Kids love Halloween. Getting to dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating provides some of the most memorable moments of childhood. But this holiday poses two obvious problems for vegan parents. First, where can you find vegan Halloween candy? Solving that problem is easy—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 correct answer. Some cities have a sufficiently large vegan community that parents 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.
Alternatives to Trick-Or-Treating
Perhaps the smartest way to think about trick-or-treating is to keep it from becoming the be-all-and-end-all of the Halloween experience. There’s so much more that 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 at local farms are likewise one of the defining autumn experiences. And many towns offer haunted houses that, while they may be too frightening for small children, can offer unforgettable thrills to 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. Chocolate Covered Katie’s pumpkin cinnamon rolls are a terrific place to start.
