We wanted to give you ideas for healthy Halloween treats (really anytime treats!) you can bring as a school snack, to a party or just to make your home festive. Another Halloween blog will be coming with more great ideas, stay tuned.

We hope you enjoy these veggie-packed delicious muffins!

Halloween is a scary time for many parents. Unlimited amounts of candy entering your child’s possession and then your household. The horror is twofold: is my child going to eat all of that? And also…am I going to eat that too?! The temptation is real. Staring at a bowl of m&ms and snickers day after day can lead to a serious snack attack or an absentminded piece here and piece there, all adding up.

For me, I don’t want to be the mom that restricts or deprives my kids, but I also don’t want them filling their little bodies with artificial colors, flavors, pesticides (chocolate is one of the dirtiest foods!), chemicals and toxins. Forget even the sugar (I’m ok with treats- you have to enjoy and live!), but the really harmful ingredients I try to avoid or limit.

So, what is my plan this halloween? I’m going to let my kids trick-or-treat with abandon! Then, they can choose a few (read: 2-3 pieces) to eat on the spot. In addition, so they feel really excited about Halloween, we will make an assortment of spooky treats (like these muffins) to enjoy and make the day festive. Finally, I buy bags of “upgraded” halloween candy that is free of dyes, flavors and other nasties (e.g., Unreal, Justins, YummEarth, Made Good, etc) and swap out the rest of their conventional candy for the better options.

We also talk about how Halloween is about the FUN of dressing up, being silly with friends, trick-or-treating and having parties. Collecting candy is a fun game in itself!

And one final note: Halloween candy is extra harmful for our earth! It requires so much extra packaging that pollutes our water, ends up on our streets, in landfills and takes forever to biodegrade. If you can, give out clementines or bananas or non-food items like stamps, quarters or coins or pencils. Just an idea!

Makes 36 muffins

Ingredients

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups fresh organic spinach (could also add shredded carrots, zucchini or shredded yellow squash)

1 ripe banana

1/3 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons organic coconut oil (can use EVOO if any allergies to coconuts)

2 tbsp chia seeds

1.5 cups GF oat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Put the first eight ingredients in blender (applesauce through chia seeds) and blend until just combined. In a separate bowl whisk the dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined. Add a splash of milk to loosen it up if you need to, but the mixture should resemble a thick pancake dough. Scoop into greased muffin tins and bake for 12 min or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. These muffins taste best cold because of the veggies.

Options

I recommend grating your zucchini on a fine setting for picky eaters and squeezing out all the excess water. You can add blueberries to these too. If you are adding blueberries fold them into the dry ingredients first so the blueberries are coated in flour and then add the wet ingredients in. This helps evenly disperse your blueberries throughout the muffins instead of having them fall to the bottom.

** Thank you to our fabulous friend and baker, Rochelle, for this addictive recipe! **

ENJOY!

With gratitude,

Christine & Stephanie