The leaves are turning, the air is crisper, and the stores are filled to the brim with Halloween décor. Tap into your inner chef to whip up these treats that the kids will love. Try one of the savory items for appetizer or main dish, then look to the sweets for a fun themed dessert!
*Ingredients listed in bold are available at Bartell’s. Availability per store may vary.
Savory
Jalapeno Popper Mummies
Ingredients:
For the crust:
• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 8 oz Monterey jack cheese shredded
• 1/2 tsp Spice Classics Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Spice Classics Onion Powder
• 1/4 tsp Morton Salt
• 1/4 tsp Morton Black Pepper
• 10 jalapenos sliced in half lengthwise, seeds removed
• 12 oz Pillsbury crescent rolls
• 1 egg lightly beaten with 1 Tbsp of water (for egg wash)
• 40 small candy eyeballs or Napoleon Sliced Olives
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a large baking tray with foil and lightly spray with olive oil cooking spray. Slice your jalapenos lengthwise and remove the seeds. Partially remove the pith/ribs of the jalapeno. Add the cream cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper to a large bowl and stir to combine. Spoon the cheese mixture into the jalapeno halves. Unroll the crescent rolls. Divide them into 4 rectangles; to do this, you will need to push together 2 triangles, sealing them at the perforations. You will end up with 4 rectangles total. Slice each rectangle lengthwise into 10 strips. Wrap each cheese-stuffed jalapeno half with 2 strips of dough. Try to leave room for where the eyes will be. Arrange the dough-wrapped, cheese-stuffed jalapeno halves on the prepared baking tray. Lightly brush the dough with egg wash. Bake until they’re golden, about 12 minutes. As soon as they’re out of the oven, carefully press 2 candy eyeballs (or olives) into each mummy. Cool slightly and serve warm.
Modified from: https://amandascookin.com/jalapeno-popper-mummies/
Monster Avocado Toast
Ingredients:
• 4 avocados
• 1 tbsp RealLemon Lemon Juice
• 2 sheets of seaweed
• Radishes
• Napoleon Black Olives
• Mini dill pickles
• Grape tomatoes
• Fisher Walnuts
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 4 pieces of toast
Directions:
Slice the avocados in half, remove the stone, and scoop out the avocado flesh into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and pinch of salt and pepper, then mash with a fork. Prepare the toppings for the facial features of the toast faces. Use sharp scissors to cut out shapes from the seaweed. You’ll need circles for eyes, zigzags for hair, and thin strips for smiles, scars, noses, and eyebrows. Chop the red bell pepper into small pieces to make lips, fangs, nostrils, and pupils. Slice the radishes for eyeballs. Slice the olives into rings for eyes. Spread the mashed avocado onto the toast pieces and decorate.
Modified from: https://www.brit.co/get-in-the-halloween-spirit-with-our-avocado-breakfast-recipe/
Jack ‘o Lantern Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients:
• 4 small peppers (a mix of orange, red and yellow)
• 1/8 c pine nuts
• 1 tbsp Napoleon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed
• 1 small eggplant, chopped into small pieces
• ¾ c Near East Quinoa, cooked
• 2 tbsp Hunts Tomato Paste
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 bunch basil, chopped
Directions:
Cut the tops off the peppers (keeping the tops to one side) and remove the seeds and any white flesh from inside. Use a small sharp knife to carve spooky Halloween faces into the sides. Chop any offcuts into small pieces and set aside. Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan for a few mins until golden and set aside. Heat the oil in the pan and heat the oven to 350F. Cook the onion in the oil for 8-10 mins until softened. Stir in the garlic, pepper offcuts and eggplant and cook for another 10 mins, until the veggies are soft. Add a splash of water if the pan looks dry. Season. Add quinoa into the pan with the tomato paste. Stir for a minute or two to warm through, then remove from the heat and add the lemon zest, basil and pine nuts. Fill each pepper with the grain mixture. Replace the lids, using cocktail sticks to secure them in place, and put the peppers in a deep roasting tin with the carved faces facing upwards. Cover with foil and bake for 35 mins, uncovered for the final 10. The peppers should be soft and the filling piping hot.
Modified from: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/healthy-halloween-stuffed-peppers
Mummy Dogs
Ingredients:
• 8 veggie, turkey or beef dogs
• 1 batch of prepared pizza dough
• Optional: ketchup, mustard, or other sauces
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and lightly grease with cooking spray. Cut the pizza dough into 8 even strips using a pizza cutter or knife. Stretch each piece of the pizza dough until it’s about 4 times the length of the hot dog. Starting at the top, wrap the pizza dough around the hot dog until it’s completely covered allowing a small space for the face. Place the wrapped hot dogs on the cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. When the hot dogs are cool, dot the ketchup and/or mustard with a toothpick for the eyes.
Modified from:https://weelicious.com/mummy-dogs/
Mini Monster Burgers
Ingredients:
• Pure Wesson Vegetable Oil, for the baking tray
• 8 beef meatballs
• 8 small seeded rolls, split
• 1 head of lettuce
• 2 slices cheddar
• ¼ small cucumber (about 4cm long)
• 16 Napoleon Cornichons
• 16 pimento-stuffed green olives
• Primal Kitchen Ketchup, to serve
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350F. Line a baking tray with foil and drizzle with a little oil. Arrange the meatballs over the tray, spaced apart, and squash into flat patties using the palm of your hand. Turn the patties over and rub in the oil, then bake for 15 mins. Meanwhile, top the base of each roll with a small lettuce leaf. Halve the cheese slices lengthways in a zig-zag to make ‘teeth’, then cut in half again crosswise so you have eight rows. Cut the cucumber into thin slices on the diagonal to make tongues. Push a cocktail stick into each of the cornichons, lengthways, to make the horns and halfway through the olives to create the effect of eyeballs on stalks. Add a burger patty to each of the lettuce-lined buns, followed by a cucumber tongue, cheese teeth and drizzle of ketchup, then sandwich with the tops of the buns. Stick the olive eyes and cornichon horns into the tops of the buns.
Modified from: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/mini-monster-burgers
Sweets
Peanut Butter Spider Cookies
Ingredients:
• One 5-ounce box Whoppers
• 3/4 c Bob’s Red Mill Organic All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 tsp Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
• Pinch of Morton Salt
• 1/2 c C&H Granulated Sugar
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp Spice Classics Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c Adam’s Natural Peanut Butter
• 2 oz Guittard Semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 small tube white cake decorating gel
Directions:
Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Separate the chocolate candy balls into larger and smaller balls. The larger balls will make up the spider bodies and the smaller balls the heads. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Cream the sugar and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and egg and mix until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Add the peanut butter and mix until creamy, about 1 minute. Turn the mixer speed down to low and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on medium until incorporated, then turn the speed down to low again and add the rest of the flour mixture. Beat on medium until incorporated. Roll the dough by hand into 1-inch balls, place about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cookies are light golden brown and have spread to about 2 inches wide, about 16 minutes. The cookies are done when they smell very peanut buttery and the tops feel dry and slightly firm when pressed with fingers. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Remove from the heat and let cool briefly so that it is slightly thickened but still pipe-able. When the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack. Immediately push 2 chocolate candies directly into each hot cookie, putting a smaller chocolate ball toward the edge of the cookie and a larger chocolate ball directly behind it in the center of the cookie. When the melted chocolate has thickened slightly, put it into a plastic bag and cut a small hole in the corner to create a piping bag. Pipe 8 legs on each cookie, starting from the point where the 2 chocolate candies meet. Pipe the front 4 legs so that they curve up toward the head and the back 4 legs so that they curve backward beyond the body. Reserve the remaining chocolate in the piping bag for the pupils of the eyes. To make eyes, pipe two 1/4-inch circles on the “heads” of each spider with the cake decorating gel. Pipe a tiny dot of the reserved melted chocolate in the center of each to make the pupils.
Modified from: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/scary-peanut-butter-spider-cookies-3561241
Witch Finger Cookies
Ingredients:
• Pure Wesson Vegetable Oil
• 2 c Bob’s Red Mill Organic All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp Morton Salt
• 1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 c C&H Granulated Sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 tsp Spice Classics Pure Vanilla Extract
• 28 pieces of Fresh Gourmet Sliced Almonds
• 1/2 c Maury Island Red Raspberry Jam
Directions:
Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray or line with a silicone baking mat. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in the flour mixture until a dough forms. Using about1 1/2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough between your palms into 5-inch-long fingers about 1/2-inch thick. Firmly press a sliced almond into the end of each finger to make fingernails. Make several horizontal cuts, about 1/4 inch deep and 1/2 inch long, in the center of each finger to make knuckles. Press the dough on either side of the cuts to shape the knuckles. Arrange the fingers on the prepared baking sheet and bake until light golden, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer the fingers to a wire rack and cool completely. In a small saucepan, heat the jam over low heat until warm, about 2 minutes. Dip the blunt ends of the fingers in the warm jam and arrange on a platter.
Modified from: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/witch-finger-cookies-2229436
Frozen Banana Ghosts
Ingredients:
• ¾ c Guittard White Chocolate Chips
• 4 medium-large, ripe bananas
• 1/3 c desiccated coconut
• handful dark chocolate drops
Directions:
In a small bowl, gently melt the white chocolate either in the microwave – in short bursts on high or over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl isn’t touching the water). Set aside for a moment while you get the bananas ready. Peel the bananas, cut in half, and push a popsicle stick into the middle of each piece. Spread the coconut out in a shallow bowl. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment, and make sure there is room for the tray in the freezer. Using a pastry brush, coat a banana half in chocolate, letting excess drip away. Sprinkle with plenty of the coconut until coated, then set it on the prepared sheet. Now add two chocolate eyes and a mouth, and if you like, cut a few little eyebrows from the chocolate drops too. Freeze the bananas for at least 4 hrs, and up to a week.
Modified from: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/frozen-banana-ghosts
Candy Corn Popcorn Balls
Ingredients:
• 6 tbsp Jack Rabbit Popcorn Kernels
• 1/4 c peanut oil
• 1/2 c C&H Granulated Sugar
• Pam Cooking Spray
• 1 c candy corn
• 1/2 c Planter’s Dry Roasted Lightly Salted Peanuts
• 4 c Campfire Mini Marshmallows
• 4 tbsp salted butter
Directions:
Heat a large pot over medium-high heat; add the popcorn kernels and peanut oil. When the oil starts to sizzle, sprinkle the sugar over the kernels. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and shake the pot until the popping slows down, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour the popcorn onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, separating the kernels with a spatula or spoon. Let the popcorn cool. Coat a large bowl with cooking spray and add the popcorn, candy corn and peanuts. Combine the marshmallows and butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until melted and smooth, about 5 minutes. Pour the melted marshmallow mixture over the popcorn mixture and gently stir to coat. Coat your hands with cooking spray, then shape the popcorn into 3-inch balls. Let cool.
Modified from: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a34029904/candy-corn-popcorn-balls-recipe/
Halloween Marshmallow Cheesecake
Ingredients:
For the cheesecake:
• 1 ¼ c Oreos
• 1/3 c butter, melted
• ¾ c Campfire Mini Marshmallows
• 2 oz milk
• 2 8oz packages cream cheese
• 6 oz cream
• 1 tsp Spice Classics Pure Vanilla Extract
For the meringue ghosts:
• 8 oz (227 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tsp Spice Classics vanilla extract
• 2 c (250 grams) C&H powdered sugar
Directions:
Tip the biscuits into a food processor and blitz to fine crumbs. Pour in the melted butter and blitz again to combine. Line the side of a deep 8-inch springform or loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment. Tip in the crumb mixture and press it into the base and up the side of the tin using the back of a spoon. You should be able to press the mixture about halfway up the side, but don’t worry if the edge is slightly uneven – this will add a spookily craggy effect to the cheesecake. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling. Tip the marshmallows and milk into a saucepan set over a low-medium heat and stir until the marshmallows have melted. Leave to cool for a few minutes. Tip the soft cheese, cream and vanilla extract into a large bowl and beat together using an electric whisk. Pour in the still-warm marshmallow mixture and mix again until smooth. Remove the chilled biscuit base from the fridge and scrape in the marshmallow cheesecake filling. Smooth the top and chill for at least 2 hrs. Will keep chilled for up to a day. Heat the oven to 250 F and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Put the egg whites in a large, clean bowl with a pinch of salt and beat with an electric whisk until foamy – they should hold soft peaks when you lift out the beaters. Beat in the sugar 1 tbsp at a time until fully incorporated and the meringue is thick, shiny and holding stiff peaks. Spoon the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle. Holding the nozzle directly above the lined tray, pipe little blobs to make the meringue ghosts. Bake for 1 hr 30 mins, then leave to cool. When the meringues are cool, use an icing pen to draw faces on them. Carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin and put on a plate or cake stand. Arrange the ghosts on top just before serving.
Modified from: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spooky-halloween-marshmallow-cheesecake