Winter Bazaar: Healthy Halloween Treats

We're gearing up for Halloween in Baltimore! Halloween is John's most favorite holiday, so I've been working up those creative juices to get Johnny involved too. Maureen is too little to do much other than sit and watch, but she'll be up and running in no time!

This week's activity also conveniently satisfies two different blogger events.

Check out Mamanista's Halloween Treat Contest! The prizes are great. A copy of the Shrek Cookbook and a six month subscription to What's Cooking.

I'm not a crafty person, so when I first read about Scribbit's Winter Bazaar, I didn't think I'd be able to participate. But the idea of having a themed activity was intriguing, because we always need something to do through the cold days of winter. Glitter and pipe cleaners and glue give me the heeby jeebies, but I do like to cook, and Johnny likes to help.

When I started to look for Halloween themed treats, most of what I found was really really unhealthy. Tons of sugar and yucky ingredients like lard or corn syrup. A lot of the ideas were really cute, but required you buy a bunch of different kinds of candy or cake decorating supplies.

So I poked around a little more, and this is what I came up with. Three healthy, tasty and fun Halloween treats that were a blast to make.

Pumpkin And Leaf Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2 sweet potatoes, peeled
butter flavored cooking spray

For these sweet potato fries, I used my Pampered Chef Creative Cutters Set. At $10.50 for the set, these cutters are easy for kids to handle and perfect for cutting up cheese, sandwiches and more. Cut the potatoes lengthwise into thin slices. Sweet potatoes are hard, so I speared one with a meat fork to hold it steady (and keep my fingers intact) while I sliced with my Pampered Chef Crinkle Cutter. You could use a knife, but the crinkle cutter gives the slices a nice decorative edge. Cut shapes out using the cutters and place in a single layer in a baking sheet. Coat with cooking spray and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until tender. I diced the leftover pieces of sweet potato into cubes, and coated and baked them so they wouldn't be wasted, and they are perfect finger food for my ten month old baby. My son got a huge kick out of using the creative cutters to cut shapes from the sweet potatoes, and since they are baked, I can let him eat all he wants while knowing he's having a healthy snack.

Ghost Meringue Cookies (My camera battery is dead, so I can't post a picture of this one yet. Check back in a few days. The cookies look like large Hershey kisses with tiny chocolate chips for eyes.)
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
Orange food coloring, optional
1-1/2 teaspoons miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Place egg whites in a small mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Add extracts and vinegar; beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, on high until stiff glossy peaks form and sugar is dissolved, about 6 minutes. Beat in food coloring if desired.

Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert a #10 round pastry tip. Fill bag with egg white mixture. Pipe 1-1/2-in.-diameter ghosts onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Add two chips on each for eyes.

Bake at 250° for 40-45 minutes or until set and dry. Turn oven off; leave cookies in oven for 1 hour. Carefully remove from parchment paper. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 2 1/2 dozen

At only 15 calories apiece and zero cholesterol, these cookies are yummy enough to eat a handful without the guilt. I left out the almond extract (I'm allergic to nuts) and used wine vinegar instead. I don't have cake decorating tips, but I do have a Pampered Chef Decorator that I mostly use for filling deviled eggs or stuffed shells. (And no, I do not sell Pampered Chef products, I just really really like their stuff!) I spooned the filling into the cylinder and used one of the smaller tips. Since the cylinder is solid, my son was able to use it without too much mess.

Strawberry Ghosts


30 fresh strawberries
8 squares (1 ounce each) white baking chocolate
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Wash strawberries and gently pat with paper towels until completely dry. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt white chocolate at 50% power; stir until smooth. Stir in extract.

Dip strawberries in chocolate mixture; place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet, allowing excess chocolate to form the ghosts' tails. Immediately press chocolate chips into coating for eyes. Freeze for 5 minutes.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt remaining chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Dip a toothpick into melted chocolate and draw a mouth on each face. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen.

This recipe originally called for a teaspoon of shortening to be stirred in with the chocolate. I left it out, and they still turned out great. I also substituted vanilla extract for the almond extract. My son really liked dipping the fruit into the melted chocolate. I had to put the mini chips in for eyes, because it required a little more hand-eye coordination than he has, and using the toothpick to draw mouths on was harder than it sounds. Instead, we just made a chocolate dot where the mouth would be. It helped to take half the strawberries out of the freezer at a time, otherwise the chocolate got too soft to peel from the wax paper. Refrigerate after drawing the mouths on to preserve what you've made! Delicious!