Halloween is one of the more complicated holidays, one that fuses respect for the dead with a recognition of the coming winter.
It’s widely-beloved by children, who get to dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating. But this poses two obvious problems for vegan parents. First, where can you find vegan Halloween candy? That problem is easily solved—just check our vegan Halloween candy guide. But the second problem is trickier to navigate: how can you let your children participate in trick-or-treating, knowing that the overwhelming majority of candy they receive will contain dairy products?
This is a complicated question with no single right answer. In some cities, the vegan community is large enough that parents can organize special vegan trick-or-treat outings just for their kids. In other places, parents may let their children go trick-or-treating and then trade their spoils for vegan candy.
Perhaps the main way to navigate trick-or-treating for children is to avoid letting it become the be-all-and-end-all of the Halloween experience. There’s so much more this holiday offers, from going out to buy a pumpkin, to carving it into a Jack-o-Lantern, to roasting the seeds in the oven. Farmers in rural areas often offer corn-mazes, which can be an incredible Halloween experience for a costume-clad youngster. Hay rides are likewise one of the defining autumn experiences. And many towns offer haunted houses that, while they may be too frightening for small children, are unforgettable experiences for older kids.
Halloween also means that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so this is your first excuse to start trying out pumpkin-based recipes. So give our pumpkin cheezecake recipe a go, or try Chocolate Covered Katie’s pumpkin cinnamon rolls.
