October is here, and that means it is time to officially bring out your Halloween decorations (if you’ve been able to hold out until now!) and get ready for the spookiest day of the year.
One of our favorite ways to get into the Halloween spirit is to whip up a few of our favorite spooky recipes. Check out some of these festive ideas and head into the kitchen with your kids to kick off the Halloween season! Don’t worry, these are pretty simple recipes that don’t require much prep and won’t make a huge mess afterward.
Ten Spooky Recipes to Make This Halloween
Banana ghosts
This is a guaranteed no-mess activity and perfect for little hands to work on fine motor skills. All you need are some bananas for the ghosts and chocolate chips for the eyes and mouths. Peel each banana, cut it in half, and have your little assistant ready with some chocolate chips.
Apple Monsters
These are a festive and healthy snack perfect for your little goblins. Adults (or big kids) can quarter some Granny Smith apples and then cut out a sliver of each quarter for the mouth. Also, slice up a few strawberries. Have your kids help spread some peanut butter inside the mouth and place sunflower seeds as the teeth, a strawberry slice as the tongue, and use a little peanut butter to glue on candy eyes.
Veggie Skeleton
This one isn’t really a recipe but is definitely a spooky way to entice your little ones to enjoy some veggies. This would be great for a Halloween party to offset the sugar intake.
Frankenstein Avocado Toast
These are perfect for avocado toast lovers! This recipe calls for dried seaweed cut in zigzags for Frankenstein’s hair, but I’ve also seen chopped-up black olives arranged for a similar look. You could even try black beans! You can really customize this with whatever foods your kids like on their toast. Adding ears from radish slices or walnut halves would be fun too. The pretzels are key for the neck bolts though!
Mummy Pizzas
Mummy pizzas can be made on English muffins, French bread loaf, flatbread, or your traditional pizza crust. Be sure to use string cheese sliced into several pieces lengthwise. It holds its shape better than shredded mozzarella to give the mummy bandage look. You could also add or substitute shaved zucchini ribbons as bandages to get some extra veggies.
Jack-O-Lantern Pasta
This is a favorite of ours to make before heading out trick-or-treating. I like to make a meat sauce for this pasta, so I know we have some protein before the sugar rush. Cut the top off and hollow out orange bell peppers. Use a small paring knife to cut out the eyes, nose, and mouth of the Jack-O-Lantern. Make the spaghetti and sauce as you usually would and pour into bell peppers, pulling some noodles out of the eyes and mouth for a spookier Jack-O-Lantern.
Meatball-Stuffed Pasta Brain
Now, this dish screams Halloween and definitely has an impressive presentation. It takes a few extra steps of prep work to create the mold, but nothing too intimidating! Simply roll one 24 inch piece of foil into a prism shape, and then roll two more pieces of foil into approximately 8-inch by 4-inch size ovals. The prism creates the middle division of the hemispheres of the brain and the two ovals are the hemispheres. Place the prism into the middle of a glass bowl and press down, then add the two ovals on each side of the prism. This is your brain mold! This recipe calls for cooked Udon noodles, but bucatini or any thick spaghetti would work well too.
Cake Eyeballs
These eyeballs are always a hit at Halloween parties and they are simple to make using prepared cake mix and frosting. Bake one box of red velvet or yellow cake according to package directions. Crumble the cake with a can of frosting and form into little balls. Freeze them until firm and then dip them in melted white chocolate. Once they are set, use gel icing to draw eyes and veins for a bloodshot evil eye!
Witch Finger Cookies
If you are in a baking mood, try this Halloween twist on a traditional cookie recipe. Divide the cookie dough and shape it into five-inch fingers, using a knife to create the knuckle creases and pressing both sides of the dough around the creases to make the knuckles. The almond sliver fingernail gives it a realistic look. For an extra gory touch, add some raspberry jam to look like severed fingers. Or take that part out if you have a sensitive crowd!
Bubbling Cauldron Punch
A witch’s brew is the perfect spooky drink for Halloween parties or as a special Halloween treat. This recipe calls for frozen limeade, ginger beer, a pint of green tea ice cream. If ginger beer has too much bite for your little ones, ginger ale works great too. You can make an adult-friendly version too with some coconut rum or vodka.
Have you tried any of these spooky recipes or any other spooky recipes we need to add, let us know below!
