We’re keeping with the spooky season theme from our last podcast episode, when we shared 12 fun vegan Halloween recipes to try. In this episode we’re sharing 20 awesome vegan Halloween candy treats! These are all store bought candies and are quite easy to find.
Pop in a scary movie and prepare your sweet tooth for these awesome vegan Halloween candy options!
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The Simple Vegan Candy Guide
Fortunately, most of the candy varieties are vegetarian, even if by accident. Before we get into our 15 vegan Halloween candy treats, let’s discuss what to look for in an ingredient list. That way, if we don’t mention your favorite candy, you can check the label to see if it’s vegan-friendly.
Major animal-derived products to look for on the candy ingredients list include:
- Gelatin – Gelatin is often found in gummy candies (such as gummy bears) or marshmallows and contains ligaments, animal bones, animal tendons, cartilage and/or animal skin.
- Carmine color – Carmine color is made from crushed cochineal insects and is often found in red candies.
- Confectioner’s Glaze – Made using “beetle juice” (bug excrement) to give the candy a shiny coating.
- chocolate – While dark chocolate is usually vegan, milk and white chocolate contain dairy and whey, neither of which are vegan. Candies such as Tootsie Pops, traditional chocolate peanut butter cups, Kit Kats, and most chocolate candy bars contain some animal by-products unless the labels specifically say they do not.
- honey – People who follow a vegetarian diet do not eat honey because it is derived from bees.
20 Store-Bought Vegan Candy Halloween Treats
Let’s walk through the candy aisle and check out some vegan candy options. This list of sweet treats is obviously based on personal preference, so it’s in no real order. Also, when I was making the list I noticed that most are pretty classic candies that have been around for a while. I grew up with most of these before vegan candy brands were a thing.
Let’s get to that vegetarian meal!
Some more considerations
When it comes to most things, we try and look for simple ingredients and avoid things like high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and artificial colors. Some of these things are worse than others, but we try not to have a ton of them around the house period, outside of only special events or holidays like Halloween.
Additionally, when giving out candy, we also want to be aware of potential allergies from little tricks or treats from the treaters, so we try and keep the treats allergy-friendly (eg no nuts).
We hope this list has given you some great ideas for your candy bowl. Happy Halloween!
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