by Tammy Lee Morris

Created on: October 13, 2009

Kids love Halloween and one of the things they love most about it is all the candy and junk food. Parents, on the other hand, aren't as crazy about the sugary treats that come along with Halloween.So how can you throw a fun Halloween party with healthier snacks?Here are a few suggestions for some fun and not-so-junky snacks.

Peanut butter cracker spiders

This is a fun one to get the kids involved with and my kids love these. Make peanut butter cracker spiders. You'll need peanut butter, round party crackers, raisins (dried cranberries would also work), stick pretzels.Spread peanut butter on one cracker then place eight stick pretzels onto the peanut butter - four on each side to make spider legs. Spread a little more peanut butter on top of the pretzel legs then put another cracker on top. Using peanut butter as "glue" put raisins on top of that cracker for eyes.

I know spiders have a lot of eyes, but I only put two on. My kids, on the other hand, will cover the top cracker with peanut butter and raisin eyes. I've taken these spiders to various events with other kids and they're always a hit.

Shaped "crookies"

These have been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl. Using a ready-made pie crust or a homemade pie crust (1 cups all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup shortening, teaspoon salt, 4-5 tablespoons cold water - mix flour and salt then cut in shortening until dough makes pea-sized crumbles, sprinkle water over dough and mix well with fork until dough is moistened. Roll out on floured surface to about inch width.).

After rolling out crust dough, use shaped cookie cutters to cut out crookies (crust cookies). Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar then bake on baking sheet for about 10 minutes at 425 degrees (experiment with your oven - you may need to vary the temperature and cooking time) until crookies are lightly browned and crispy.

For a variation, spritz raw crookies lightly with water from a spray bottle then lightly sprinkle colored sugar over crookies then bake. To make your own colored sugar, pour some sugar into a zippered baggie then put a drop of food coloring in the sugar. Close the bag then use your fingers to massage the sugar and mix the food coloring into the sugar. For orange, try one drop of red and one drop of yellow. If you want a darker color, add more food coloring. Store the colored sugar in a shaker.

Spooky apple faces

Take large apples, peanut butter and peanuts and design a face on the apples. Use the peanut butter as glue and the peanuts

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