Healthy-ish Easter Candy

Mar 30, 2021
At Trash Panda, we’re all about celebrating holidays with special treats! Hunting for eggs and enjoying your favorite candies for Easter can bring so much joy - and sharing those moments shouldn’t be missed!
Although we aren’t looking for nutritional perfection in our jelly beans, many typical Easter candies include potentially harmful ingredients like artificial flavors or colors that have been linked to neurobehavioral problems in children like ADHD. So if you’re looking to fill your baskets with sweet treats that offer better quality ingredients, we’ve got you covered with some great options!

Jelly Beans

Classic Brach’s, Jelly Belly, or Starburst jelly beans all include corn syrup, artificial flavors, and colors like Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 & 6 Lake, Red 40, Blue 1 & 2 Lake, and Yellow 5 & 6. Some better alternatives we love are Yum Earth Organic Sour Beans, or Surf Sweets Organic Jelly Beans that are both made without artificial colors.

Chocolate Bunnies

The go-to chocolate Easter bunnies by Godiva or Dove are made with natural and artificial flavors, respectively. To avoid those, an equally cute and delicious option is Lake Champlain’s Dark Chocolate Easter Bunny - made with just fair trade chocolate and vanilla powder. They also offer dark chocolate carrots!
Another great option for milk chocolate are these Alter Eco Easter Truffles - they’re made with certified organic and grass-fed milk chocolate!

Peanut Butter Eggs

Classic Reese’s Eggs are delicious, but include potentially harmful ingredients like TBHQ, PGPR, and vegetable oils. Luckily, one of our favorite candy brands, Ocho, is now making organic peanut butter eggs. You can also get these from Lake Champlain if you’re already getting a chocolate bunny or chocolate carrot order!
Peanut butter eggs are also surprisingly easy to make at home, and can be a fun activity to do with your little ones on Easter. We love these two recipes from Ambitious Kitchen and Detoxinista.

Peeps

As fun as they look, Peeps are probably one of the worst Easter candy options out there. Don’t be fooled by their “fat free, gluten free and low calorie” claims on the front of the package - Peeps come packed with corn syrup, natural flavors and artificial colors like Yellow 40 and Blue 1. A better option is SmashMallow’s Easter Fun Size Variety Packs that are perfect for Easter egg hunts and made with organic cane sugar and no artificial flavors or colors.
Have other healthy-ish Easter candy ideas? Share them with us on Instagram @trashpanda_app!
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