Healthy and fun Halloween treats

TAMPA (FOX 13) - It’s not a holiday most of us associate with healthy eating, but there are some fun snacks you can make for your little ghosts and goblins that can create a colorful, enticing display for a party at home or at school.    

Megan Armstrong, a registered dietitian at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, joined us in the FOX 13 Kitchen to demonstrate just how simple they are to make.  

Some of the treats also travel well in a lunch box!  

Hint: To prevent browning of the fruit, you can brush it with some lemon juice.  It might also be a fun science experiment for your children!  

RECIPES:

Apple spiders

Green and red apples
Natural sunflower butter
Whole grain pretzel sticks
Mini dark chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Thinly slice apples into rounds (approximately 3-4 slices per side)
2. Spread a moderate layer of sunflower butter on one slice of apple
3. Press 4 whole grain pretzel sticks into sunflower butter on each side of apple (spider legs)
4. Press 2 mini dark chocolate chips into the second apple slice (spider eyes)
5. Carefully place second apple slice, eyes up, onto the sunflower butter and gently squeeze slices together
6. Enjoy!

Cheese broomsticks

2% string cheese
Whole grain pretzel sticks

Instructions:

1. Remove string cheese from packaging and cut into thirds
2. Gently peel bottom ¾ of string cheese slice leaving the top intact and creating a frayed bottom of string cheese
3. Push whole grain pretzel stick into the top of the frayed string cheese – careful not to split the top of the string cheese in half
4. Set upright with frayed string cheese on the bottom and enjoy!

Pumpkin clementine

Clementines  
Green apple slices (leftover from spider apples)
Sharpie

Option 1:

1. Use Sharpie to draw jack-o-lantern faces on the peel of clementine

Option 2:

1. Peel clementine
2. Take small slice of green apple and place in top of clementine

Banana ghosts/mummies

Bananas
Mini dark chocolate chips
Regular dark chocolate chips
Sunflower butter/peanut butter

Option 1 (ghosts):

1. Peel bananas and slice in half
2. Push 2 mini dark chocolate chips and 1 regular dark chocolate chip into upper 2/3 end of banana in the shape of 2 eyes and a mouth

Option 2 (mummies):

1. Peel bananas and slice in half
2. Push 2 mini dark chocolate chips into upper 2/3 end of banana in the shape of 2 eyes
3. Scoop sunflower butter or peanut butter into ziplock bag 
4. Clip the corner of the ziplock bag to use like piping bag
5. Squeeze sunflower or peanut butter across banana in a horizontal/diagonal motion

**Note: a “no stir” peanut butter may be too thick to squeeze through ziplock. Simply microwave the peanut butter in a microwave safe dish for 20-30 seconds, stir, and add to ziplock. As the peanut butter cools it should harden making a less drippy mummy.

Bell Pepper Lanterns w/ Greek Yogurt dip

Bell pepper (2+)
Mixed sliced vegetables
Plain Greek Yogurt
1 packet ranch dressing seasoning

Instructions:

1. Make sure bell peppers stand upright – if they do not, carefully slice bottom of pepper to create an even surface
2. Cut around top of bell peppers and remove seeds
3. Carve face into bell peppers (similar to a jack-o-lantern)
4. Mix packet or ranch dressing seasoning with plain Greek Yogurt
5. Arrange sliced veggies inside one bell pepper and pour yogurt ranch dip into the other bell pepper
6. Serve and enjoy!