Healthy Halloween Treats
October 4, 2011
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Portland
• 0 Comments
Healthy Halloween Treats
It’s rare that the words “healthy” and “Halloween” come together in any sentence. Aside from both starting with the letter “h” there isn’t much else they share. Don’t tell the kids, but some of the tastiest Halloween treats come in a healthier version. This little known fact would probably have them running more frantically than the scariest haunted house if the word got out. This Halloween, incorporate a few of these little tasty treats into your traditional spooky seasonal favorites and your family will begin to wonder when you had time for all the culinary training. There is plenty of baking in Portland when Halloween rolls around, but these treats will make you easily stand out from the rest.
Baked Pumpkin Seeds
It’s a good thing that pumpkin seeds are a healthy snack because we’ve discovered that they’re sort of addicting. The best part about this snack is that you probably have all the ingredients you need already. As you carve out your pumpkin, simply put the ooey gooey part aside and you have your main ingredient. It may not be the most difficult delicacy baking in Portland, but when it comes to Halloween, pumpkin seeds are king.
Preparation and cooking:
- Separate the seeds from the membrane of the pumpkin as much as possible by hand and then rinse under water . Set them aside on a paper towel to dry off.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- To avoid having the seeds stick to the pan as they bake, simply spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil, coating both sides of the seeds lightly and then sprinkle them with salt to taste.
- Cook the seeds until they are light brown in color. Usually this takes 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!
Apple Vampires
Not only are these treats fun to make, but they look great on a tray and are perfect for a children’s party. They are the healthier alternative to those wax teeth you loved as a kid. The finished product is a mouth shaped wedge of apple with jagged edible teeth protruding out of the top and bottom. They will make you want to bite into them right away. This one requires no real culinary training, just loads of imagination and creativity.
Preparation:
- Take a red apple and cut it into quarters. Next cut a wedge slice out of the center of the quarter going through the skin side.
- Choose from almond slices, small pretzel sticks or whatever edible tooth type treat you would like and push them into the top and the bottom to look like rows of teeth.
Wiggly Worms
This creepy creation takes yuck to a whole new level. Easy to make, perhaps harder to look at, this bowl of realistic looking worms will make everyone at your party do a double take and once they’ve tasted them, they will be gone in a flash.
Preparation:
- You will need a pack of drinking straws, the type with the bendable tops, Jell-O and crème filled cookies, cream and food coloring.
- Make the Jell-O as instructed on the package and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, next add about one cup of cream and mix ingredients together. Add food coloring of desired.
- Stand up the straws in a large enough container so that the bendy side is at the bottom. Make sure that they are extended all the way and pour the mixture through the straws.
- Refrigerate overnight, then the next day squeeze the tops of the straws to get the worms out. Put them in a bowl and crush up crème cookies so that they look like dirt and sprinkle over the worms for a realistic looking and tasty treat.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit Chefs.edu/Portland for more information.
Find disclosures on graduation rates, student financial obligations and more at www.chefs.edu/disclosures. Le Cordon Bleu® and the Le Cordon Bleu logo are registered trademarks of Career Education Corporation. Le Cordon Bleu cannot guarantee employment or salary. Credits earned are unlikely to transfer.