• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Sprinkles and Sprouts

Great food with grocery store ingredients

  • Recipe Index
  • About
  • Contact Me
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • By Category
  • Chicken
  • Pasta
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • By Category
    • Chicken
    • Pasta
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
  • ×
    Home > Holidays and Events > Halloween

    Bliss Ball Bugs - Healthy Halloween Treat

    Updated: Nov 11th 2019 • Published: Oct 23rd 2019 • 8 Comments

    Jump to Recipe SaveSaved! Pin Recipe
    close up on a bliss ball turned into a bug with text at the bottom
    close up on a bliss ball turned into a bug with text in the middle
    close up on a bliss ball turned into a bug with text at the top
    close up on a bliss ball turned into a bug with text at the top
    close up on a bliss ball turned into a bug with text at the top
    close up on a bliss ball turned into a bug with text at the top
    close up on a bliss ball turned into a bug with text at the top
    close up on a bliss ball turned into a bug with text at the top and bottom
    close up on a bliss ball turned into a bug with text at the top and bottom
    close up on a bliss ball turned into a bug with text at the top

    These Bliss Ball Bugs make a healthy Halloween treat or snack for kids. They are so easy to make so get the kids involved and have some Halloween fun. 

    The balls are made with cashew nuts and dates, sweetened with maple syrup and get their chocolate taste from cocoa. So these really are a treat you can eat at any time. 

    You could mix it up, add more legs to make spiders, or use chocolate buttons to make wings and turn these bliss ball bugs into flying bugs. These cute Halloween snacks are child-friendly and Mum friendly!

    close up on the pretzel eggs of the bliss ball bug halloween treat

    Jump Menu

    • Kid-friendly Bliss Balls.
    • Turning bliss balls into Halloween bugs.
    • How to make bliss balls
    • Bliss Ball Bugs Recipe

    Kid-friendly Bliss Balls.

    Halloween candy is awesome! For weeks after Halloween, there are buckets of lollies, hard candy, jellies and chocolate just waiting to be enjoyed!

    But as part of our Halloween party this year, I am offering a healthier alternative with these Bliss Ball Bugs.

    Whenever I make bliss balls my kids look at them and proclaim them to be "roo poo". Apparently, healthy bliss balls look like balls of kangaroo poop! 

    I did wonder if perhaps that was Halloweeny enough? But it wasn't going to entice them into trying them. So I turned the roo poo into bugs and both boys ate them! Winner.

    face on view of a bliss ball bug with pretzel legs and caramel chip eyes

    Turning bliss balls into Halloween bugs.

    Once you have rolled the bliss balls the possibilities here are so much fun. I went for 6 legged bugs - using pretzels as legs and some peanut butter chips for eyes. 

    But you could add more pretzel legs and turn these into spiders. Use white chocolate buttons to make wings for your bugs. Roll the balls into long thin worms. Or just serve them as bliss balls and call them roo poo.

    bliss balls turned into bugs on a metal tray

    How to make bliss balls

    You will need a food processor, after that it is just a case of adding the ingredients and letting the blades do the work. 

    It will quickly turn your ingredients into a slightly sticky mixture that can be rolled into balls.

    I find it is best to add the nuts and dates first and give them a good whizz so they have already broken down before I add the cocoa powder and maple syrup. 

    Instead of maple syrup, you can use honey or rice malt syrup.

    Once the mixture has combined use a tablespoon to scoop out some mixture, then roll the balls around in your palms to achieve the ball shape. It is handy to have slightly damp hands here as the mixture doesn't stick so much. Or you can lightly coat your palms in a little neutral-flavored oil.

    4 bliss ball bugs on a rusted baking tray

    Enjoy x

    For more halloween food why not try:

    • Mini Halloween Pies
    • 'Snakes' Tongue Rolls – Halloween Hot Dogs
    • Rice Krispies Treat Marshmallow Brains
    • Witches Hat Cheese Ball
    • Sweet and Sour ‘Bat’ Wings
    • Witches Hair Pasta


    Pin this recipe for these Halloween Bliss Ball Bugs. Pin it here.

    close up on the side of a bliss ball bug showing the pretzel sticks used as legs
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    4.86 from 7 votes

    Bliss Ball Bugs Recipe

    These Bliss Ball Bugs make a healthy Halloween treat or snack for kids. They are so easy to make so get the kids involved and have some Halloween fun. The balls are made with cashew nuts and dates, sweetened with maple syrup and get their chocolate taste from cocoa. So these really are a treat you can eat at any time. You could mix it up, add more legs to make spiders, or use chocolate buttons to make wings and turn these bliss ball bugs into flying bugs for cute Halloween snacks.
    Prep Time5 mins
    Total Time5 mins
    Course: Snack
    Cuisine: Modern Australian
    Servings: 16
    Calories: 74kcal
    Author: Claire | Sprinkle and Sprouts
    For more great recipes follow me on PinterestFollow @sprinklessprout
    Need Metric Measurements?Use the options below to toggle between cups and grams (if relevant)
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Grams

    For the bliss balls

    • 1 cup cashew nuts
    • ¾ cup dried dates
    • ¼ cup cocoa powder
    • 2 tablespoon maple syrup

    To decorate (see note 1)

    • pretzel sticks
    • peanut butter chips

    Instructions

    • Place the cashew nuts and dates in the bowl of a food processor and whizz until lightly broken down.
    • Remove the lid and add the cocoa powder and maple syrup.
    • Whizz again until the mixture forms a rough ball.
    • Dampen your hands and roll tablespoon amounts of the mixture into balls.
    • Decorate with pretzel legs and peanut butter chips eyes.

    Notes

    1. You can mix up the decoration here.
      • Use more pretzel legs to turn the bugs into spiders
      • Use chocolate chips or caramel chips for eyes
      • Use chocolate buttons to add wings to your bugs.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 74kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 125mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @sprinklesandsprouts or tag #sprinklesandsprouts

    More Halloween

    • Dead Fly Pasta
    • Halloween Pies - Sausage Party Pies
    • Severed Finger Pasta - Halloween Pasta
    • Non-alcoholic Eye of Newt Punch

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. hol84 says

      October 29, 2020 at 7:11 am

      Spiders=arachnids so they have 8 legs, not six!

      Reply
      • Claire McEwen says

        October 31, 2020 at 6:38 pm

        This is very true, however these are bugs not spiders, so they only need 6 legs.
        Happy Halloween
        Cx

        Reply
    2. Eva says

      October 27, 2019 at 2:42 am

      5 stars
      These are seriously so cute! I love the huge eyes, gives them so much personality.

      Reply
    3. Jenni says

      October 25, 2019 at 7:24 pm

      5 stars
      These are so cute! I love that they are a treat for my kids, but aren't loaded with sugar and food coloring! My kids helped me make these and they couldn't stop talking about how much they loved them!

      Reply
      • Claire McEwen says

        October 26, 2019 at 7:56 am

        Oh I am so pleased the kids loved making them and eating them. Isn't it great when they enjoy healthy treats as much as the sugar filled ones 😀 😀

        Reply
    4. Traci says

      October 24, 2019 at 9:50 am

      5 stars
      OMgosh...the cutest spiders on the planet! How fun and adorable for Halloween...no excuse to NOT make these. They're SO easy, delicious, and healthy! Thanks for another winner, Claire!

      Reply
    5. Debbie says

      October 24, 2019 at 8:07 am

      5 stars
      What an adorable idea and healthy!! This is easy enough the kids can help. Cute recipe, I love these Ball bugs.

      Reply
    6. Ben says

      October 24, 2019 at 12:12 am

      5 stars
      Those are cute and they look delicious. I'll have to make up a batch of these for the kids.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    a lady stood in a white kitchen chopping a tomato

    I'm Claire and I love food!
    I dream about food and I am happiest when I am in the kitchen cooking. Whether that is dinner for my family, snacks for drinks with my girlfriends or testing new recipes for my site, the kitchen is my happy place. Sprinkles and Sprouts is where I share it all and I am so happy you are here.

    Read More →

    As featured in

    Popular

    • Easy Homemade Brown Gravy (no drippings)
    • Creamy Tomato Chicken and Chorizo Pasta
    • Homemade Peshwari Naan
    • Easy Garlic Bacon Pasta
    • Homemade Peri Peri Seasoning
    • Slow Roasted Greek Lemon Potatoes

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Sprinkles
    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    All content, recipes and photographs are copyrighted to Claire McEwen and are the property of Sprinkles and Sprouts.
    THEY MAY NOT BE REPUBLISHED IN PART OR WHOLE WITHOUT PERMISSION AND PROPER CREDIT.
    Contact me to see republishing and syndication rights.

    Copyright © 2020 Sprinkles and Sprouts

    Copyright © 2023 · Cravings Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in