Two cute and creepy Halloween treats that are gluten-free and food allergy-friendly. Make for a Halloween as a fun activity with your kids!
Caution: zero fun was had in the making of the Chocolate Pretzel Spider Webs and Creepy Crawly Ice Cubes I’m sharing today to celebrate the countdown to Halloween. I repeat, ZERO FUN!
Ok busted, my kids and I SO much fun making these cute and silly Halloween treats sponsored by Surf Sweets, an organically sweetened gummy candy line that’s free of high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and flavors, and the top ten allergens that’s available right at the regular grocery store.
We LOVE playing with food at our house!
This is the first year my oldest will be actively participating in trick or treating, which brings a whole new meaning to the word “EEK” as we think about navigating the world of TOT with a child with food allergies.
In case you don’t know, he is allergic to dairy and although ingesting it thankfully doesn’t cause a life threatening reaction, projectile vomiting and hives are a great way to ruin a perfectly good Halloween (and adorable scarecrow costume!)
That said, thanks to movements like the Teal Pumpkin Project and food allergy-safe product lines from companies like Surf Sweets, our family, and the dozens of families we know with children with food allergies, can breathe a little easier this October 31st.
As a newly minted 3 year old, my oldest is constantly asking to make “special projects” at home, and whipping up these allergy-friendly Halloween treats using Surf Sweets candy definitely fits the bill. They were so much fun to make and eat and I know your family will love making them in the upcoming weeks leading up to Halloween too – Hocus Pocus marathon playing in the background because OBVIOUSLY!
First up are these Chocolate Pretzel Spider Webs featuring Surf Sweets’ spooky spiders and cutie fruity bears!
As I mentioned, Surf Sweets candy can be found at the regular and speciality grocery stores – they’re in the “health food” aisles of the regular grocery store – and for Halloween they offer a Trick or Treat Pack with individual sized pouches of fruity bears.
Fun fact: each little pouch contains 100% of your daily vitamin C.
I loved that the pouches only contain 5-6 bears which is enough to satisfy a sweet tooth and not too much for little ones.
We made both big and mini-sized spider webs on a silpat, wax paper, and parchment paper-lined half baking sheet to see which, if any, didn’t work when peeling the spider webs off once the chocolate was set. Thankfully all three options work exactly the same.
To create the big Chocolate Pretzel Spider Webs, arrange 9 gluten-free pretzel sticks in a circle (I love Snyder’s GF pretzels,) and to make mini ones, which are perfect for tiny hands, snap 4 pretzel sticks in half then arrange in a circle.
Next melt 6oz white chocolate or dark chocolate chips in 30 second increments until smooth and melted, then transfer to a piping bag or ziplock bag and snip off the corner of the baggie.
Note: white chocolate is typically NOT dairy free, and the only gluten-free brand I found at the time of this writing was Nestle, so I made half the webs with white chocolate chips to show a more “classic” spider web color, and the other half with Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips which are dairy and gluten-free.
Older kids can squeeze the melted chocolate into the centers of the pretzel circles, then start making circles that get a little bigger and bigger until you reach the ends of the pretzels.
While younger kids can pop a spooky spider into the centers of the big webs and a few fruity bears onto the mini spider webs, as if they’ve been caught by the spiders (Lincoln thought this was hilarious…)
Refrigerate the Chocolate Pretzel Spider Webs until the chocolate has set then peel from the backing and dive in!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 oz bag gluten free pretzel sticks, Snyders recommended
- 6 oz white OR dark chocolate chips, Enjoy Life recommended
- Surf Sweets Spooky Spiders and Fruity Bears
Directions
- Arrange pretzel sticks in a circle (9 pretzel sticks for a large spider web, 4 pretzel sticks broken in half for a mini spider web,) on a silpat, wax paper, or parchment paper lined half baking sheet (make sure it will fit inside your refrigerator first!)
- Add half the chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl then microwave on full power in 30 second increments, stirring between increments, until fully melted. Transfer chocolate to a piping bag or small ziplock bag then snip off a corner. Fill the center of the pretzels circles with chocolate then carefully move in ever-growing circles to create webs. Gently place a spooky spider in the centers of the large webs and Fruity Bears in the centers of the small webs. Melt remaining chocolate if needed to create more chocolate pretzel spider webs.
- Refrigerate until chocolate is set then carefully peel back the silpat, wax or parchment paper and serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Next Lincoln and I made Creepy Crawly Ice Cubes which actually made me slightly gaggy just looking at them – PERFECT for Halloween!
For these ice cubes I used the spooky spiders and Surf Sweets’ Gummy Worms which again, have zero artificial colors or flavors, and are made in a top 10 allergen-free facility.
Most importantly, they are so, so (SO) good!
You’ll need a standard-sized ice cube tray with spots for 16 ice cubes.
To each ice cube add 1 spooky spider and 1 gummy worm, making sure to let the gummy worms hang over the sides a bit – totally creates an icky effect. Next fill the ice cube molds with 2 cups lemonade then freeze until solid.
EW!
Lincoln loves coconut water so I popped the ice cubes into a cup of that to keep the sugar count low, but you could add the Creepy Crawly Ice Cubes to you and/or your kids’ favorite drink before serving!
Equipment
- Ice cube tray
Ingredients
- 2 cups lemonade
- 16 Surf Sweets Spooky Spiders
- 16 Surf Sweets Gummy Worms
Directions
- Add a Surf Sweets Spooky Spider and Gummy Worm to each ice cube mold, letting part of the gummy worm hang over the side.
- Add lemonade to cover then freeze until solid. Serve ice cubes in coconut water, lemonade, or your favorite drink.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
I hope you have as much fun as we did making these fun and festive, food allergy-friendly Halloween Treats, and be sure to enter the giveaway below so you can get a taste of yummy Surf Sweets candy yourself!
I have a hard time picking a favorite candy I’d have to go with gummy bears!
I’m usually not a big chocolate eater, gummy and sours are my favorite. But for some reason, the holiday makes me crave Snickers bars!!!
I love mini almond joy!
My favorite Halloween candy is sixlets! I don’ see them much in the store but always find a few packages in my kids Halloween buckets. And, you better believe that I steal most of them! Lol!
My favorite Halloween candy – toss up between Mini 3 Musketeers and Mini Milky Way Dark.
Anything with peanut butter!! Yummy! :)
I love anything gummy (gummy worms, gummy bears, etc.) and sour is even better :)
Love Justin’s peanut butter cups.
I envy your ability to melt white chocolate chips! It seems no matter how careful I am or what method I use I end up burning them and thus only use the candy melts (lowers head in shame).
No shame – I totally feel you!! It used to happen to me all the time too – I learned the trick is to microwave in 30 second increments, stir like heck, then keep doing that until it’s melted. If you have a more powerful microwave, you could do the increments at 75% power or something like that!
We are not GF in our house, but we love your blog and make your recipes quite often. Also, we love candy corn here!
Reeses. Always Reeses.
Reese’s pieces!
I love candy corn