Reading Time: 5 minutes Terrified Of Too Many Sweets? Try These Non-candy Halloween Treats!
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Halloween can be a terrifying time for parents. The sheer amount of candy that kids receive is enough to make most parents shiver. More kids equal more candy, which equals a more frightening situation.
It is estimated that Americans will spend more than $3 billion on candy this Halloween. It’s also estimated that each child will eat roughly 7,000 calories on Halloween. From the candy that is consumed, each child will eat approximately 3 cups or 220 sugar packs worth of sugar on Halloween.
There are snack options that contain less sugar than most of the popular candy treats.
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It Doesn’t Have To Be Scary
Unless you’re giving out snack packs of carrots or hummus and pretzel flats, fun and healthy Halloween treats are hard to come by. In moderation, many options are less sugary and better for our bodies.
If you’re looking for different options to hand out to trick-or-treaters this year, a variety of non-candy options will ensure kids will remember your house and come back year after year because you give out good things.
No one wants to be known as the house that gives out bad candy or treats. Is there even such a thing as bad candy? Yes. Have you ever had a circus peanut? Why would anyone consider giving those out to kids?
Non-Candy Food Options
Many treats are still food but not candy you can hand out on Halloween. Non-candy treat options are also great if you want to be allergy-friendly with the goodies you give out.
The non-candy items aren’t much more costly than popular chocolate or sugar loads candy.
Sweet Non-Candy Treats
Some of these food options still contain sugar, but less than is found in popular candy.
If you still want to give out something sweet but want to avoid candy, you might want to consider Fruit Snacks. Annie’s, Motts, and Welch’s each make fruit snacks available on Amazon and in big box stores. Handing this snack out in place of chocolate still gives the trick-or-treaters a sense that they’re getting something fun and sweet to eat.
You’ve eaten dehydrated fruit, and it’s still real fruit. Earth Breeze Laundry Sheets are along the same lines. They’re actual laundry detergent but made in eco-friendly sheets. They’re just dehydrated laundry sheets that come in cardboard envelopes.
Welch’s Fruit Snacks have 7g of sugar per package. This is 10g less than the 14g of sugar in each mini-size Snickers bar.
Another of the best non-candy options you can provide to the ghouls and goblins is single-serve applesauce pouches. These come in familiar name brands, or most big box stores sell their store brand for slightly less. Applesauce pouches are also available in unsweetened or fruit-flavored varieties.
Applesauce pouches have, on average, about 10g of sugar if you purchase the unsweetened variety. That’s 1g fewer than 1 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (the single serve size.)
A great option that is still dessert-like but not candy is individually wrapped Rice Krispie Treats. These snacks are fun and full of flavor. The mini treats are just the right size for a two-bite snack for kids of all ages. They also come in a chocolate flavor.
The snack-size Rice Krispies contain 4g of sugar each. This is 3g less than the sugar in each snack size (those are the tiny size) Kit-Kat bars.
Salty And Crunchy Snacks
UtzsSnacks makes a variety of mini snack packs that are the perfect treat to give away on Halloween and are always a favorite for big and little kids. Halloween’s most popular Utzs Snacks are .25 oz bags of mini cheeseballs and .5 oz bags of mini pretzels.
Aside from their flavor, what makes these snacks so appealing? Of course, their size is small, just the like hands and mouth that devour them in a matter of minutes. Parents love this snack because it contains no sugar, but it is still a treat their kids enjoy.
You can also find a variety of salty and crunchy treats to drop in bags on Halloween. Veggie Straws and Veggie Chips will always be a fan favorite of any child. This snack is also great for the youngest trick-or-treaters. Pringles chips have perfect-size single-serve packages.
Veggie Straw and veggie chips are other treats that don’t contain any sugar.
Then, there are the famous popcorn balls. These snacks are perfect for kids to bite into on Halloween. Popcorn balls are a bit deceptive, containing 14g of sugar per ball. If the idea of popcorn balls feels quite dated, you could opt for snack-size popcorn bags. The option of individual snack-size bags is another sugar-free option.
Non-Food Halloween Treats
If you want to avoid handing out food and candy on Halloween, various fun ideas will have each trick or treater thinking you’re the “cool house” this Halloween.
Mini bubble tubes are always a hit with kids of any age, especially younger children. Parents love mini bubbles because it’s something that the kids can do by themselves.
Pencils, pens, and erasers are great trinkets to pass out when your doorbell rings. Kids will have fun using these decorated writing instruments in the classroom for many months, long after the holiday has passed.
You can also easily find spider rings, witch fingers, and vampire fangs that kids will get a kick out of using for the duration of their trick-or-treating adventures and several days after.
Are You Hosting A Halloween Party?
If you’re staying in on Halloween and hosting a party, we have 13 quick and easy Halloween Treat Recipes that will help make your Halloween party perfect.
Another of our favorites for the Halloween Season that would be perfect for work or school parties is our Halloween S’More eyeballs.
If your goblins get a lot of Hersey Kisses in their Trick or Treat bag, try this peanut butter Kiss Cookie Recipe that doesn’t include peanut butter. You will also want to save this recipe for the upcoming holiday season.
Candy Isn’t The Only Option
Many people will hand out a lot of candy this and every Halloween to come. Many see it as a right of passage for themselves and the children trick-or-treating. But for those who want to think outside the box, there are options besides chocolate and sugar.
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Erin is the mother of identical twin girls and their slightly older brother. She is a domestic engineer, and previously had a career leading customer service teams for a major HVAC company. Cleaning without harsh chemicals, and cooking easy and usually healthy meals are part of Erin's daily life. She volunteers with youth leaders, and genuinely wants to help others win. Erin has a degree in Communications, with a focus on Broadcast Journalism.