# Guilt-Free Gourd Desserts Swap Out Your Sweets for Healthy Pumpkin Rice Balls By Nikki Taylor | Published 2012-10-27 | Special Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/pumpkin-rice-balls References: [foodista](http://www.foodista.com/blog/2012/10/24/pumpkin-rice-balls-are-a-healthy-halloween-snack) & [apronstringsblog](http://www.apronstringsblog.com/healthyhalloween-carrot-rice-ball-jack-o-lantern-bites-recipe/) A lot of Halloween food comes in the form of sugared sweets that will earn you a trip to the dentist if you indulge in too much, but these pumpkin rice balls are a way to have festive food fun without getting dreaded cavities. These cheeky jack o'lanterns are made of short grain rice that is soaked in carrot juice to construct them. The faces are made out of black olives and green bell peppers are used to make the stem. What you end up with is a tasty orange pumpkin ball that you can chow down on all night without any regrets. Why stop at pumpkin rice balls? You could easily make little ghosts to go along with your theme of edible Halloween characters. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 0.6/10 - Popularity: 7% | Activity: 3% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Special](https://www.trendhunter.com/special) ## Key Themes ### What's Driving This Trend - **Healthy Halloween Treats:** There is a trend towards creating guilt-free Halloween treats, which presents an opportunity for innovation in creating creative healthy alternatives to traditional Halloween sweets - **Food Decoration:** There is a trend towards creative food decoration, as seen in the use of vegetables to decorate food, which presents an opportunity for innovation in creating more edible food art for various occasions - **Alternative Ingredients:** There is a trend towards using healthy and alternative ingredients in desserts, which presents an opportunity for innovation in creating more desserts using healthy and unusual ingredients such as carrot juice soaked rice ### Who This Affects Most - **Food and Beverage Industry:** There is an opportunity for the food and beverage industry to innovate healthier versions of traditional Halloween sweets - **Event Planning:** There is an opportunity for the event planning industry to offer creative food decoration services for various occasions, such as Halloween - **Healthy Food Industry:** There is an opportunity for the healthy food industry to promote alternative ingredients in dessert making, such as carrot juice soaked rice ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Curated Halloween-Inspired Japanese Snacks](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/japanese-snacks-for-halloween.md) - [Halloween-Themed Snack Treats](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/soreen-halloween.md) - [Ghostly Vegan Chocolates](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/white-chocolate-ghost.md) - [Better-For-You Pumpkin Treats](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/pumpkin-bites.md) - [Artisan-Quality Halloween Desserts](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/tous-les-jours-spooky-delights.md) - [Vegan Halloween Chocolate Boxes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/vegan-friendly-halloween-treats.md) - [Better-For-You Halloween Candies](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/unreal-halloween-pack.md) - [Free-From Swedish Halloween Candies](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/spooky-gummy-mix.md) - [Spooky Soft Serve Desserts](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/halloween-dole-whip.md)