Psoriasis-Friendly Snacks for Halloween
October 25, 2024
Photography by Jill Chen/Stocksy United
Halloween is a time for fun, frights, and plenty of treats, but some of those indulgences can trigger your psoriasis. Here are some creative, spooky, and skin-friendly ways to enjoy the season without compromising your health.
Psoriasis (PsO) is an auto-immune inflammatory condition that causes thick, scaly plaques to form on the skin. Although each person’s experience is different, their diet, including sugar, dairy, and processed foods, can influence PsO.
The Halloween season is known for spooky seasonal treats, some of which might worsen your psoriasis symptoms. But you don’t have to miss out on the delicious and seasonal snacks. Here are some alternatives to the usual festive treats that are PsO-friendly and still full of fun.
You can find full recipes at the end of the article.
Dark chocolate treats
Cocoa and cocoa derivatives are rich in phytonutrients, which are both medicinal and nutritious. Cocoa has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and photoprotective (light-blocking) properties, which can all be good for your skin.
However, the harmful effects of ingredients added to standard milk chocolate products, such as sugar and fats, can overshadow many of these benefits.
This is where dark chocolate enters the picture. It’s higher in cocoa content and lower in sugar and fats. Dark chocolate also has several proven health benefits.
How to enjoy
A fun way to enjoy dark chocolate around Halloween is to drizzle it over seasonal fresh fruit, like apples, bananas, or berries. You can make these feel more festive by decorating them with spooky faces.
Dark chocolate chips also make a great addition to high protein Greek yogurt or oatmeal. Individually wrapped pieces of dark chocolate are a great way to monitor portions, too.
Pumpkin treats
Pumpkin is packed with quality nutrition and makes great Halloween-themed snacks. The health benefits of pumpkin include:
- high in vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium
- low in calories
- high in antioxidants
- immune-boosting properties
How to enjoy
If you’re carving pumpkins this Halloween, try saving the seeds and roasting them. Saving the seeds doesn’t cost any money, and it’s relatively easy to do. They’re also available ready-to-eat at most online and brick-and-mortar grocery stores. Pumpkin seeds are portable, nutrient-packed, and delicious!
Another great way to enjoy pumpkin treats like cookies or muffins is to replace the sugar with honey, maple syrup, or monkfruit to avoid sugar-related psoriasis flares. There is some math involved, but these tips are helpful.
Oat based treats
Oats are known to be packed with antioxidants, and they help manage blood glucose levels by causing less spikes in blood sugar levels. Oats are naturally gluten-free, but be sure to read package labels as they’re often processed in facilities with known cross-contamination.
How to enjoy
A great way to enjoy the health benefits of both pumpkin and oats is to add oats to your homemade pumpkin cookie recipe and replace the sweetener with monkfruit. Converting sugar to monkfruit sweetener is usually 1/3:1, meaning for every 1 cup of sugar the recipe calls for, use 1/3 cup of monkfruit sweetener instead. Monkfruit is sweeter and fruitier than sugar. It doesn’t have an aftertaste like most artificial sweeteners do.
Fresh fruit treats
Fresh fruit is always a win when it comes to healthy, anti-inflammatory snacks that will not make your PsO worse.
How to enjoy
Fruit kabobs are fun to make with wooden skewers and cookie cutters. To make them more festive, you can use dark chocolate chips on bananas to turn them into ghosts or paint teeth on apple slices with almond butter.
Coconut yogurt treats
If dairy is a trigger for your psoriasis, dairy-free yogurt treats are a great option. Coconut is both anti-inflammatory and high in antioxidants, making coconut yogurt a double-benefit ingredient for psoriasis-friendly snacks.
How to enjoy
Coconut yogurt-dipped banana ghosts on skewers are fun to make and delicious to eat. Dairy-free coconut yogurt bark is another yummy option. See recipes below!
Takeaway
You don’t have to miss out on the tricks or treats this Halloween season. Halloween treats can be nutrient-dense, easy to make, and affordable. These more nutritious treat options may even benefit your psoriasis and overall health.
Roasted pumpkin seeds (skillet method)
- Pumpkin seeds
- Seasonings of your choice
- Rinse the seeds in a colander and separate removing all fibrous matter.
- Lay in a single layer on a cookie sheet and let dry, open air overnight.
- Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat (do not add oil).
- Once the skillet is hot, add a thin layer of seeds and continually flip them for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Once they turn golden, start to pop open at the seams, and smell nutty, they’re done.
- Remove from the heat and season immediately with salt, garlic, cayenne pepper, or any seasoning of your choice.
Pumpkin muffins
This great pumpkin muffin recipe replaces sugar with honey and is time-tested by Jill, a professional baker in a healthcare facility who bakes for those with special dietary needs and owns Dabbles in Desserts.
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup honey
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 cup toasted pecans
- Mix dry ingredients together, except the pecans.
- Slowly add wet ingredients.
- Scoop batter evenly into lined muffin cups.
- Top with toasted pecans.
- Bake at 350ºF for 25 to 30 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
Pumpkin cookies
This is one of my favorite pumpkin cookie recipes, thanks to an amazing mom named Kayla B. This recipe makes a lot, almost 6 dozen, but the ingredients are perfect at this exact ratio despite years of trying to shrink it. If you want less, just don’t bake all of the mix or freeze them to save for the future!
- 1 cup oil
- 1 cup monkfruit sweetener
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 2 large eggs (or 3 medium eggs)
- 5 cups flour
- 1 large (29 ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups dark chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup raisins (optional)
- 1/3 cup walnuts (optional)
- 1/3 cup shelled pumpkin seeds for toppings (optional)
- Mix wet ingredients together well.
- Slowly add dry ingredients.
- Scoop into 72 lined muffin cups, half-full (using a muffin tin instead of a cookie pan keeps them more contained and makes a thicker cookie).
- Add raisins and walnuts if including (do not stir).
- Top with shelled pumpkin seeds if including (do not stir).
- Bake at 375ºF for about 10 to 15 minutes, until tops are golden brown (baking time varies by weather and region).
Coconut yogurt banana ghosts
This coconut yogurt treat is a fun and spooky way to make healthy decisions for your skin this Halloween season.
- 8 wooden skewer sticks
- 4 bananas
- 1 cup of coconut yogurt
- 1 cup of unsweetened coconut chips
- Dark chocolate chips
- Spread yogurt onto a flat surface, a cookie sheet, or a cutting board
- Peel and cut the bananas in half making 2 equal-size but shorter parts (so they look like 2 little ghosts).
- Insert a skewer in the base of each banana (where it was sliced).
- Roll the banana in a thin layer of yogurt.
- Roll the dipped banana in a thin layer of coconut chips.
- Add 2 dark chocolate chips for eyes (and maybe one for the mouth!)
- Lay flat and freeze for 1 to 2 hours before enjoying.
Coconut yogurt bark
This coconut yogurt bark is another great dairy-free option.
- 1 cup coconut yogurt
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1/2 cup frozen berries
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut chips
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (omit if needing dairy-free option)
- Whisk together yogurt and honey.
- Pour mixture into a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle berries, coconut chips, and chocolate chips (all optional) on top.
- Freeze for 1 to 2 hours.
- Remove frozen sheet of yogurt from the pan onto a hard surface and let it break naturally into chunks.
You can store this in the freezer for up to 5 days. Treat it like ice cream, keeping it cold, and if the weather is hot, eat it fast!
Medically reviewed on October 25, 2024
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