It’s Halloween! This was my first year looking for vegan Halloween candy. Here’s what I learned:

First, don’t stress over it. There are really a lot of options. For a fairly comprehensive guide, see this Big Fat Vegan Radio episode. The show notes list the candy that they recommend (near the bottom of the page). Examples of widely available vegan candy are Skittles, Twizzlers, Swedish Fish and Oreos.

There’s also some really great higher-end vegan candy available if you’re interested (and don’t get too many trick-or-treaters; otherwise these might be a little steep).

Here’s what I wound up getting for this year:

Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups won Our Hen House’s Facebook poll about favorite vegan candy. (Note: only the dark chocolate variety are vegan.) I got them partly because I wanted to try them myself. I also got a few small Alter Eco dark chocolate bars in case we run out of peanut butter cups.

Alter Eco and Justin’s are both on the Food Empowerment Project Chocolate List, a list of producers of vegan chocolate products that do not source chocolate from regions where slavery is rampant. (Note: the list includes Justin’s nut butters; it’s not entirely clear that this includes Justin’s dark chocolate. I’m following up with Justin’s.) I got both at Whole Foods.

I also learned (from Big Fat Vegan Radio) about Go Max Go, which makes vegan translations of a number of popular candy bars. It’s a little pricey for Halloween, but is a great idea for candy nonetheless. They are not Food Empowerment Project recommended, but their site takes slavery in the chocolate trade seriously, as well as palm oil environmental concerns. I’m following up with them about how they source cocoa.

Not directly Halloween related, but speaking of vegan chocolate — I’ve become a huge fan of this stuff:

I came across this while looking for slavery-free alternatives to a favorite chocolate protein bar of mine.

Alter Eco’s Quinoa Dark Chocolate is Food Empowerment Project approved, is delicious chocolate in its own right, and the toasted quinoa gives it a satisfying crunch, similar to Nestle Crunch. It’s also fairly cheap for single-origin fair-trade (non-West African) chocolate at $4 / bar. It can be found at Whole Foods or online. Try some!

That’s all for now, Happy Halloween! What’s your favorite Halloween candy?