Healthy Halloween Treats

It’s almost Halloween, the night that’s all about scary costumes, spooky decorations, sweet treats and of course pumpkins!

Are you off to a party, or even throwing your own and worried about what to eat that’s not going to spoil your diet?

Don’t fret! We have some easy and healthy Halloween pumpkin inspired recipes for you.

Pumpkin Hummus

1 small pumpkin
Olive oil (for roasting)
2 garlic cloves
Juice of ½ a lemon
2 tbsp tahini paste
400g can chickpeas (drained)
1 red pepper (deseeded and sliced)
1 yellow pepper (deseeded and sliced)
Carrot and cucumber batons

1. Cut the top off the pumpkin, about two-thirds of the way up. Remove the pumpkin seeds (keep hold of those pumpkin seeds for another recipe later on), and then scoop the flesh out of the bottom and the lid.
2. Heat oven to 180C/gas6. Cut the pumpkin flesh into pieces and put in a roasting tin with the garlic and a good glug of oil. Season, then bake for 45 mins until very tender. Leave to cool.
3. Tip the pumpkin into a food processor with any juices from the roasting tin and the garlic. Add the lemon juice, tahini paste and chickpeas. Season with salt and blend to a paste – add a little more oil if it’s too thick. Scoop the hummus back into the pumpkin and serve with the peppers, carrots and cucumber.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

 175ml sunflower oil
175g sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g coarsely grated pumpkin
100g sultanas
1 orange (grated zest)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
200g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1. Heat oven to 160C/gas 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases.
2. Pour the oil into a large bowl and add the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat together, and then add the grated pumpkin, sultanas and orange zest.
3. Stir in the cinnamon, flour and bicarbonate of soda, the mixture will be quite wet. Spoon into the cases.
4. Bake for 25 mins until firm and springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Salt and Vinegar Pumpkin Seeds

Instead of wasting those high protein pumpkin seeds, try our easy recipe for salt and vinegar pumpkin seeds to save you from picking on a bag of crisps.

1 pumpkins worth of pumpkin seeds
200ml distilled white vinegar
1 egg white, beaten until frothy
1 teaspoon salt

1. Put the pumpkin seeds and the vinegar in a medium bowl. Leave to soak for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
2. Preheat oven to 160C/gas4. Coat a large baking tray with cooking spray.
3. Drain the seeds and wipe the bowl dry. Return the pumpkin seeds to the dry bowl and add the egg white and salt. Spread the seeds on the prepared baking tray in an even layer.
4. Cook for 45-55 minutes until golden brown, stirring once. Leave to cool completely before serving.

There’s no trick to these treats, just quick and easy recipes for a spooktacular Halloween!

Also… Did you know you can burn up to 200-300 calories walking for an hour? So if your little ones want to go trick or treating this Halloween put your trainers on and make a workout of it!

If you need extra help this Halloween sticking to your weight loss goals, there are two ways to start your weight loss journey with us. Either way, we would love to have you as a patient.