If the thought of a bag full of sugary, high-fat Halloween treats has you spooked, here are some tips to keep your little goblins happy and healthy this trick-or-treating season. Don’t rely on store bought treats, much healthier cookies are easily made at home. Substituting a few ingredients in your favorite recipes make them lower in fat but still bewitchingly good.

As the leaves turn bright colors and pumpkins go from green to orange, thoughts of a the aroma of cookies warm from the oven make the whole family excited about the change of season. Kids know this is a time when a few of the healthy rules get relaxed a wee bit, letting them enjoy a frightful eve of collecting candy from the neighbors. You can contribute to the holiday festivities by serving them nutritious, low-fat, treats.

The easiest way to reduce the fat in cookie recipes is by substituting some of the butter or oil with fruit purees. There are many choices; each giving the cookies a unique flavor. Applesauce, prune filling, canned pumpkin, and pear butter work well. These not only reduce the amount of fat, they also help keep cookies moist and chewy. Using no-fat yogurt or buttermilk instead of butter or oil makes cookies moist and tender.

Another trick to make those treats delicious is using finer cake flour instead of regular flour. This increases the amount of fat absorbed by the flour, working to keep cookies moist even when reducing the fat in the Halloween recipe. It may take a little experimenting when modifying an existing recipe, but finding healthy recipes is getting as easy as saying boo!

There’s no need to tell your little goblins that the cookies they are enjoying with a glass of milk are actually healthy. Let that be your secret trick this Halloween!