Food Allergy Resources

Allergy-Friendly Halloween Treats for Children with Food Allergies

October 2010

Allergy-Friendly Recipes Make Halloween a Treat

Make Halloween treats without tricky allergens! Most of the recipes below are available free to the public. The recipes marked with a are only available to our Family Members. Find even more Halloween recipes in our huge collection, Safe Eats™, accessible with a Family Membership.



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Caramel Apple Dip Eyeball Cupcakes Gel Worms Gingerbread Cookies with Icing Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

Just Sugar Lollipops Pumpkin Pie Jack-o-Lanterns Soft Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies Soft Sugar Cookies Witch Cake

Caramel Apple Dip

1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp light corn syrup
2 Tbsp margarine
1 cup vanilla-flavored milk alternative

See full recipe

Eyeball Cupcakes

Use a safe cupcake or muffin recipe such as:
Wacky Cake
Pumpkin Muffins
Starlight Cake (pictured)

Options for frosting:
Vanilla Silk Frosting
Buttercream Frosting (pictured)

Frost cooled cupcakes with white frosting. Reserve some frosting and color it red. Use a small round tip to pipe the bloodshot veins. Use any safe, round candy for the iris of the eye and top with a safe chocolate chip to make the pupil.

Gel Worms

1  6-oz package raspberry-flavored gelatin
3  envelopes plain gelatin
3  cups  boiling water
3/4  cup  coconut milk (or milk alternative)
a few drops green food coloring

See full recipe

Gingerbread Cookies with Mock Royal Icing or Vanilla Glaze

1/2  cup  margarine or shortening
1/2  cup  brown or white sugar
1/2  cup  dark molasses
3 1/2  cup  flour
1  tsp  baking soda
2  tsp  ginger
1/2  tsp  cloves
1/2  tsp  cinnamon
1/2  tsp  salt
1/4 - 1/3  cup water

See full recipe

Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies

3/4  cup  margarine
1/4  cup  unsulphured molasses
1  cup  light brown sugar
3  cups  Kathy P's Brown Rice Flour Mix
1  tsp  xanthan gum
1  tsp  salt
1  Tbsp  baking powder
2  tsp  ginger
1/4  tsp  ground cloves
1/2  tsp  cinnamon
1/8  tsp  ground nutmeg
1/2  cup  water
     sweet rice flour for rolling

See full recipe

Just Sugar Lollipops

2  cups  granulated white sugar
2/3  cup  Golden Syrup
3/4  cup  water
oil  for greasing cookie sheet

See full recipe

Pumpkin Pie Jack-o'-Lanterns

2  cups  canned pumpkin
3/4  cup  brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2  cup  water
6 1/2  Tbsp  cornstarch
1  tsp  allspice
1/2  tsp  salt
1/4  tsp  ground cloves
1/2  tsp  ginger

See full recipe

Soft Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies

2 cups gluten-free flour blend
1/2 cup oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
1 Tbsp Egg Replacer mixed with 2 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla

See full recipe

Soft Sugar Cookies

1 cup margarine
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 eggs, beaten, or equivalent replacement
5 cups flour (divided)
1 cup dairy-free milk alternative, soured with 1 tsp vinegar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

See full recipe

Witch Cake

Use a safe cake recipe such as:
Wacky Cake (pictured)
Starlight Cake

Use a safe chocolate frosting such as:
Chocolate Silk Frosting (pictured)
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Instructions and pictures provided by Laura Giletti. It is recommended that the cakes be baked a day or two in advance before assembly and decoration:


1. Bake safe cake in multiple layers. For the top layer, use an oven-proof bowl or a small cake pan. Make sure to line the pans with parchment and/or use plenty of shortening in the pans to allow for a clean release when you turn them out. I used a 6" pan for the top and two 8" pans for the lower layers. Each of the two lower layers is a double batch of Wacky Cake and the top layer is a single batch.


2. For cakes made with wheat flour, allow cakes to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from pans. Gluten-free cakes should be allowed to cool closer to 30 minutes. Once removed from the cake pans, allow cakes to cool completely. They can cool on a countertop overnight, or they can be frozen.




3. Once completely cooled, torte the cakes so that they can sit flat on top of each other. Take your knife and cut the cakes horizontally to level them off. You can also split the layers horizontally so that one layer becomes two and you can get in another layer of frosting, if you are so inclined.




4. Take a round cookie or biscuit cutter and check that your doll will fit through the opening, then use the cutter to make a hole in the middle of each layer. Dry stack the cakes to ensure that the holes line up and that the doll fits. Also check that the skirt is the right height on the doll; if not, make necessary adjustments. Remove doll.


5. Using a long, serrated knife, cut the cake into a dome shape by removing corners. Your frosting will help you smooth it all out later. Remove the layers to prepare for the crumb coat.

6. Prepare a double batch of frosting for a crumb coat. Take pieces of parchment and tuck them just under the edge of the bottom layer of cake to keep your cake plate clean. Frost the bottom layer. Add your subsequent layers (add frosting in between layers) and frost the top and sides as you go. Wrap the doll in plastic wrap to keep her clean. Insert the doll into the cake. Allow crumb coat to dry (overnight is preferred).

7. Make another batch of frosting and cover the outside of the cake, being sure to bring the frosting right up around the doll. You can dip your knife in warm water to smooth out the "skirt" or you can put a thick layer of frosting and swirl it with your knife as pictured.

8. Decorate your cake however you like—using a piping bag or candies. Remove the parchment from underneath the bottom layer. Decorate the doll herself with a hat or other accessories.

Treats for Children on Liquid Diets or Feeding Tubes

◊ If he or she can have sugar candy, make homemade candy in the shape of Halloween objects, such as the Just Sugar Lollipops above. Be sure to use molds that can handle heat; chocolate molds found in craft stores will melt when you pour in hot liquid sugar.
◊ Make Halloween-shaped ice cubes for treats.
◊ You can take an ice carving class and make a pumpkin out of ice!

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These recipes were contributed by KFA members and volunteers. Safety of ingredients is important. Do not make any assumptions as to the safety of an ingredient that is included in any of these recipes. If you need assistance adapting any of these recipes, please post your questions on our Food and Cooking Support Forums.

You are welcome to enjoy these recipes, but please don't reprint, electronically reproduce or redistribute these recipes without obtaining permission.

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Other Halloween Resources

Take the Tricks out of Treats: 12 Tips for Safe Trick-or-treating

Keep Your Allergic Little Pumpkin Safe

Safely Celebrating Halloween with Food Allergies

Special thanks to KFA members Amy Hugon, Laurie Carson, Donna LaPlant, Deanna Graham, Meg Falciani, Megan Clarke, Heather Hetler, Kathy Przywara, Kristin Johnston, Laura Giletti and more for contributing these allergy-free recipes and photos. Additional allergy-free recipes are available in Safe Eats, our allergen-free collection filled with hundreds of recipes.