WFPB Halloween Party Foods Your Kids Will Love
The leaves on the trees are turning deep shades of red, yellow and orange. Pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns are appearing in the stores along with scary masks and orange and black decorations. Halloween is just around the corner. It’s time for kids to dress up, go trick or treating and have parties where they’ll indulge in delectable sweet treats. Oops! Your kids are WFPB now. Those fun-size candy bars and the candy corn aren’t on the list of compliant foods.
You could make an exception for this one day out of the year. That’s totally your call. You’ll get no judgment here. Or, you could find recipes for treats that fit into their new healthier lifestyle. In that vein, I’ve compiled a list of 10 ideas from YouTube and the internet that will get you started on creating a WFPB Halloween for your little ones. Most of these recipes are mainly for parties and not trick-or-treaters, but there are at least a couple you could use for both. Let’s get started.
- Popcorn Bags
This idea came from my past. I live in a condominium community. Except for one brief period, it has always been all adults. In the pre-Covid days, I put a basket of treats outside my door on Halloween and my neighbors would help themselves. Once or twice I put baskets in our lobbies as well. The last year I did it, I was already on the WFPB path and I decided to do bags of popcorn. I did three batches and seasoned them each in different ways.
There are so many ways that you can season popcorn. Instead of using butter or oil to get the seasoning to stick, you can spray the popcorn with a little broth, vinegar, liquid aminos or water. Then season it in any way you like. Italian seasoning and nooch would be delicious, or for something sweet, you can drizzle the popcorn with chocolate. The options are as vast as your imagination. For one idea, Check out the blog www.krocksinthekitchen.com for a blog post titled, “Oil-Free Chili Cheez Popcorn.” there’s a video on their YouTube channel as well.
Put your popcorn in decorative, Halloween-themed bags and pass it out to trick-or-treaters or serve it at your or your kid’s Halloween party. Popcorn is high in fiber and, depending on how you season it, is also low in calories and fat. Forget the candy corn. Do real popcorn instead.
2. Apple Nachos
This is something I just discovered in a video by YouTube channel PB with J and then when I researched it I discovered there are many recipes out there.
You just slice up an apple — there are multiple ways to do it — and spread it out on a plate. Then you top it with a tasty sauce. You can use a healthy date caramel sauce, your favorite nut butter, maple syrup or even a WFPB chocolate sauce. Then you just top it off with a bunch of toppings that can be anything from dried fruit to nuts to chocolate chips or cocoa nibs. You can use anything your imagination can come up with that fits into the WFPB parameters. For a recipe on how to make this, look for The Simple Veganista. Go to https://simple-veganista.com/apple-nachos/ .
I really enjoyed these myself and this could be really fun for a party. You set up a toppings bar and let each guest make their own. Kids will love it.
3. Peanut Butter Cup Energy Bites
This is a YouTube short by the Minimalist Baker. These little bites look delicious. They’re made with dates, oats, peanut butter, dark chocolate and chia seeds. If your kids or their guests have a peanut allergy, substitute sunflower butter for the peanut butter.
This recipe does require the use of a food processor. If you don’t have one, a blender might work if it’s powerful enough. It’s a thick concoction, so your blender might struggle a bit. I didn’t try this recipe, so I can’t say for sure how it will work in the blender, but I think it’s worth a shot. Because of the dates, you definitely cannot hand-mix this.
In the video, these were finished by covering them in chocolate. They look so good. It makes me wish I could eat peanut butter. Give it a try for me.
Peanut Butter Cup Energy Bites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSYcpQ0vVuI
4. Vegetable Party Platter
This is one recipe in a video from Chefclub titled “Halloween Menu, The Spookiest One Yet!” The other recipes in this video aren’t WFPB, but this vegetable platter looks great. It’s the fifth recipe in the video. You use a 9 x 13 glass baking dish and arrange the raw vegetables, which include cauliflower, red and green bell pepper, zucchini, summer squash and carrots, into the image of an evil clown.
This one is so fun and so appropriately creepy, especially the teeth. You can make hummus or another WFPB dip to go with it. This dish could be the highlight of your party and will encourage your young guests to eat their veggies. Definitely include this in your party menu.
Vegetable Platter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCgbRFXefi8
5. Spooky Baked Chips
This is a YouTube short. This video is from Kaitlyn Anderson and the video is called, “Spooky Baked Halloween Chips”. All you need is some of your favorite tortillas — Whole wheat tortillas or corn tortillas will work — and some Halloween-themed cookie cutters. Use the cookie cutters to cut your tortillas into Halloween shapes and bake them until crispy. For time and temperature instructions, look in the video’s description.
The recipe does use some oil, but you can easily omit it. You can season the chips before or after baking. Seasonings like garlic powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast or taco seasoning would work well. To complete this party snack, serve these chips with guacamole, salsa, hummus or any other WFPB dip. I haven’t tried them, but they look easy and fun. If you try it, leave me a comment to tell me how it worked.
Spooky Baked Halloween Chips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcKDgc2ztQI
6. Creepy Halloween Eyeballs
This is a recipe by Simple Cooking Channel. The eyeballs are made with lychee fruit, blueberries and strawberry jam. Raspberry jam would also work fine. Try to find some sugarless jam. If you can’t, it may work to blend up some raspberries into a thick smoothie consistency.
These are really quite simple to make and being that it’s all fruit, it’s a healthy sweet treat. And they really do look like bloody eyeballs. I would spread a little jam over the top of the outside once you have your eyeball put together. It will add to the bloody effect. This would be a fun addition to any party buffet.
Creepy Halloween Eyeball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eeTLFj-n2w
7. Spooky Apple Cider
Now technically this isn’t WFPB since I don’t think any of the WFPB diet plans allow the drinking of fruit juices. But Halloween is a special occasion, so perhaps you could slip this one by. Besides, fruit juice is still a better choice than soda pop and you’ll have to serve some kind of beverage at your party.
This recipe is by SheriWilson and it’s another YouTube short titled, “Spooky Apple Cider”. You carve some apples into the shape of skulls and then float them in a punch bowl full of apple cider. Most supermarkets will carry apple cider at this time of year. Try to find one without added sugar. Trader Joe’s usually has one or more apple cider products during the fall season.
I love how easy this is and it adds to the creepy vibe of your celebration. Your guests will enjoy the cider too. I didn’t try, so I don’t know if the carving is challenging, but the video didn’t make it look too hard. Good Luck.
Spooky Cider Apple
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ssIWptp5p3Y
8. Caramel Apples
Yes, there is a WFPB way to make this classic Halloween treat and YouTube channel Chef AJ shows you how with the help of Dietician Julieanna Hever. The caramel is made with just date paste and caramel extract. Then you can provide the kids with a selection of toppings and let them create their own caramel apples. You can offer non-dairy chocolate chips, coconut flakes, nuts and anything else you can come up with.
You can get the sticks for your caramel apples at a craft store or a baking store. I recommend going to Michael’s Crafts or you could try the craft section at Walmart. If worse comes to worse, use chopsticks. To make your date paste you will need a food processor or blender.
Interestingly enough this video doesn’t do a recipe for the date paste itself, so try this recipe by Nutmeg Notebook at:
https://nutmegnotebook.com/posts/how-to-make-date-paste/
You can find the caramel apple recipe at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwA7BgtyOME
9. Halloween Potato Chips
This is a recipe from the YouTube channel, Cooking With Plants. This is another snack chip, only unlike the last one, this one is a potato chip rather than a tortilla chip. It’s a little work-intensive, but it will be so fun for the kids. You just need some good-sized potatoes and at least one Halloween-themed cookie cutter. Hopefully, you have a few Halloween cookie cutters, so you can make a few different shapes.
You can cook these chips in your oven, an air fryer or even in the microwave. Yes, you heard that right — in the microwave. This is the method that is used in the video. Then season them any way you choose. Anja, the Cooking With Plants proprietor, recommends several options such as onion or garlic powder, Mrs. Dash seasoning, nutritional yeast or just leaving them plain. They’re also great for dipping in hummus, guacamole, cheese sauce, salsa or any other WFPB dip you can come up with. This simple potato chip can go with just about anything and is popular with kids. Anja says her son is a big fan of this recipe. So give this a try for your next Halloween party. It’s sure to be a hit.
Halloween Potato Crisps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4DisxcP2pI
10. Healthy Snacks For Halloween
This video doesn’t just present a single recipe. It offers six fun recipes that are made of fruit, veggies and a few other ingredients.
One of my favorite recipes in this video is the “spiders on a log.” A celery stick serves as the log and you fill it with peanut butter and drizzle melted chocolate on the peanut butter to create your spiders. The woman in the video did have some trouble making the spiders, so be prepared for a little trial and error.
I also liked the “tangerine pumpkins”. This one is so simple and pretty cute. You just peel the tangerine and use a small piece of celery to make the stem of the pumpkin.
The Apple mouths are easily the creepiest and at Halloween, you have to have creepy, right? You use a couple of apple slices stuck together with peanut or nut butter to form the mouth and then some kind of nuts for teeth. If you or your guests have a peanut allergy, use sunflower seed butter instead.
And these are just three of the six recipes in this video. It’s definitely worth a watch, particularly if you have kids that you’ll be entertaining.
Conclusion
Halloween is probably my favorite holiday, so I had a lot of fun researching these ideas. I think you’ll have a lot of fun putting together these recipes for your Halloween party or just as entertainment for your family. These recipes prove that you can have loads of Halloween fun without the high-sugar, high-fat, traditional store-bought candies that will only do bad things for you and your kid’s health. So I hope you’ll use these recipes as a jumping-off point to create your own healthy, happy and fun Halloween.
To follow my journey follow me here at wholefoodplantbest.medium.com and at www.pinterest.com/wholefoodplantbest.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a medical professional. The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making dietary changes or using any advice given here.