Creamy Creepy Vegan Halloween Treats

Pudding Ghouls

Make my Almost Instant Chocolate Pudding recipe. It’s as easy as opening the boxed puddings but so much better in every way.

Choose your own sweetener, organic cane or coconut sugar. My go to sweeteners are from Wholesome! since quality and fairtrade matters to me.

Which plant milk to use? Almond, soy or coconut milk beverage, plain, vanilla or chocolate work equally well. When I am making this pudding for a crowd (yes it can be doubled), I always use So Delicious Dairy Free Coconut Milk Beverage. Not only does iot taste good and work a charm, it makes the pudding possible for nut and soy avoiders. It’s carageenen free too.

Let’s talk about cornstarch. Iavoided it for years, since the corn is a highly GMO crop. However, Edwards & Sons Trading Company’s Let’s Do Organic has an excellent organic (that means non-gmo) cornstarch. You really do need cornstarch to get the texture of the pudding right, and you can be sure the boxed puddings do not use organic cornstarch!

Choose a cocoa powder that is unsweetened, good quality and slavery free. I much prefer the taste of chocolate pudding made with alkalized (a.k.a. Dutch process), but if you grew up with  non-alkalized/ natural cocoa powder and like it better, use that kind. No matter which cocoa you use, pick a quality brand and one that is slavery free. Some aren’t labeled as such but ethical practices are in place. Ask the manufacturer. Divine has an ethical Dutch process cocoa powder that is very good.

At best, the production of cocoa is hazardous work. The jungle, machetes, chemicals, hard labor. As so much candy is bought for Halloween, I hope you will join me in voting with your fork, which means boycotting slavery chocolate. Do not buy Hershey’s or Nestles or other big brands. Learn more in the recent VegNews Magazine piece Bittersweet by Marla Rose. As for the small amount of chocolate in the recipe, use one you like,  sweeter or darker, but again, I urge you to pick an ethical chocolate.

But now, back to the Vegan Halloween Treat – the Pudding. After it is set, spoon into serving cups. You decide on the size of the serving.

If you have cake crumbs left from making the Halloween Cakeballs recipe I posted about a few days ago, use them. If not, make crumbs from chocolate cookies. The vegan pudding is already gluten free, so to keep it that way, use gluten free cake crumbs or cookies. (But you already knew that!)

Add mini marshmallows for eyes. Press a chocolate chip into each marshmallow. I bet you can make scarier looking eyes than I did. Add pumkin seed nose, or something else. Use what you have. You’ve got kids coming soon or a costume to finish or you are going out for fun. I pinched a mini cupcake liner into a witches hat and topped one of the pudding Vegan Halloween Treats!

Top with Coco Whip from So Delicious Dairy Free or use my Vanilla Custard Cream, the one that’s in your freezer or refrigerator.

Mandarin Orange Ghouls

Peel mandarin oranges and pat them dry.

Push a mini marsmallow into middle, dab with melted chocolate. (I originally used celery sticks but kids were not impressed.)

Paint mouth and eyes with melted chocolate. I used a toothpick as my “paintbrush”.  Allow the chocolate to set. Serve in a mini cupcake liner. Vegan halloween treat!

Make your puddings and oranges scarier than I did and send pictures to info@francostigan.com or post to my Facebook page.

Enter the Halloween Giveaway:

• One signed copy Vegan Chocolate by Fran Costigan
• Coupons for free So Delicious Dairy Free products
• Organic Cornstarch, Sprinkles and Ice Cream Cones from Edwards and Sons Trading Company
• Organic Sugar and Organic Coconut Sugar from Wholesome!

Follow the instructions below to enter. Giveaway ends at midnight eastern time on November 3rd. Due to shipping restrictions, this contest is open to U.S. residents only. Good luck!

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