Halloween Goodies

Get in the Halloween spirit this year by cooking up some spooky treats that are a foolproof way to gear up for the holiday. Your family will love the thought you put into creating a fun, themed dish, and you will love how quick and easy the recipes are. I have quite a few recipe ideas to share with you that are great for a family meal, snack, or appetizer.

Let’s start with appetizers!

Jalapeño Mummies – think jalapeño popper when you think of this recipe as they are very similar in concept. However, I’ve taken crescent rolls, cut them into strips, and wrapped them around the filled jalapeños to create the look of a mummy – spooky and delicious! These mummies are creamy, spicy, and loaded with flavor.

The recipe can be found here.

Cream Cheese Bat Wontons – these are essentially cream cheese wontons formed to look like bats with the wonton wrappers acting as “bat wings”. Candy eyes are added to give the bats faces. These are sure to be a hit and gone instantly (I may be speaking from experience :))!

The recipe can be found here.

Next let’s move on to entrées!

Snake Calzone – this is one long calzone baked in the shape of a snake, filled with your favorite pizza toppings. You can either use store-bought dough or make from scratch. I chose to add toppings in sections by using turkey pepperoni and black olives on 1/3, Canadian bacon and pineapple on 1/3, and pepperoni and green olives on the last 1/3. This allowed everyone to enjoy their favorite “pizza”. The kids will love this s-s-s-s-snake calzone!

The recipe can be found here.

Southwest Chicken Stuffed Jack-O-Lantern Bell Peppers – these are fun to make because you can carve any face you can fit into the bell peppers, similar to carving a pumpkin. The peppers are tender and the filling has great southwest flavor. It’s like eating a burrito bowl, but out of a pepper!

The recipe can be found here.

Black Eyeball Spaghetti – this is super easy to make and the kids will love it! If you can find black food coloring you are in luck, if not, simply add ½ teaspoon of each red, green, and blue food coloring to a pot of water. This won’t turn the water black, but a dark grey color that will dye the noodles while cooling. Add spaghetti noodles once the water is boiling and cook until al dente. Drain and rinse. Then top with your favorite pasta sauce and add some sliced olives to look like eyes. It’s a Spooktacular spaghetti!

Finally, we can talk about dessert!

I found a fun baking pan with ghost and jack-o-lantern shapes. I used a chocolate cake mix and prepared the batter according to box instructions. I then baked at 325 for about 10-12 minutes. Once cool, I used orange frosting for the jack-o-lanterns and white frosting for the ghosts. Then used black cookie icing to create faces. It was a quick and easy way to create delicious Halloween treats! Not-so-spooky, but they sure tasted great 🙂 You could also make brownies in the pan.

I also made Chocolate Candy Cups filled with Candy Corn. These are fun to send with guests as a party favor or set out as a snack/treat. I used orange colored Candy Melts to create a pumpkin candy dish. You could use white to make ghosts, black to make cats, etc.

Melt the chocolate according to package instruction and allow to cool for a few minutes. Inflate 5-6 balloons, keeping them fairly small. Only inflate to the size you want the bowl to be. Dip each balloon into the chocolate about ½ way and set on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden. Gently snip the top of each balloon so it deflates and remove from the chocolate bowl. Use icing to draw a face on each bowl and place back in the fridge to set. Then add any candy of choice to each dish, I chose Candy Corn. Super simple yet festive!

I had a blast experimenting with and preparing all of these recipes! I love Halloween and all the themed foods you can create to truly celebrate the holiday in a fun and delicious way. If you’re hosting a Halloween party, I’ll watch for my invite in the mail 🙂

Happy Cooking and Happy Halloween!