy additions to make them a super yummy alternative to a candy bar.

-Cook a large pan of porridge oats using water or water and rice, oat or soya milk.
-Once its cooked leave it to assorb all the liquid and thicken.
-Then add other ingredients to it like hemp seeds, sunfloweer seeds, flaked almonds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut etc.
-Pour the mixture onto a baking tray and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes. If you like it chewy cook it for less time and if you like it crunchy press it down so it is thinner and cook for a little longer
-Remove from oven and spread natural crunchy peanut butter over the top, then decorate with pumpkin seeds, raisins, and coconut.
-These bars will keep for at least a week in foil or an airtight container and are great for breakfast on the go, or as alternatives to biscuits and snacks for you and your children.

You can read my previous blog on Feeling Depressed here.