As a family of vegans (due to our baby having an allergy to egg and milk) food-centric events can be really difficult. You don’t ever want your child to be left out, especially due to dietary requirements, whether it’s through allergies, morals or religious reasons.
That said, paying for specialist vegan sweets can be expensive and you run the risk of children who aren’t dairy-free, not enjoying the taste. So here are some accidentally vegan options that you can add to your Halloween offerings to make sure that as many children as possible are included.
These all happen to be gluten-free too – so perfect to make sure that anyone who is sensitive to gluten, or even Coeliac, won’t get left out. I also never give out round lollipops on a stick because I’ve read too many stories about children choking on them & I don’t want to be responsible for that.
I found some great little trinkets online that would be great options if you wanted non-edible Halloween treats – little novelties, spinners, slap bracelets, retro fangs. We went to one house last year where the boys were able to choose a little toy. It looked like the children in the house had gathered up their little nicknacks, discarded McDonalds toys etc, to create a lucky dip and Ruben was thrilled with a singing King Julien XIII.
As well as trick or treating, it’s important to consider vegan options for Halloween parties. We had a party tea this week with 2 children who are allergic to dairy, my vegan baby, my veggie boy and another vegetarian child. It made sense to have all the food vegan, so that every child could just help themselves without worrying about what they are allowed to have. However, I didn’t want the little boy who doesn’t usually eat vegan, just veggie, to have to eat food that he isn’t used to either, so where possible, I went for accidentally vegan options.
We did pizzas (the vegan Dr Oetker ones are delicious!), vegan hot dogs & vegan pesto pasta. Absolutely delicious. The only thing our non-dairy-dodging guest didn’t like, was the vegan cheese (cut into whimsical halloween shapes of course!). Vegan cheese has come a long way, but it certainly doesn’t taste the same as dairy cheese so it’s no surprise really. (Interestingly, my eldest will have vegan cheese, chocolate, milk etc with us, and the dairy versions when he’s at school, but has never once made a comment about the difference in taste)
We also had some other snacky bits – mostly because I have no impulse control…
Biscuits: Oreos, Bourbons, Jammy Dodgers and Pink Wafers (most bourbons are vegan, but not all so deffo check!)
Crisps: Onion Rings, Bacon Frazzles
The biscuits and crisps were not special “free from” options – although they do have them. They’re just the usual ones that you know and love (and if you’re like me, eat an entire packet of without even realising…) but they just happen to not contain any animal ingredients. So everyone can be included and enjoy the feast.
As a mother of an allergy baby who has to eat vegan due to this, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it when someone thinks about making sure he is included. When we have a party at our house, I make sure eveyrthing is vegan so that I don’t have to be panicking constantly that he might pick up the wrong thing and we’ll end up in A&E for the night.
So, if you have anyone vegan or dairy-free in your life and you want to make sure that they feel included during the Halloween fun, hopefully this will help!
