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For health-conscious parents, Halloween can be a nightmare.  From parties filled with cookies and cakes to pillowcases full of candy, it can be hard to deny all these treats to your little monsters.  The good news is that you may be able to work some magic of your own by offering up some healthier treats.  The trick is to make healthier snacks that are just as tempting to the taste buds.  With a little planning and some creative thinking, you can offer your little witches and mummies eye catching, mouth-watering treats this Halloween.

Here are some great ideas for how to use great local ingredients to make healthier Halloween treats.

Pumpkin Seeds –  When you clean out your jack-o-lanterns this year, don’t just toss the guts.  Save those seeds and roast them up for a tasty, crunchy treat your little ones will love.  You can use this basic recipe for roasting and then toss your roasted seeds with the same toppings you would use with popcorn.  You might find that you need to buy more pumpkins next year in order to have enough seeds.

Popcorn Balls – Popcorn may seem like a high calorie treat but on its own it is a healthy treat.  Make your own popcorn balls so that you can control what goes into them.  Here is a recipe to get you started, try swapping ingredients in and out to get the best flavor.

Cereal Treats – Take your little monsters favorite cereal and use this recipe for cereal bars to make a healthier option to traditional candy bars.

Banana Ghosts – Put a peeled banana on a stick, dip two raisins in peanut butter, and stick them on for eyes and you have a spooky ghost on a stick.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Ghosts – Swap the traditional milk chocolate for white chocolate and use a little black frosting to draw eyes and ghostly mouths for quick and easy fruit filled treats everyone will love eating.

Monster Mouths – Take a quartered apple and cut a slice out of the middle to make the mouth.  Spread some peanut butter along the edges and stick granola, raisins, or sliced almonds to the peanut butter to make the creepy teeth.

Caramel Apple Cutouts – Slice apples into thin wafers and use Halloween cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the middle of each wafer.  Dip the wafers and the cutouts in a solution of water and lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.  Pair with warm caramel dip.

Banana Eyeballs – Take your child’s favorite round or oval shaped cracker, add a thin layer of chocolate spread, peanut butter, or honey, add a banana slice and a raisin for a creepy eyeball treat full of healthy flavor.

Looking for healthier trick or treating options that kids won’t want to swap for candy?  Try juice box mummies (juice box wrapped in first aid tape with googly eyes) or granola bars featuring chocolate.  You can also skip the sugar altogether and give out toothbrushes, stickers, or small Halloween toys instead of candy.

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• Host a Frighteningly Fun Halloween Party (fillyourplate.org)