Halloween "Candy"

[rysmom14]

Hi All,

Since Halloween is right around the corner i was wondering if anyone had any fun ideas or suggestions for Halloween "candy". Daycare is having a trick or treat day and we are all sending treats for them to collect. I wanted to send a couple of different things with Ryan so that he can still "trick or treat" but have more snack options than cheez-its. I am not all that crafty, but am willing to give it a try as far as decorating, or different packaging (like cute hallowen bags). Also family has been asking what they can get him. So far I told them cheese sticks and cheez- its. Are there any cookie or treat recipes that I can make at home that I can just leave out the sugar?

I think pixy sticks and fun dips are safe, but he doesn’t really like them so I don’t give them to him normally, but since it is a holiday occasion, I wanted to have some options for him. Also I think sugar free fat free pudding is safe so maybe I can use that as an icing? Who knows! Thanks for the help!

[colormist]

I have tried to make many different types of cookies and though I technically made them with safe ingredients, they all tasted WAY too sweet for me to eat more than a bite.

Why not a small toy in the gift bag? There a mystery mini-fig bags available in stores now. I personally have purchased Lego, Doctor Who, and My Little Pony mini-fig bags. They might be a little expensive (usually around $2 each), but it would be a fun alternative to the foods he may not even want to eat. Other things like glowsticks, fake mustaches, fake tattoos, confetti poppers, bubbles, kazoos (this website has some nice alternatives: www.thejennyevolution.com/50-candy-alternatives-trick-or-treat-halloween/) might be even more fun for him than candy or cookies.

[charlie]

Do you use glucose powder, if so, get some halloween moulds and make him some jelly sweets. this recipe uses fruit teabag infusion, but I also made some chocolate ones using a teaspoon of cocoa powder and milk instead of liquid and an extra teaspoon of gelatine to help it really set. sugarfreelifeblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/jelly-sweets/


Also as Colormist suggested, non food bags always went down well with Megs, Get some clear food bags, fill them with lego, or small toys, or pens. Tape the top and add a cut out pumpkin picture, or anything halloweeny, that way he has something that lasts too.

[rysmom14]

Thanks! These are good ideas. Colormist, I bought some little stickers and things fo him. Charlie, I have never used the glucose powder. I will have to check it out.

[ukbill]

Dextrose is the safer alternative. Glucose can be 40% "other sugars" and still legally be called 100% pure

[hfimomof3]

The treats below won't work for school but if you send non-food treats in to school then these might work as a little pick-me-up after school:

shortcrust pastry:
Heat oven to 350 F.
1/2 cup white all purpose flour
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) salted butter (softened).
Mix the flour and butter with fingertips until they resemble breadcrumbs.
Add a tiny amount of cold water, just barely enough to bring the mixture together into a ball, then roll the ball in a layer of flour until it is coated all over. Do not knead.
Wrap in plastic wrap and cool in refrigerator until it is just hard enough to roll out (about 15 minutes usually); if you wait too long it will be hard as a rock and then you will have to thaw it till it is soft enough to roll out).
OR, roll out immediately between two sheets of parchment paper.
Rolling: roll out until about one quarter inch thick. Cut into squares about 2 inches wide (no need to be exact here, I just think it cooks better if you bake it as smaller biscuits rather than as one enormous pie crust).
Bake 10 to 15 minutes until edges are just brown.

It should have a nice crumbly texture, as long as you didn't add too much water or knead it too much.

Another treat I like is plain whipped cream (I mean, freshly whipped, from cream; store-bought whipped cream usually has added sugar).
Rarely, I will make cream puffs and fill them with freshly whipped cream. This is a lot of work. If you can find ice cream cones that are sugar-free, then they taste great filled with freshly whipped cream.

Another good treat is homemade crepes. Again, you have to make them by hand so they aren't sweet. If you add a little baking powder to these you can deep fry the batter and make something a bit like funnel cake (google this if you don't know what it is).

As you might have noticed these are also great recipes to help your fructose intolerant child gain weight

My favorite treat was cheese straws when i was a kid but I haven't found a recipe that replicates the deliciousness I remember.