Spooky fruit and other healthy Halloween snacks to offset the sugar rush

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 serving these healthy Halloween snacks at a spooky party or noshing on them before trick-or-treating. These super-simple holiday creations will get you into the Halloween spirit while helping you meet your daily fruit and veggie servings.

2 Fruit Halloween snacks compared to traditional candy

	Spooky Banana Ghosts (1 ghost)- see recipe below	Candy Corn (15 pieces)
Calories	57	111
Carbohydrates (g)	14	28
Sugar (g)	7	22
Fiber (g)	2	0

	Clementine Orange Jack-O-Lanterns (1) -see recipe below	Butterfinger (1 fun-size bar)
Calories	35	85
Carbohydrates (g)	9	13
Sugar (g)	7	8
Fiber (g)	1	0
Vitamin C (mg)	36 mg or 60% RDA	0
Potassium (mg)	216	0

Snack on our favorite festive fruit Halloween treats

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 a mouth. Place ghosts "flying" in different directions on a plate.

One ghost: 57 calories, 14g of carbs, 7g sugar, 2g fiber

Clementine Jack-O-Lanterns

12 clementines
1 stalk celery

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

One Jack-O-Lantern: 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 (8 servings)

2 green apples
8 tablespoons peanut butter, additional for "glue"
48 shelled sunflower seeds
2 strawberries

Homemade Candy Eyes

2 tablespoons white chocolate chips
16 mini chocolate chips

Cut each apple into quarters. On the skin side, make a slanted, V-shaped cut along the center of each quarter and remove the piece. Spread each apple piece with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter. Along one of the "mouth" edges, stick 6 sunflower seeds into it as the crooked teeth. Slice strawberries thinly lengthwise, and place a slice on the peanut butter in each "mouth" to create the tongue.

For eyes purchase pre-made candy eyeballs or make your own. Melt white chocolate in microwave for 1 minute. Create tiny, even dollops of melted chocolate on parchment paper, using a small spoon or piping bag to make the eyes. Before the white chocolate hardens, place a mini chocolate chip upside down in the middle of the white chocolate for the eyeball's center. You’ll make 16 eyes total. Stick the eyes on the apple edge above the "mouth," using a tiny dab of peanut butter for "glue."

One serving with homemade chocolate eyeballs~ 146 calories, 11 g carbs, 7 g 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, resembling 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 whole carrots
12 almond slices

Clean carrots. Cut a slit on the pointed end of the carrot to insert the almond slice. Place the carrots, almond ends up, in a hummus or guacamole dip to resemble "fingers" emerging from 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!

Spooky fruit and other healthy Halloween snacks to offset the sugar rush

Snack on some spooky Halloween fruit

2 Fruit Halloween snacks compared to traditional candy