Calling all monsters, superheroes, ghosts, and goblins! Whether you’re bobbing for apples or dressing to impress, the creepiest thing about Halloween shouldn’t be your kid’s candy haul. Luckily, these healthy swaps put the fun back in fun-size.
This year, Americans are set to spend $4 billion on Halloween candy alone, but we’re in a bit of a treat-tastrophe. You may have noticed your favorite sweets cost more than ever — and have been struck once again by “shriek-flation.” As big brands pivot to keep up with FDA standards phasing out synthetic dyes, The New York Times also revealed a jaw-dropping change in formulations. With brands like Hershey’s serving up chocolate compounds and vegetable oil instead of real cocoa butter, not even milk chocolate tastes the same.
So we’re flipping the snack table on the most popular trick-or-treat candy in America to source ingredients you can feel scary good about. There may be no hope for candy corn, but a few easy swaps will make this year’s bounty the sweetest one yet.
Swap Reese’s Cups for Unreal Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
It’s hard to resist one of the world’s most iconic Halloween sweets, but the 21 grams of added sugar per Reese’s Cups serving is a monster letdown. Unreal Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups feature 36% less sugar from organic, fair-trade sources — and just might taste even better.
The chocolate-and-peanut-butter category is chock-full of healthy alternatives including SkinnyDipped, Lily’s, and Justin’s. Reese’s released its own zero-sugar option, but it still gets its sweetness from maltitol — which can spike blood sugar — and sucralose, along with ultraprocessed ingredients such as sunflower and safflower oils. With so many options on the shelves, you don’t have to settle for junk dressed up as a treat.
Swap Sour Patch Kids for YumEarth Sour Littles
Keep the cheek-pinching energy of Sour Patch Kids with less sugar by stocking up on something better. YumEarth Sour Littles contain lower sodium and roughly half the sugar of the mainstream brand, plus organic sweeteners and colors from fruit, veggies, and spirulina.
It’s no surprise that Sour Patch Kids pack 24 grams of added sugar, but their hue comes from synthetic dyes such as Blue 1, Yellow 5, and Red 40 — all set to be phased out of our nation’s food supply. Tear open a bag of sour, child-shaped candy that will still destroy the roof of your mouth like the original — but in a way that’s better for your health.
Swap M&M’s for Unreal Milk Chocolate Gems
The brand is Unreal, but Milk Chocolate Gems are legit. Milk chocolate made from cocoa butter and real milk gets its sweetness from cane sugar and its coating from the natural coloring of turmeric, beet juice, and spirulina. M&M’s, on the other hand, pack twice the amount of sugar, along with corn syrup and loads of synthetic dyes and waxes.
No word on whether the Unreal version also melts in your mouth, not in your hand. But something tells us they won’t last long enough to find out.
Swap Butterfinger for SkinnyDipped Peanut Butter Wafers
Butterfinger fans know the “crispety, crunchety, peanut-buttery” goodness of one of the most beloved candy bars in the country. But SkinnyDipped Peanut Butter Wafers deliver shattering crispiness with nothing to hide.
Packing just three grams of sugar, SkinnyDipped features dark chocolate, cane sugar, real peanut butter, and no artificial sweeteners. Butterfinger — bless its 103-year-old heart — serves 21 grams of sugar with corn syrup as its star ingredient. All due respect to the original, but no matter what “natural flavor” really is, we don’t have to eat it.
Swap Skittles for YumEarth Organic Giggles
Don’t expect to find fresh fruit listed on the label, but you can taste the Skittles rainbow — without the petroleum dyes — by trading up for YumEarth Organic Giggles.
Just as crackly and chewy as the original, YumEarth colors its candy with organic, non-GMO spirulina, fruit and vegetable concentrates, and turmeric. While 21 grams of added sugar might sound like a lot, at least it comes from organic cane sugar, unlike the corn syrup and synthetic dyes in Skittles.
Swap Nerds Gummy Clusters for Joyride Gummy Busters
Joyride Gummy Busters isn’t exactly a one-to-one swap for the Nerds version, but it satisfies the assignment with its crunchy candy coating and gummy inside, without synthetic dyes and corn syrup.
Joyride takes some of the sting out of its 16 grams of added sugar by offsetting dextrose with 13 grams of dietary fiber and allulose plant-based sweetener. Nerds provides zero dietary fiber, and 21 grams of added sugar from corn syrup, dextrose, and sugar. And while synthetics power the Nerds look, Joyride colors come from peppers and carrots like nature intended.
Swap Hershey’s bars for Lily’s Milk Chocolate bars
No one will be mad about swapping fun-sized minis for full-sized bars, but the switch-up gets even sweeter when you exchange Hershey’s 21 grams of added sugar for the zero added sugar in Lily’s Creamy Milk Chocolate Style Bar.
Lily’s gets its sweetness from zero-calorie erythritol and stevia, with 36% cacao and dietary fiber. The only con to dodging Hershey’s sugary blend is that Lily’s has yet to make snack-sized bars. But, depending on what the treat bag calls for, that could be a boo-tiful thing.
Swap Starburst for SmartSweets SweetChews
The name doesn’t roll off the tongue quite like the original, but SmartSweets SweetChews serve all of the fruity chewiness of the original with less of the not-so-sweet stuff. Where the Starburst formula leads with sugar and corn syrup, SmartSweets relies on isomalto-oligosaccharides for its structure — the same gut boosters you’ll find in foods like kimchi, honey, and sourdough. See? It’s OK if you can’t pronounce all the ingredients.
Starburst Goodies do a little better than the original with half the added sugar, more dietary fiber, and fruit juice concentrate instead of toxic dyes. But we still like SmartSweets for its vibrant natural colors and flavors — and zero added sugar.
Swap out the candy for something better
If you don’t have the bandwidth to think too hard about ingredients, a non-candy option offers the perfect solution. Shoutout to everyone who got Chick Tracts as a kid, but you can join in the fun without handing out boring apples or oatmeal packets and getting your house toilet-papered later that night.
Nourish hungry revelers with 100% fruit freeze-dried banana snack bags from Balance of Nature (Get 35% off your first subscription order with code: wire), or mango and chili fruit jerky from Solely. And creep it real with LesserEvil Spooky Popcorn snack bags seasoned with organic extra-virgin coconut oil and Himalayan salt.
Little kids will love clementine Cuties with DIY jack-o’-lantern faces or string cheese ghosts decorated with food-safe markers. You’ll be the most memorable stop on the block by passing out Pickle-In-A-Pouch or Annie’s mac and cheese cups.
But let’s be honest. You can always let your trick-or-treater freely buzz around the neighborhood and pull a switcheroo when you get home. We can’t promise no one will notice that the Twix is now pretzel sticks, but we love this journey for you. Snack happy this Halloween!
