The Checked Kitchen

Free · 57 recipes · 78 pages · PDF and EPUB

Gluten-free Halloween recipes, checked line by line.

Halloween is the one night of the year built entirely out of food nobody checks. This is fifty-seven recipes for the whole of it — the party table, dinner, the sweets and the drinks — with every processed ingredient named as gluten-free on the line where you read it.

Where should we send it?

Type your address, press the button, and the download opens on this page straight away. A copy goes to your inbox as well, so you still have it tomorrow.

The cover of 57 Gluten-Free Halloween Recipes

What is in it

22 recipes

The party table and dinner

Spiderweb dip, spider deviled eggs, jalapeño popper mummies, mummy-wrapped hot dogs, jack-o'-lantern stuffed peppers, monster eyeball meatballs, pumpkin soup served in the pumpkin, and a black bean cauldron for a crowd.

29 recipes

Sweets, bakes and spooks

Caramel apples, candy apples, meringue ghosts, witches' finger cookies, monster cookies, mummy pretzel rods, crispy rice pumpkins, gravedigger dirt cups, pumpkin pie, no-bake pumpkin cheesecake and flourless brownies.

6 drinks

Something to drink

Witches' brew punch that foams out of the bowl, mulled cider, pumpkin spice hot chocolate, a green monster smoothie, a blood orange punch and a pumpkin spice latte made with real pumpkin.

Ten of the fifty-seven need no gluten-free substitution at all. They were always safe — nobody had written them down in one place.

The six ingredients that ruin Halloween

Almost nobody with a diagnosis is caught out by a sandwich. The traps at Halloween are the ingredients that look like they could not possibly be a problem, and the book names them on the line where they appear.

Crisped rice cereal. The treat that looks safest in the room. Standard crisped rice is made with malt, and malt comes from barley.
Condensed tomato soup. Several of the best-known brands thicken it with wheat flour, and it turns up in stuffed peppers and half the casseroles people cook on a busy night.
Spice blends. Taco seasoning, chili powder, curry powder and pumpkin pie spice are mixtures, not spices. Wheat flour and anti-caking agents both appear.
Barbecue sauce. Barley malt, malt extract and malt vinegar all live in it, and none of them has to be flagged in United States labeling.
Candy corn, sprinkles and candy eyes. Decorations are a separate product with a separate label, and the same brand can be safe in one country and not in another.
Broth. The most-missed ingredient in gluten-free savory cooking, and the reason a soup made from scratch can still be unsafe.

Every recipe in the collection

8 recipes

The Party Table

  • Spiced Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
  • Spider Deviled Eggs
  • Spiderweb Layered Dip
  • Pumpkin-Shaped Cheese Ball
  • Halloween Snack Mix
  • Bone-Yard Vegetable Platter with Ranch Dip
  • Jalapeño Popper Mummies
  • Blood-Red Beet Hummus
14 recipes

Dinner on Halloween Night

  • Mummy-Wrapped Hot Dogs
  • Roasted Pumpkin Soup
  • Jack-o'-Lantern Stuffed Peppers
  • Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili
  • Monster Eyeball Meatballs with Spaghetti
  • Piped Mashed Potato Ghosts
  • One-Pot Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese
  • Sausage and Rice Stuffed Pumpkins
  • Monster Bones (Baked Barbecue Drumsticks)
  • Spiderweb and Mummy Pizzas
  • Witches' Cauldron Black Bean Soup
  • Cornbread Muffins
  • Maple Roasted Acorn Squash Rings
  • Pumpkin Risotto
6 recipes

The Baking Tray

  • Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Almond Flour Pumpkin Loaf
  • Pumpkin Pancakes
  • Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
  • Pumpkin Spice Energy Balls
  • Baked Pumpkin Donuts
23 recipes

Sweets and Spooks

  • Stovetop Caramel Apples
  • Meringue Ghosts
  • Halloween Candy Bark
  • Molasses Popcorn Balls
  • Witches' Finger Cookies
  • Apple Monster Mouths
  • Frozen Banana Ghosts
  • Gravedigger Dirt Cups
  • Cinnamon Candy Apples
  • Monster Cookies
  • Crispy Rice Pumpkins
  • Ghost-Dipped Strawberries
  • Pumpkin Pie with Almond Flour Crust
  • Peanut Butter Eyeball Truffles
  • Flourless Brownies
  • No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
  • Mummy Pretzel Rods
  • Oven Caramel Corn
  • Caramel Apple Nachos
  • Vanilla Panna Cotta with Blood Sauce
  • Pumpkin Fudge
  • Apple Crisp
  • No-Bake Chocolate Spiders
6 recipes

Something to Drink

  • Mulled Apple Cider
  • Green Monster Smoothie
  • Witches' Brew Punch
  • Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate
  • Pumpkin Spice Latte
  • Blood Orange Punch

Questions

Are these recipes safe for celiac disease?

Every processed ingredient is named as gluten-free on the ingredient line itself, not implied by the title, and the notes say which line is the one that catches people. That is as far as a recipe can take you: a recipe can tell you what kind of product to buy, not which brand is safe this month. You still read the label on every package, every time.

What actually contains gluten at Halloween?

Six things catch people over and over: crisped rice cereal, which is made with barley malt; condensed tomato soup, which several well-known brands thicken with wheat flour; taco seasoning, chili powder and other spice blends; barbecue sauce; candy corn, sprinkles and candy eyes, which are a separate product with a separate label; and broth, the most-missed ingredient in gluten-free savory cooking.

Is trick-or-treat candy gluten-free?

Some of it. Plain chocolate, hard candy and most gummies are usually fine, brand by brand. Licorice, wafer bars, malted milk balls and anything with a cookie center are out. Sort the bag on the table when you get home, then trade what cannot stay for something from this collection.

Do I need special gluten-free flour to cook from this?

For most of it, no. Ten of the fifty-seven recipes need no gluten-free substitution at all, and many of the sweets are built on almond flour, oats, meringue or no flour whatsoever. Only the pizza, the cupcakes, the pancakes, the donuts and the crisp call for a gluten-free flour blend.

What do I get, and what does it cost?

Seventy-eight pages as a PDF and an EPUB, with 57 recipes, a contents page that links to each one, and a short chapter on running a mixed Halloween table safely. It is free for an email address, and the download opens on this page the moment you enter one.

And the rest of the year

Safe to Eat — 1,000 recipes

Six reference chapters, twelve categories, a full index, EPUB and PDF. This Halloween collection is the same method, for one night.

See the book — $29