Make your own almond butter cups and crispy chocolate bars for a healthier Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner and it's time to start preparing: Candy, cookies, chocolate and other ghoulish goodies are a must-have for any spooky celebration. Food blogger Samah Dada is cooking up sweet, seasonal, better-for-you treats that can be made ahead for the holiday. She shows us how to make almond butter-filled chocolate cups, chocolate chip pumpkin cookies and crispy chocolate bark.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies by Samah Dada

These pumpkin cookies are like fluffy clouds of pumpkin-spice heaven. The pumpkin adds a subtle flavor that isn't too overpowering, while lending to the extremely soft and fluffy texture of these cookies, to make them almost cake-like. Even if you're a pumpkin skeptic, you can't deny the magic that is made when these cakey cookies meet melted chocolate chips — it's a true match made in fall heaven.

Salted Almond Butter Cups by Samah Dada

I was the kid during Halloween who was only in it for the peanut butter cups. Every other candy was irrelevant in my eyes. To be honest, not a lot has changed other than the fact that I have now discovered almond butter. I decided to take everything I loved about the treasured peanut butter and swap it with almond, adding a little bit of maple syrup for sweetness and some flaky salt on top to balance it all out. What's left is a sophisticated, perhaps more grown-up version of my (and maybe your?) childhood favorite that's impossibly easy to create at home.

4-Ingredient Crispy Chocolate Bars by Samah Dada

The rice crisps add satisfying texture to these delicious chocolate bars. With the addition of a touch of maple syrup, they serve as the perfect dessert or sweet afternoon pick-me-up that we all need throughout the day. The best part is, the bars can be made with four ingredients and don't require any special equipment or baking materials.

If you like those sweet make-ahead recipes, you should also try these:

Pumpkin Spice French Toast Casserole by Ryan Scott

Joy Bauer's Pumpkin Kettle Corn by Joy Bauer