Gluten-free Halloween treats

What do you make for today's elementary school kids since so many of them have allergies and sensitivities to foods?

Our class decided to have a gluten-free, milk-free, nut-free party where we focus heavily on toy treats and more lightly on candy treats. Above we filled treat bags with Halloween favors including a pencil, pad, pencil sharpener, erasers, plastic spiders, squishy eyeballs, eyeball rings, Halloween stickers and puzzles.

We did make some cute cupcakes with a Halloween/fall theme covered in candy corn. The cake for these cupcakes was from a Bob's Red Mill chocolate cake mix. They are light and fluffy, rich cocoa cakes baked in muffin pans with cupcake liners. The icing, made from the recipe below, but using margarine with no trans-fats and soy milk is very good and hard to tell from the original recipe.

Creamy Cocoa Frosting
(Dairy-free recipe)

1 cup softened margarine with no trans fats (Smart Balance or Earth Balance)
2 lbs. confectioners' sugar
1 cup cocoa (packed)
1/2 to 2/3 cups soy milk or almond milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat margarine in medium bowl. Stir in vanilla flavoring. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk a little at a time until frosting is easy to spread. Pipe onto cupcakes using a large piping tool.

We are transporting the cupcakes in a large flat plastic carrier that holds tons of cupcakes. This is my tip of the day because if you have ever had to transport cupcakes, you know that this makes carrying them easier. It is similar to an "under-the-bed" tub and is about the size of a regular plastic tub but this is perfect because it keeps them fresh until it's time to go. When buying a tub for this purpose, make sure the bottom is flat with no ridges around the sides.

We also made marshmallow ghosts by melting vegan chips and piping on a face. It goes well with the all-chocolate cupcakes.

One mother is bringing a "cauldron" that the kids will fill with gluten-free pretzels, mini marshmallows, vegan chocolate chips and other gluten-free items. The kids will take turns pouring in the items and stirring the pot.

The kids will also make a "ghost" by using a Dum-Dum sucker, a coffee filter, a white ribbon and self-adhesive wiggle eyes.

Will the kids enjoy the cupcakes? I will add to this post tomorrow to let you know!