Have you ever looked at a baked pretzel snack and thought it looked like a face with an astonished look? Two eyes and a mouth? This Halloween, turn those pretzels into spooky Halloween ghost pretzels by coating in white chocolate and adding some eyes. Our version uses nut and dairy free white chocolate alternative to make an allergy-friendly, vegan pretzel ghost that everyone can enjoy. And you can use gluten free pretzel snacks to make a wheat and gluten free option. This is a fun and easy activity to do with kids this Halloween.
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Pretzel ghosts are super easy to make with just a few ingredients: baked pretzels (the crunchy snack variety), dairy free/vegan white chocolate and eye decorations.
Allergy-free/vegan white chocolate
Our favourite nut free, dairy free and vegan white chocolate is Sweet William white chocolate block and white chocolate melts. Sweet William is completely nut free which is really important for us with both peanut and tree nut allergies.
Other options include:
- Plamil So Free Organic White Chocolate Alternative (another nut free option that is also soy free);
- Moo Free white chocolate;
- iChoc vegan white chocolate block (but which has may contain warnings for gluten, milk and nuts).
A number of dairy free and vegan white chocolate brands contain nut “milks”. For example Loving Earth Raw Organix White Chocolate contains cashew, hazelnut and almond. This may be an option for you if you don’t have a tree nut allergy.
Pretzels
if you need to avoid gluten or wheat, try Shar Salinis snacks (gluten free, dairy free and vegan) or Eskals gluten free pretzels. These products do contain soy. As always, read all ingredients carefully to make sure ingredients are suitable for your allergies.
Definitely use salted pretzels, as the salt and sweetness of the chocolate together is what makes these snacks so tasty.
Candy eyeballs or make your own
You have probably seen lots of Halloween treats made with candy eyeballs. These are a quick and easy option to decorate your Halloween ghost pretzels. We like Wilton mini candy eyeballs, which don’t contain top 10 allergens as ingredients. (But make sure that you read the ingredients and allergen statements carefully every time.)
If you can’t find allergy-free candy eyeballs to suit your needs, you can make your own like we have. Just use some white vegan mini marshmallows and some black icing to create your own eyeballs. While this is a little more fiddly, it can make for some very amusing expressions and I think it gives the pretzel ghosts a lot more personality!
Choose a brand of mini marshmallows that is safe for your allergens. Dandies make vegan mini marshmallows, but these do contain soy. Freedom mini mallows are gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, nut free and vegan, but do contain ingredients derived from wheat. We used pre-made black writing icing to add the pupils, but you could also use a black edible ink food colouring pen.
You can even just use your imagination and use a different type of allergy-free candy altogether to make the eyes.
Assembling your pretzel ghosts
The first step is to make the eyeballs, so that they have time to set. Simply cut the mini marshmallows in half with a sharp knife and draw the pupil with some black icing or edible pen. Set aside to dry.
Line a baking tray with baking paper or non-stick silicone sheet and place a wire cooling rack over the tray.
Melt the white chocolate alternative in a small bowl. You can either do this by placing in a glass bowl over a saucepan of hot water and stirring until melted, or use the microwave. I use the microwave and heat the chocolate on medium heat for around 3 minutes, stopping regularly to stir. Be careful not to overheat as the chocolate will burn.
Dip a pretzel in the melted chocolate using a fork or a chocolate dipping tool until well coated. Let excess chocolate drip off over the bowl and then place carefully on the wire rack. Repeat for remaining pretzels. Decorate the pretzels with the marshmallow (or candy) eyes before the chocolate dries.
Depending on the temperature, you may need to refrigerate your finished pretzels for 10 minutes or so to make sure they set.
You can store your Halloween ghost pretzels in an air tight tin in a cool place for a few days, but they are best enjoyed the same day they are made.
More allergy friendly Halloween ideas and recipes
Find out more about the Teal Pumpkin Project and allergy-friendly Halloween tips in our post, Teal pumpkins everywhere – how to have an allergy friendly Halloween.
And for more delicious allergy free recipes, including more allergy-friendly chocolate treats, see our recipes page.
Halloween ghost pretzels – allergy friendly and vegan
Equipment
- chopping board
- Sharp knife
- baking tray (lined with baking paper or non-stick silicone)
- Wire cooling rack
- small microwave safe bowl
- fork or chocolate dipping tool
Ingredients
- 100 g allergy-free/vegan white chocolate
- 50 g pretzel snacks (wheat/gluten free if required)
- 25 g white mini-marshmallows
- black writing icing or edible pen to decorate
Instructions
- Cut the mini marshmallows in half with a sharp knife and draw the pupil with some black icing or edible pen. Set aside to dry.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper or non-stick silicone sheet and place a wire cooling rack over the tray.
- Melt the white chocolate in a small bowl. Either place the chocolate in a glass bowl over a saucepan of hot water and stir until melted, or microwave on medium heat for around 3 minutes, stopping regularly to stir. Be careful not to overheat as the chocolate will burn.
- Dip a pretzel in the melted chocolate using a fork or a chocolate dipping tool until well coated. Let excess chocolate drip off over the bowl and then place carefully on the wire rack. Repeat for remaining pretzels. Decorate the pretzels with the marshmallow (or candy) eyes before the chocolate dries.
- Place finished pretzels in the fridge for about 10 minutes until chocolate sets.
These are absolutely adorable. I unfortunately can’t eat Soy. Hopefully I can find pretzels I can eat!
Very cute!
Unfortunately a lot of the gluten free pretzel brands contain soy lecithin. But if you can access them, have a look at the Aldi LiveGFree pretzel twists as they don’t seem to have soy in the ingredients 🙂
Cute idea! Can’t wait to make these!
These are such a fun idea to do with the kids. It’s great that they are allergy friendly and vegan so everyone can enjoy them. Definitely making these!