Spooky Eats for a Healthier Halloween

Witches, gremlins, and ghosts will soon be stalking the streets. And if you want to avoid a trick or two, you’ll need to provide door knockers, party guests, and visiting vampires with some suitably spooky treats. 

Standard snacks, nibbles, and meals around All Hallows’ Eve tend to be frightfully full of sugar, E number,s and refined carbs. But it’s perfectly possible to make wholesome Halloween fayre that’s still suitably spooky. 

So, get your cauldron bubbling and prepare to cook up some frightening foods…

Terrifying treats that can’t be beat

Those werewolves, warlocks, and wraiths who’ll be knocking on your door will expect something tasty to get their fangs into. Here are some freaky and fun ideas that are better than shop-bought ‘candy’ any day. 

Devilish date protein balls

Chewy, sweet, and full of vitamins and minerals, these scary snacks will go down well with any would-be pranksters who ring your doorbell. 

Ingredients:

• 50 g oats
• 40 g crumbled pecans
• 12 Medjool dates (destoned)
• 20 g pure cacao powder
• 25 g peanut butter
• Water
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth and consistent. 
2. Remove the mixture from the blender, and roll into balls of equal size. 
3. Makes around 10 evenly sized balls. 
4. Store in the fridge. 

Frightful flapjacks with coconut fangs

Nuts and seeds provide protein, healthy fats, and vitamins, and the oats and dried fruits are a great source of fibre. The coconut ‘fangs’ add a suitably scary element. 

Ingredients:

• 100 g oats
• 60 g mixed pumpkin and sunflower seeds
• 30 g pistachios
• 40 g dried cranberries/cherries or similar red fruit
• 50 ml maple syrup
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 15 g dried coconut flakes

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 200C. 
2. Toast the oats, seeds and nuts in a large pan over a low heat for about 5 mins until the oats are golden. 
3. Transfer to a large bowl and combine with the fruit, maple syrup and coconut oil. 
4. Line a tin with baking paper and spread the flapjack mixture evenly. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown. 
5. While still warm, sprinkle the coconut flakes over the top of the flapjacks.

A monstrous meal plan for Halloween

If you’re hosting some fiendish friends on October 31st, then the following meal plan ideas are suitably scary, while still supporting a well-balanced diet. These veggie and vegan Halloween food ideas will go down well with everyone except Count Dracula and other blood sucking vampires. 

Starters that’ll have everyone under your spell

Here are some Halloween starter ideas for a delicious snack or entree. 

Perilous pumpkin hummus

Combining seasonal pumpkin with traditional hummus ingredients, this is the perfect starter for a Halloween repast. 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium pumpkin
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• Juice of ½ a lemon
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 400 g can of chickpeas
• ½ tsp paprika

Method:

1. Set your oven to 200C. 
2. Cut off the top of the pumpkin, about three-quarters of the way up. Scoop out the pumpkin seeds and discard (or make a snack by roasting them separately in oil and salt). Scoop out as much of the flesh as you can and chop into evenly-sized chunks, mix with oil and garlic cloves, and place in a roasting dish. Transfer to the oven and roast for 45 mins. 
3. Once the pumpkin is cooked through, place it in a blender with the lemon juice, tahini, chickpeas, and paprika. Blend to a smooth paste. Add more oil, tahini, or lemon juice as required. Season. 
4. Return the hummus back into the empty pumpkin, and serve with crudite. 

Freaky Frankenstein guacamole with blue maze nacho chips

Shape this guacamole into a circular ‘head’ shape, then place blue maze nacho chips at the top of the plate to look like the monster’s spiky black hair. 

Ingredients:

• 1 large tomato
• 3 ripe avocados
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 small red onion
• 1 red chilli, deseeded
• Blue maze nacho chips

Method:

1. Finely dice the tomato and place it in a bowl with the avocados. Mash together. Add the lime juice. Finely chop the onion and red chilli, and combine with the avocados. Season. 
2. To serve, shape the guacamole into a circle on a plate, then arrange the nachos at one end. 

Mysterious mains for All Hallows Eve

Ask your gruesome guests to get their scythes and forks ready for these demonic dishes. 

Stuffed banshee bell peppers

The carved faces in these bell peppers add a terrifying touch to these delicious, nutrient-rich meals.  

Ingredients:

• 4 large red bell peppers
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 100 g couscous
• 1 veg stock cube
• 1 medium red onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 3 tbsp toasted almond slivers
• Handful parsely

Method:

1. Set your oven to 200°C. 
2. Cut off the top of the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Using a sharp knife, cut scary eyes and teeth shapes into the side of the peppers to make faces. 
3. Bring about 150 ml of water to the boil, mix in a jug with the stock cube until the cube is fully dissolved. Put the couscous in a bowl and pour over the stock. Cover with a tea towel and leave to stand for 10 mins. Fluff up and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil.
4. In the meantime, gently fry the onion and garlic in the remaining 3 tbsp olive oil for 10 mins. Add the spices and cook for another 30 seconds, then toss in the nuts for another minute. Remove from the heat and mix in the finely chopped parsley. 
5. Stuff each pepper with a quarter of the mixture, and place the ‘lid’ of the pepper on the top. Then bake, covered in foil, for 20 mins. 

A ghoulish goulash

OK, we admit that the main reason for this one is the rather terrible play on words. But it’s tasty, can be made vegan, is super nutritious, and is a perfect hearty meal for a chilly and creepy night…

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 celery stick, sliced finely
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• Small glass red wine
• 1 l veg stock
• 3 small potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 400 g tin butter beans, drained
• 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
• 150 ml soured cream

Method:

1. Gently cook the onion, carrot, celery, and peppers on a medium heat with the oil in a casserole dish until softened. Add the garlic and continue cooking for another 3 mins. Stir in the paprika and then the tomato puree. 
2. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half, then pour in the veg stock, potatoes, butter beans, and chopped tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 40 mins until the potatoes are soft. 
3. Serve with bread and sour cream. 

Demonic dessert for October 31st

Before your guests hop on the broomsticks and head home, give them a final sweet (but nutritious) treat to see them on their way. 

Bloody-berry crumble

Give your visitors a shock with this vampire-friendly pudding — as the red berries cook, they’ll release a deep red, blood-like liquid…

Ingredients

The crumble:

• 40 g chilled, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 25 g ground almonds
• 30 g plain flour
• 20 g muscovado sugar

The fruit:

• 100 g frozen raspberries
• 50 g frozen blackberries
• 50 g frozen blackcurrants
• 50 g frozen redcurrants (or any bag of mixed frozen red berries)
• 50 g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Combine all crumble ingredients in a bowl. Rub the mixture between your fingers to achieve a crumb-like texture.
3. In a bowl, mix all the fruit, sugar, and lemon juice. Place in a baking dish and sprinkle the crumble evenly over the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the ‘blood’ from the berries is bubbling through. 
4. Serve with low-sugar ice cream or a vegan alternative. 

All treat, no trick

As our Halloween recipes show, creating healthy, nutritious, and fun food for party guests and trick-or-treaters is perfectly possible. So, whether you’re feeding starving skeletons or ravenous wraiths, you’ll know they’ll be getting what they need to thrive, whether they’re dead or alive…

Happy Hueloween!

Words by Len Williams