The Healthiest Halloween Candy On The Planet

The heck with the trick or treaters, I'm keeping these for myself. Great portion control afternoon snack. Where can I find them?

Sue

I don't buy candy for trick or treaters either. I buy mini bags of chocolate covered pretzels and mini bags of Angie's natural popcorn. Our neighbors would think we were weirdos if we handed out prunes and nuts. LOL

NaturallyK

I sat last year at our local "Trick or Trunk" and saw quite a few kids eating those little pretzels. I think they are a great idea! We had one lady pass out those glow-in-the dark bracelets, kids loved them!

Libby

I like the idea of giving out pistachios. Have you thought about mandarin oranges? You could have your kids help draw jack-o-lantern faces on them.

JaLynn

My Husband looks forward to Halloween because it's the only time of year we have candy in the house. He buys it! He buys BIG huge bags of it and then asks me what I would eat. I tell him, not thank you!!

Jennifer Drummond

I JUST bought those pretzels the other day!! I guess I'm a year behind, but I thought they were a great alternative to all the processed junk I used to give out. And it helps me to not be tempted to eat all the leftovers we used to have! I can pack them in my son's lunchbox instead.

I like the pistachios idea, but you're right...with all the nut allergies out there today, I probably would not buy them to hand out for that reason. But what a healthy alternative!

What about Yummy Earth organic lollypops?? My kids love those!

Trisha

Last year, we gave glow in the dark vampire teeth, glow in the dark bouncy balls, Halloween temporary tattoos, and sixlets. Who knew they even made those anymore?! I ordered everything but the candy Tom Oriental Trading Company. They've got great alternatives to candy for next year, maybe!!!

Rhea Jordan

A healthy treat that MANY kids want while trick-or-treating is a juice box. They are thirsty when walking around and grateful for a drink. However this year for the first time I didn't get the 100% juice boxes. I used to get them from MegaLoMart, but is year they didn't have the generic brand for sale. The other juice boxes were out of my price range. But if you are determined to go healthy, if 100% juice is left over at least my kid can have that...but not the cheap crap I bought this year. (teeny water bottles are another option)

Zennifer

Both my kids have quite a few food allergies but Halloween is really hard since one is allergic to chocolate and the other is allergic to sugar! We hand out toys instead. This year it's bouncy balls that look like eyeballs, monster pop up thingys and some kind of slime stuff.

Doris

my favorite 5 year old would be EXTREMELY excited to get pistachios. He usually only eats a few things from his bucket on Halloween night and then forgets about it.

nic.

We love pistachios in our house, but I could imagine parents also being worried about choking or kids not being able to open the pistachios themselves.

I love the idea of vampire teeth, and other little trinket toys, I think they are perfect and my kids wouldn't even realize they didn't get candy. I think they would be pretty happy with the pretzels too.

Samantha

Also, this chart gives some great examples of alternate brands to purchase instead of the major candy brands: http://foodbabe.com/2012/10/10/does-your-favorite-candy-hav…

Samantha

I think these are all good ideas. I have a 6 & 3 yr old who want to go to as many houses as there legs will take them, but it's too much candy. I appreciate the healthy alternatives mixed in. I usually regift some of their candy back to the neighborhood kids (without them knowing). I love prunes but I would be embarrassed to hand them out, I think it's just they're stigma of assisting older people in the bathroom!

Erin

I would like the pistachios for myself and my kids would love the sticker. They don't eat much of the candy except for Smarties and M&Ms.

One of my boys loves the Halloween pretzels and looks forward to collecting them every year.

Lourdes

Samantha, thanks for the great website

Sue

I remember when I was a kid, a lady offered us either a nickel or a little pencil eraser. So trust me, you're not the worst that's out there! Lol! I handed out the pretzels last year and I think they're a great idea! They're still totally kid-friendly even though its not candy... I don't know how I feel about the pistachios but the packaging seems kid-friendly, still not a bad idea! Luckily for me, there are a very few amount of kids in my neighborhood, so I buy one SMALL bag of candy and manage to get rid of all of it ;)

Lisa

Actually pistachios are technically a seed, not a nut, so they may be ok for those with nut allergies. Parents need to comb through those bags anyhow, so maybe you'll give a healthy treat to some parent!

Ann

I love all of the ideas but want to point out that the toys, while better for teeth and health, will ultimately end up in the landfil sitting for centuries - a whole different problem! How about good dark chocolate treats from Whole Foods?

Kristin

i'm gonna look for these pistachios. my kids (8 + 9) would love to get this as a treat!

april

Some dark chocolate covered pretzels would be nice. They'd get the chocolate fix and all the great anti-oxidants with the pretzel. The trick would be finding some without all the additives and preservatives. I'm not sure if you can make your own and give them out. I think parents would throw anything away and handmade.

Carrie @ Season It Already!