Halloween Sweet Treats

Here’s a warm welcome to October, and the kick-off of the holiday season! I love entering these months of celebration with the added excitement from children in tow. Starting up traditions, coupled with the thrill of picking out costumes that are sure to be worn with anticipation weeks in advance of Halloween, marks the beginning of the build-up of energy for the months to come.

Operation Gratitude’s Halloween Candy

This year I have a couple of ideas that might spark some new holiday traditions for your family. The first is Operation Gratitude’s Halloween Candy Give-Back, a project that will bring the season of gratefulness to your home a whole month earlier. Operation Gratitude takes donated Halloween candy and packs the treats into every care package they send out to our troops. This donation is a great way to par down any excess candy floating around the house and provide a thank-you to those serving our country.

Gather the kids on Halloween evening and make an event of penning thank-you notes before heading out to trick-or-treat. Once everyone is back home, sort through the loot, and talk about how a candy donation can bring a smile to those who serve our Country. You may find that some local dentist and doctor offices offer a candy donation drop-off for troops or you can ship your candy donations directly. Operation Gratitude accepts loose candy but be sure to ship candy before the eighth of November.

Halloween, Popcorn, and Chickpeas

The next idea is whipping up a salty-sweet crunchy snack to fill adult and kid tummies alike and can even be a candy-free treat to offer visitors. Crunchy sweet chickpeas mixed with salty, buttery popcorn makes a delicious combination. In honor of the Halloween theme, try using black chickpeas.

There’s a sweet family farm tucked out in Capay that specializes in an heirloom variety of black chickpea that’s perfectly themed for Halloween snacking. Small Town Specialties is owned by Allen and Melissa Ferguson and operated with the help of their three kids. Allen and Melissa both came from farming backgrounds and decided to jump into farming nine years ago. Their favorite part about farming is, “taking something from nothing, nurturing the crop to harvest and then seeing how much people enjoy our products.” Farming black chickpeas has been a total adventure for the family—creating a market for this rare variety that didn’t exist in our area until now. Small Town Specialties is selling this unique legume on a larger scale, and they’re currently finishing up harvest on their first fully organic crop! Visit them online at smalltownspecialties.com for a list of local stores where you can purchase their products.

Salty Sweet Chickpea Popcorn

1 14.5oz can chickpeas rinsed, drained, and patted dry or 2 cups dried chickpeas*
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey (for children age 1 and older)
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Drain, rinse chickpeas, and pat dry. Evenly spread dried beans on cookie sheet. Bake 40-60 minutes until crunchy. After baking, quickly transfer to a bowl and coat with coconut oil. Then mix with additional seasonings. Bake five additional minutes.

*If using dried black chickpeas from Small Town Specialties soak overnight and cook on the stovetop until soft, about one-two hours, or pop in the pressure cooker at a ratio of 1 cup dried beans to 2 cups water. High pressure for 50 minutes with 10 minutes slow release.

Salty Popcorn

2 cups popcorn kernels
½ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
Optional, add peanuts to the final mix

Use an air popper or stovetop to pop the popcorn kernels. Pour popped popcorn into an extra-large serving bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt while slowly stirring to cover the popcorn evenly. Pour sweet, crunchy black chickpeas into popcorn bowl and mix until distributed evenly.

Localicious is a monthly column celebrating food in the North State. If you would like to suggest a food-related business or organization, email us at localicious@northstateparent.com.