Trick or treat only comes around once a year and we all know what that means…Candy. Sugary-filled treats and spoils that aren’t so healthy – particularly for our bodies, kids, and even sanity. You know what happens when you eat too much candy, right? It’s a sudden burst of energy that you have no idea what to do with.
In fact, trick or treat might be more of a trick to scare the dentists. All those sugary treats your kids are eating that you secretly sneak because of cavities in the long term. Let’s face it, nobody enjoys a visit to the dentist. However, this doesn’t mean you have to cross out Halloween fun entirely. You’re allowed to have some fun too. Thankfully, there are many alternatives that are both healthy and sweet to satisfy your Halloween excitement.
This Halloween spirit is felt worldwide and it’s all sugar – mostly. You might find some artificial flavors, food dyes, and extra calories. But you won’t find very much nutrition. What’s worse is that indulging in sweeties too often might increase your risk of obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
We all get cravings from time to time and it’s normal to want to include ourselves in the Halloween fun. Yet, you feel guilty for it and need to stick to a balanced diet. Luckily, we have plenty of treats – no tricks, to help you do this.
Trick Or Treat, Thanks We Will Have The ‘Healthy’ Bar
You’re probably wondering who’d ask for something like that. Well, you’d be surprised. We’re suggesting you cut out sweeties and candy bars entirely, but do try to make healthier choices when you have them. This doesn’t mean every treat you hand out should be a banana or salad bowl, but there’s no harm in trying some new ideas. Besides, there’s a growing trend to hand out healthier Halloween treats that kids and adults love. Better yet, these healthy treats will keep your energy levels constant without an insane spurt in energy and a major crash.
We get that you don’t want to be the only house on the block that hands out healthy treats that don’t taste good. There needs to be a happy medium. Trick or treat wouldn’t be the same without its sweet festivities. However, we could do without the consequences of eating too much candy. It might be a’trick or treat’ trick after all.
Nice Cream Is a Trick Or Treat Must-Do
There’s nothing sweeter, tastier, and healthier than ‘nice’ cream. Basically, it’s like ice cream but much healthier for you. All you have to do is blend up some frozen fruit and add it to what you feel like. You can choose from peanut butter, muesli, honey, coconut milk, blueberries, nuts, raisins, etc. You name it. Then you simply freeze the mixture.
Thanks to Healthline, we’ve got this amazingly easy recipe to get you started:
Trick Or Treat Strawberry-Banana ‘Nice Cream’ Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 large, peeled, frozen banana
- 1 cup (144 grams) of frozen strawberries
Directions:
Cut the banana into slices and the strawberries into halves. Pulse in a food processor until smooth, scraping the sides when necessary.
It is amazing to serve all your trick-or-treat festivities. The kids will love it and devour it too.
Fruit and Vegetable Chips
Who doesn’t enjoy a good packet of chips? But it’s that feeling afterward that makes you feel really guilty. That’s why you need to start baking your fruits and vegetables instead. All you need to do is slice them up thinly, bake them and wait for them to go crispy. It’s also a win-win because not only are you getting your chips for trick or treat, but you’re consuming all your fiber and vegetables for the day. You can’t get any better than that.
If you boost your consumption of fruits and vegetables, you will also run the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers. You should also remember that many ‘vegetable’ chips at the store contain massive amounts of sugar. That’s why it’s best to just make your own fruit and vegetable chips for a healthier trick-or-treat experience.
Dried Fruit For Trick Or Treat Surprises
This sounds boring, but if you’re creative there’s a lot you can do. We also think that dried fruit is highly undervalued. In addition, dried fruit is extremely high in concentrated nutrients and sugar, which makes it even sweeter and calorie-denser than fresh fruit. Therefore, you need to beware of your portions. Many studies do prove that eating dried fruit is very healthy for you and that those who eat it have a good diet quality and nutrient intake. Studies explain that people who eat dried fruit also have lower body weight.
You can get dried fruit in every store, you just need to make sure that it doesn’t contain any added sugar.
Build A Popsicle
Trick or treat surprises can be made healthier by making your very own popsicles. These are so easy and everybody loves them. Moreover, you will get all the healthy properties of fruit without the extra sugar and artificial ingredients of packaged varieties.
Healthline suggests preparing them by blending your choice of fruit with water, juice, or milk. Pour the mixture into popsicle molds or plastic cups, place a popsicle stick in the center of each, and freeze overnight. You can do this trick or treat surprises a lot creamier too by blending it with yogurt instead. You can also or stick a popsicle stick straight into a yogurt cup and freeze it for a quick dessert.
Chickpeas Roasted In Cinnamon
We love chickpeas because they’re high in fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. They’re jam-packed with nutrition and flavor and keep you full for ages. Just one cup (164 grams) of cooked chickpeas contains 15 grams of high-quality protein and 13 grams of fiber. They’re also known to improve your heart health and reduce your risk of certain conditions, like type 2 diabetes.
And who knew that they’d also do the perfect trick-or-treat surprises?
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (164 grams) of cooked chickpeas
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (8 grams) of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) of salt
Simply preheat your oven to 400°F (204°C) and bake the chickpeas for 15 minutes. In a bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Once you’ve done this, remove your chickpeas from the oven, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the cinnamon topping. Stir until fully coated and bake for another 15 minutes.
Who Needs a Chocolate Mouse When You Can Have Avocado Pudding?
Seriously though, you’ve got to try this next time you’re craving a chocolatey pudding. Avocados are wonderful for creating a creamy trick-or-treat pudding. They’re very healthy and loaded with fiber, healthy fats, and antioxidants. You’ll also get a bunch of minerals like vitamin C, folate, and potassium out of them. What’s better than a banana? An avocado is.
Do you know why? Well, according to nutrition experts, avocados contain fat and fiber that helps reduce appetite, which is essential for weight control. Better yet, you can make this creamy pudding recipe for your next guest that says ‘trick or treat.’ All you need to do is blend an avocado with a few simple ingredients, like cocoa powder and a sweetener of your choice.
This recipe uses maple syrup but it’s up to you what you’d prefer. Raw honey or stevia are great options too.
Juicy Apple Treats
Apples are fantastic for a satisfying snack, but have you ever tried cooking them? You won’t want to eat them any other way and a little trick or treat might be the time to give cooked apples a try. Health experts explain that apples are very high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other plant compounds. In fact, just one medium-sized apple (182 grams) packs 17% of the DV for fiber, 9% of the DV for vitamin C, and powerful plant compounds. These include polyphenols that might also protect against chronic disease.
You’ll also have extra protection against cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and weight gain by eating apples. These are easy to prepare. Simply cut the apple up into chunks, add a bit of melted coconut oil and cinnamon and bake for 20–30 minutes at 350°F (176°C).
Make Your Own Gummy Sweets
This one might not suit the vegan because the recipe uses gelatin. However, there are vegan alternatives you could use to make something similar. These sweeties are healthier as a trick-or-treat surprise because they contain collagen, which is the most abundant protein in your body. Researchers explain that its primary goal is to help tissues resist stretching.
Instead of tucking into a box of processed sweets, you might as well eat these gummies which contain multiple health benefits. Especially for your joints and skin. Trick or treat sweets for Halloween are much better when they’re homemade as they don’t contain added sugar. If you’re a busy person, then you can make these because they’re relatively quick and easy to prepare. Collagen is also found in gelatin, which is a common food additive made by cooking collagen.
Most of the gummies you buy at the shops are made from gelatin. Therefore, you can easily make your own at home using just fruit juice and honey.
Give this recipe a try. These trick-or-treat cherry gummies are divine.
Guilt-Free Cookie Dough
I bet you all love cookies every now and then. At times like these, when you hear the words ‘trick or treat’ it calls for a cookie treat. But nobody enjoys the after-effects of indulging in one too many. Admittedly, nobody ever has just one.
So this is why you need to get a little bit creative. This is an edible cookie dough that has an egg-free batter. This dough is a healthier option and uses chickpeas instead of flour to increase the fiber and protein content.
Chickpea-Based Healthy Cookie Dough
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (164 grams) of cooked chickpeas
- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) of brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (65 grams) of natural peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) of oats
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of skim milk
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
- a pinch of salt
- a handful of chocolate chips
In a food processor, blend all the ingredients except the chocolate chips. When smooth, place the dough in a bowl and mix in the chocolate chips.
At the end of the day, there are always hundreds of healthier alternatives to most of your sweet trick or treat favorites. You don’t have to sacrifice fun and good times. Just keep being mindful about the ones you choose. The bottom line is that processed candy and sugary treats are not healthy for you. They’re all packed with sugar and additives, so you should avoid these whenever possible.
These recipes are also good to have on hand, so if you’re craving something sweet then try making yourself a nutritious treat from the ingredients you have on hand. Happy, healthy Halloween! Trick or treat?
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