Low-Effort Spooky Recipes for Halloween by Paris LeClaire
Halloween is upon us, which means it’s time to hang flossy cobwebs, stock up on fake blood, and head to Spirit Halloween. Whether you’re planning a get-together or just feel like entertaining your sweet tooth, here are some quick snacks to get you in the mood for All Hallows’ Eve.
All of these recipes and more can be found at delish.com and womansday.com.
Chocolate Dipped Ghost Pretzels
These pretzels are adorable, tasty, and quick—you can complete them in a few simple steps. First, melt (ie. via microwave) and stir white candy melt and 1 tsp coconut oil until smooth. Dip long pretzel rods into the candy melt. When the pretzels are dried, use black edible markers or black icing to illustrate the pretzels with little faces.
Halloween Snack Mix
For a simple staple, combine pretzel bits, popcorn, candy corn, and Chex mix into a mason jar. If that’s not enough of a challenge for you, consider decorating the jar with construction paper cutouts.
Marshmallow Heads
Place 28 marshmallows on lollipop sticks horizontally (round-face outward) for jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, mummies, and vampires, and vertically (round-face upward) for Frankenstein’s monster. Microwave white chocolate until melted. Dip each marshmallow in the melted chocolate. Tint the chocolate green or orange according to the monster you’d like to make. To keep the chocolate from stiffening, add 3 to 5 tsp oil for every ½ cup of chocolate. Place colored icing in a piping bag or use a toothpick to decorate the faces of the monsters when the chocolate has dried.
Spooky Ghost Cookies
Whisk together 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and ½ tsp salt. In a separate bowl, beat together 2 sticks of butter and 1 cup of granulated sugar. Afterward, add a large egg, 1 tbsp milk, and 1 tsp pure vanilla extract until combined. Then, gradually add 3 cups of all-purpose flour until combined. Shape the finished dough into a disk shape, wrap it in plastic, and chill for 1 hour.
After an hour has passed, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly flour a sanitized surface and roll out dough ⅛ inch thick. Cut out the cookies using ghost cookie cutters, or use any other spooky silhouette. Bake these cookies for 8 to 10 minutes.
Place store-bought or premade white icing in a piping bag and use this to decorate the cookies. Use black icing in a piping bag for the facial features.
Ghost Marshmallow Brownies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 baking pan with grease and/or parchment paper. Set a large bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Melt ½ cup of butter and 1 ¼ cups of semisweet chocolate chips in this bowl. Remove the bowl from heat and mix in ¾ cup of granulated sugar and ¾ cup of brown sugar. Include 3 large eggs one at a time until combined.
Mix in ¼ cup of cocoa powder and ½ tsp of salt. Fold in 1 cup of flour, 5 chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups, ½ cup of M&Ms, and ½ cup of candy corn. Pour the batter into the 9x9 baking pan and heat for 35 minutes.
To make the ghosts, microwave white chocolate chips with 3 tbsp of coconut oil until melted and smooth. Place 1 marshmallow over each of the 16 brownie squares. Drizzle the melted chocolate over each marshmallow. Use black gel or icing to decorate the faces of the ghosts.
All of these recipes and more can be found at delish.com and womansday.com.
Chocolate Dipped Ghost Pretzels
These pretzels are adorable, tasty, and quick—you can complete them in a few simple steps. First, melt (ie. via microwave) and stir white candy melt and 1 tsp coconut oil until smooth. Dip long pretzel rods into the candy melt. When the pretzels are dried, use black edible markers or black icing to illustrate the pretzels with little faces.
Halloween Snack Mix
For a simple staple, combine pretzel bits, popcorn, candy corn, and Chex mix into a mason jar. If that’s not enough of a challenge for you, consider decorating the jar with construction paper cutouts.
Marshmallow Heads
Place 28 marshmallows on lollipop sticks horizontally (round-face outward) for jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, mummies, and vampires, and vertically (round-face upward) for Frankenstein’s monster. Microwave white chocolate until melted. Dip each marshmallow in the melted chocolate. Tint the chocolate green or orange according to the monster you’d like to make. To keep the chocolate from stiffening, add 3 to 5 tsp oil for every ½ cup of chocolate. Place colored icing in a piping bag or use a toothpick to decorate the faces of the monsters when the chocolate has dried.
Spooky Ghost Cookies
Whisk together 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and ½ tsp salt. In a separate bowl, beat together 2 sticks of butter and 1 cup of granulated sugar. Afterward, add a large egg, 1 tbsp milk, and 1 tsp pure vanilla extract until combined. Then, gradually add 3 cups of all-purpose flour until combined. Shape the finished dough into a disk shape, wrap it in plastic, and chill for 1 hour.
After an hour has passed, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly flour a sanitized surface and roll out dough ⅛ inch thick. Cut out the cookies using ghost cookie cutters, or use any other spooky silhouette. Bake these cookies for 8 to 10 minutes.
Place store-bought or premade white icing in a piping bag and use this to decorate the cookies. Use black icing in a piping bag for the facial features.
Ghost Marshmallow Brownies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 baking pan with grease and/or parchment paper. Set a large bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Melt ½ cup of butter and 1 ¼ cups of semisweet chocolate chips in this bowl. Remove the bowl from heat and mix in ¾ cup of granulated sugar and ¾ cup of brown sugar. Include 3 large eggs one at a time until combined.
Mix in ¼ cup of cocoa powder and ½ tsp of salt. Fold in 1 cup of flour, 5 chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups, ½ cup of M&Ms, and ½ cup of candy corn. Pour the batter into the 9x9 baking pan and heat for 35 minutes.
To make the ghosts, microwave white chocolate chips with 3 tbsp of coconut oil until melted and smooth. Place 1 marshmallow over each of the 16 brownie squares. Drizzle the melted chocolate over each marshmallow. Use black gel or icing to decorate the faces of the ghosts.