Halloween and Italy’s Traditional Sweets

Pumpkins

In recent decades, Halloween has become a beloved celebration in Italy too, especially among the younger generations. Yet few know that the night of October 31st and the following days — All Saints’ Day (November 1st) and All Souls’ Day (November 2nd) — have deep roots in Italian folk traditions long predating the arrival of American pumpkins. Across many regions, autumn has always been a season of remembrance and renewal, marked by rituals, tales and symbolic foods celebrating the bond between the living and the departed.

While big cities now glow with pumpkin lanterns and costume parties, in the countryside and small towns a rich heritage of traditional recipes endures — simple, fragrant sweets passed down through generations, telling the most authentic story of this ancient celebration. Traditional Halloween Recipes in Italy

Fave dei Morti – Central and Northern Italy 👉Click HERE for the recipe

Typical of Umbria, Marche, Tuscany and Veneto, these almond cookies come from an ancient custom of offering dried beans to the dead — symbols of rebirth and immortality. Over time, they turned into delicate biscuits, often flavored with anise or liqueur.

Pan dei Morti – Lombardy and Northern Italy 👉Click HERE for the recipe

Born in Lombardy, this spiced autumn dessert combines crumbled cookies, nuts, cocoa, red wine and spices. Soft and fragrant, it pairs beautifully with vin santo or coffee. Traditionally, it was offered to honor the dead and symbolize the connection between the earthly and the spiritual worlds.

Piada dei Morti (or Piada dei Mort) – Romagna 👉Click HERE for the recipe

From the Romagna region comes a sweet focaccia made with walnuts, raisins, pine nuts and honey. A rustic dessert reflecting both peasant simplicity and heartfelt remembrance — where nuts stand for life’s strength and honey for the sweetness of memory.

Sweets of the Dead in Southern Italy In Southern Italy, the tradition remains vibrant: in Sicily, sugar puppets and marzipan fruit (frutta martorana); in Puglia, the “sospiri dei morti”; in Campania, almond-spice cookies called “ossa dei morti.” These confections celebrate remembrance and life’s joy, blending flavor with spirituality in true Italian style.

Today, Halloween in Italy is more than pumpkins and costumes — it’s a celebration of love, memory and tradition, where ancient sweets keep family bonds alive across generations.