Spooky fruit and other healthy Halloween snacks to balance all that candy

Brenda Braslow, MS, RDN, LDN, CDCES - Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES)

When it comes to Halloween, candy is everywhere, but you can balance the abundance of empty-calorie sugar bombs with some fruit turned into creepy fun snacks.

Snack on some spooky Halloween fruit

You’ll feel good about these healthy Halloween snacks to serve at a spooky party or to nosh on before trick-or-treating. These super simple holiday creations will get you into the Halloween spirit while giving you your daily fruit and veggie servings.

Look at a couple of nutrient comparisons between fruit Halloween snacks and some typical candy.

Spooky Banana Ghosts: 57 calories, 14g carbohydrates, 7g sugar, 2g fiber per serving Candy corn, 15 pieces: 111 calories, 28g carbs, 22g sugar, zero fiber.

Clementine Orange Jack-O-Lanterns: 35 calories, 9g carbs, 7g sugar, 1g fiber, plus 36% mg vitamin C (60% RDA) and an assortment of other vitamins and minerals per serving. Butterfinger fun-size bar: 85 calories, 13g carbs, 8g sugar, zero fiber, and negligible vitamins and minerals.

So have some spooky fun in the kitchen by making these delightful and easy festive fruit Halloween snacks sure to please the young and young-at-heart.

Spooky Banana Ghosts

5 bananas
15 chocolate chips

Cut each banana into uneven “halves” to make ghosts of varying sizes. Gently press chocolate chips into each banana for eyes and mouth. Place ghosts "flying" in different directions on a plate.

One serving (½ banana): 57 cal, 14g carbs, 7g sugar, 2g fiber, 1g protein, .5g fat, and 216 mg potassium

Clementine Jack-O-Lanterns

12 clementines
1 stalk celery

Peel the clementines. Cut the celery into ½-inch pieces. Place a celery stem in the center of each clementine.

One serving: 35 calories, 9g carbs, 7g sugar, 1g fiber, 1g protein, 36% mg vitamin C (60% RDA), and various other vitamins and minerals

Goblin Apple Peanut Butter Choppers

2 green apples
8 tablespoons peanut butter
48 shelled sunflower seeds
2 strawberries

Cut each apple into quarters. On the skin side, make a slanted v-shaped cut along the center of each quarter to fill with the peanut butter. Fill each apple piece with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter. Near one of the "mouth" edges, place 6 sunflower seeds on peanut butter to look like crooked teeth.

One serving: 126 calories, 9g carbs, 5g sugar, 2g fiber, 4g protein

Pumpkin Cuties

12 clementines

Decorate unpeeled clementines by drawing Jack-O-Lantern faces on them with a permanent marker. You can keep this bowl of Cuties on the counter, for a healthy grab-and-go snack during Halloween season.

One serving: 35 calories, 9g carbs, 7g sugar, 1g fiber, 1g protein, 36% mg vitamin C (60% RDA), and an assortment of other vitamins and minerals

Olive-Stuffed Eyeballs

12 pimento-stuffed green olives, halved crosswise
12 mozzarella cheese balls, drained
12 thin slices ham

Push an olive half into each cheese ball, flat side out. Wrap ham around the cheese ball, so that the olive side is exposed like an eyeball. Arrange on a plate with the olive side showing.

One serving: 51 calories, zero carbs, zero sugar, zero fiber, 5g protein

Carrot Fingers

12 small carrots
12 almond slices

Clean carrots. Cut a slit on the carrot's pointed end to place the almond slice. Place the carrots, pointed ends up, in a hummus or guacamole dip to look like "fingers" coming out of the dip.

One serving: 14 calories, 3g carbs, 1g sugar, 1g fiber, zero protein

By enjoying some of these healthy fruit Halloween snacks before the sweets, most people can avoid creepy-crawly tummies after eating way too much candy!