Halloween… The spooky and fun holiday is upon us. Can I be honest, I have been in a crazy busy season of my life for the last 6 months and looking forward to things slowing down a bit. For that reason, I am looking for easy Halloween snacks to have for the grandbabies after they hit the neighborhood for trick or treating. With that in mind I set out to find some simple treat ideas that would not take a quick minute (or two lol) to make.
I love making holidays special for my grandchildren. I always buy these great magazines with all these fancy ideas but honestly who had time for fancy?? And in all reality the kids could care less. As long as it is loaded with sugar they are all in. Which is okay for a special occasion, but I try to incorporate a little healthy options in the menu. Believe it or not my grandchildren love the fruit options better than the sugary ones. Well at least most of them, there are a few that could eat sugar straight out of the bag if you would let them.
So here we go…. Seven easy Halloween snack ideas:
- MONSTER FRUIT KEBABS
Cut the ends of medium ripe kiwis and use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin. Slice one large cantaloupe in half. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Use a medium ice cream scoop to scoop out melon rounds. Now take the kiwi and cantaloupe and wrap them in paper towels for a few minutes to absorb some of the fruit juice. Take marshmallows and draw faces on them with an edible marker. I got mine off Amazon but Michaels and Hobby Lobby have them also. Use 8 to 10 inch skewers. Now have fun. Make your skewers what ever way you want. I purchased the eyes balls at Walmart on the cake decorations aisle. I used a little clear corn syrup to hold the eyes on (you can also use honey or a little white icing).
2. MANDARIN ORANGE “PUMPKIN” TREATS
Peel oranges by pushing your thumbnail straight down into the top of the orange and pulling the skins away from the fruit. Cut a celery stalk vertically in thin slices to create the “stem”. Push the stem down into the top of the orange pumpkins. So simple and such a healthy option for the kiddos. Funny story, my grandson kept eating the celery while I was making these oranges. So yes they are getting a fruit and veggie.
3. CHOCOLATE SPIDER DONUTS
Place store bought chocolate mini donuts on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Place 1/2 cup of Halloween themed sprinkles in a bowl and set aside. In a small bowl melt chocolate melts in a microwave bowl and heat for thirty seconds. Stir chocolate and heat for an additional 30 seconds. Take out of microwave and stir. Depending on your microwave you may need to heat an additional 30 seconds until chocolate is smooth and fully melted. Dip the top of each donut into the melted chocolate, then dip into the sprinkles. Add candy eyes while chocolate is still warm. Break pretzel sticks in half. Add legs by poking 4 pretzel halves into each side of the donut.
4. BROWNIE MUMMY
Line 13×9-inch pan with foil, letting foil hang 2 inches over sides of pan. Spray foil with cooking spray. Take a box brownie mix and make brownie batter as directed on box. Spread in pan. Bake as according to directions on box. Bake until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely in pan, about 1 hour. Using foil to lift, remove brownies from pan. Use sharp knife to cut brownies into 6 rows by 4 rows, making 24 brownies. Take a bag of prepared white frosting pipe frosting over brownies in zigzag motion for mummy wrapping. Attach 2 eyeballs to each brownie.
5. MUMMY HOTDOGS
How cute are these crescent mummy dogs? They are essentially pigs-in-a-blanket with a spooky twist. By simply cutting the crescent roll into strips, you can easily create a mummy look. Take a can of crescent dough and unroll the crescent roll down and press on the perforations to seal them together. Use a a very sharp knife (I live to use a paring knife and cut the dough into 1/4-inch wide strips. Wrap the strips around the hot dogs to create the mummy look. You don’t need to cover the hotdog completely as you should leave space for the mummy’s eyes to peek through. Bake until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Now add the eyes. Use a toothpick to place 2 small dots of mustard for the eyes or use mustard to attach store bought edible eyes.
To make spiderweb sauce. Place ketchup in a small bowl. Add mustard on top in a few circles then use a toothpick to drag it into a web design.
6. PUMPKIN RICE KRISPIE TREATS
These Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats don’t have any pumpkin in them but rather they’re just shaped to look like a pumpkin so you still get that same sweet vanilla marshmallow flavor. Make the Rice Krispie treats according to the directions on the box of Rice Krispies. Measure out Rice Krispies cereal and pour into a bowl. Melt butter in a 4 quart non-stick saucepan or pot over medium-low heat. Add marshmallows and stir and as they begin to melt start adding in the food coloring until desired color is achieved. Stir constantly until marshmallows have melted. Remove from heat then immediately pour in Rice Krispies cereal and gently stir and fold with a spatula until cereal is evenly coated. Let mixture cool slightly (until it’s cool enough to handle with your hands). Spray hands with non-stick cooking spray then shape Rice Krispie treat mixture into balls about the size of a baseball, then insert 1 piece of the pretzel rod into the top center and reshape the pumpkin as needed. Use a store bought packet of green frosting to make the leaves on pumpkins. Beginning on one side of the airhead candy cut out a leaf shape with clean scissors then use the remaining portion of the piece of candy to roll and shape into a thin rope shape then twist into a vine shape (or just shape the fondant accordingly, no cutting required). Store in an airtight container.
7. HALLOWEEN SPOOKY SPIDER DEVILED EGGS
One of the best things about writing a food blog is after you make all the recipes you can share them with friends and family. Today after making a few of the recipes we invited a couple of the kids friends over and had an impromptu Halloween party. It was so much fun. You would have thought the kids were eating their best meal ever. They were so excited about all their treats and were so happy to share them with friends. Isn’t that what cooking is all about – sharing it with the ones you love? That is how it works in our family.
