Gluten Free Homemade Halloween Treats

Easy Halloween Treats For Gluten Free Kids

These eight treats were made on two separate nights. They're so easy you don't need instructions, just look at the pictures and create your version of what you see.

How To Buy Safe Gluten Free Halloween Candy

You need to start with safe gluten free candy. If you've never heard of that here's what you need to know.

• Candy and chocolate options change every year so you always need the newest list.
• Manufacturers make special shapes and sizes of their regular candy (that you might know is gluten free) for various holidays. These special varieties are often made in different facilities and are not gluten free.
• Ingredients in the treats sold in Canada and the US often differ (but the wrapper looks the same).
• Experienced parents have figured out how to navigate Halloween candy and parties so learn from them. Ask questions or look for ideas that others share around the holiday.
• Celiac Canada publishes a new Gluten-Free Halloween Candy List every year.
• Allergic Living publishes an Allergy-Friendly Halloween Candy & Treats List every year too. This website includes content for people with celiac disease and the top allergens (which includes wheat). Bookmark it!
• Our favourite celiac dietitian, Selena Devries RD, shares her Canada Gluten Free Halloween Candy list plus videos shopping for candy on her Instagram account at celiac_made_simple. Follow her.

Virtual Halloween Fun

Gluten free families have been reinventing holidays for a long time. Look for new ways to create fun around food then go all in. These ideas are perfect to make while connecting virtually with cousins or grandparents.

The best tips for virtual meetups are keep it short and simple. It takes extra time to show others what you're making and stop to talk about it. It's kind of like having two parties at once and with a little thought that can be a lot of fun.

Class #1: Oreo Mummies, Rice Krispie Monsters, Witches Brooms and Oreo Spiders

Make four spooky treats in one hour using the gluten free version of these.

• crisp rice cereal
• chocolate sandwich cookies (brand name Oreos contain GF oats so if those are off limits look for the competition)
• pretzels
• peanut butter cups (regular or mini)
• Reese's pieces or m&m's
• candy eyeballs or chocolate chips (regular or mini)
• Halloween coloured candy melts

Oreo Mummies

Use brand name gluten free Oreos, Kinnickinick K-Toos or any dark coloured cookie. I made butter icing from the recipe on the bag of icing sugar and showed the kids how to use slight pressure to squeeze the bag while going back and forth across the cookie wrapping it like a mummy.

Some kitchens had colourful candy eyeballs in various sizes. I couldn't find them so I added icing eyeballs with a mini chocolate chip pupil. Reese's pieces make big, colourful eyes too.

Rice Krispie Monsters

This requires making old fashioned Rice Krispie squares with a gluten free rice cereal. I make the original Rice Krispie recipe with the addition of graham crumbs for a GF version of 'smores. Simply omit the graham crumbs, make them in a 9 x 13-inch pan and cut 3 rows one way and 7 the other for 21 potential monsters.

Tips for melting chocolate

Chocolate can easily burn in the microwave so follow these tips.

• Place chocolate in a small bowl and fill it quite full.
• Microwave on full power for one minute. Remove and stir continuously watching as the chocolate melts.
• Microwave another 30 seconds only if needed.

We dipped the pieces into melted chocolate about a third of the way, laid them on parchment paper and quickly added eyes or decorations before the chocolate hardened. Volia!

Gluten Free Witch’s Broomsticks

This one is for the youngest kids. Turn a peanut butter cup upside down and gently twirl a pretzel broom handle into it. A dab of melted chocolate will harden and hold the broom handle in place but isn't mandatory for a cute presentation.

Gluten Free Cookie Spiders

Our Cookie Spiders had an Oreo body with legs of Fruit-To-Go strips, pretzel sticks and even gummy worms. Fix the eyes to the body at a slight angle for the best effect.

Class #2: Oreo Bats, Pretzel Ghosts, Marshmallow Monsters & Monster Pops

During another virtual kids class we made four different treats. There were more variations than we had kids and the ideas just kept coming.

Oreo Bats 3 Ways

• Split the cookie leaving all the filling on one side. Break one wafer piece in half and fashion the two pieces at a bit of an angle for wings. Add some eyes and you've got a bat.
• Take a single cookie wafer and break it in half for wings. Using a peanut butter cup as a body dab melted chocolate on it to attach the wings to the body. I used extra peanut butter cups to hold my wings in place while the chocolate dried.
• Make an Oreo Bat Pop by pushing a straw or popsicle stick between a whole Oreo. Break a single wafer in half and attach them under the cookie at an angle for wings. You can do this with some Oreo filling, peanut butter or melted chocolate. Add eyes for the finishing touch.

Gluten Free Pretzel Stick Ghosts

Dip pretzel sticks in any colour of melted chocolate. Lay them on a piece of parchment and add an eye before it hardens.

Marshmallow Pops and Monsters

Use short straws for the sticks in these marshmallows and line them up to make four at a time. Set out dishes with sprinkles then melt your chocolate candy and get started. I used four different colours but for a small crowd, or to keep it simple, you can have a lot of fun with just two.

Display Ideas:

• Add candy sprinkles to the melting chocolate right away.
• If the eyes start to slip down the marshmallow either wait for the chocolate to harden slightly or even come back and add them later using an extra dab of melted chocolate.
• Make creating a display part of the fun. Use an array of glasses and vases with a bit of candy in the bottom to stand up some monsters. Or lay them on colourful plates or platters and decorate accordingly.

Organizing For Success

The best kitchen projects can be started at the last minute when you have the right supplies. Shop in advance and make sure everything is safe for a gluten free diet. Christmas is right after Halloween so look for red and green sprinkles at the same time.

• Candy eyeballs in different sizes and colours or even a set of three.
• Halloween Sprinkles with candy eye balls included.
• Candy melts are like white chocolate (it's not really chocolate). They melt like chocolate, they're fun and colourful. They even last from year to year.