Marshmallow Witches

It's getting closer to Halloween and you need to be ready for those trick or treeters'.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vanilla frosting, divided
36 miniature semisweet chocolate chips
12 large marshmallows
1 drop each green, red and yellow food coloring, optional
1/4 cup flaked coconut
12 chocolate wafers
12 miniature peanut butter cups
12 milk chocolate kisses

Directions:

For the face of each witch, place a dab of frosting on the bottom of three chocolate chips; press two for eyes and one for nose onto each marshmallow.
For hair, combine green food coloring and a drop of water in a small resealable plastic bag; add coconut and shake well. Spread a small amount of frosting on sides of marshmallows; press coconut hair into frosting. Place 3 tablespoons of frosting in a small heavy-duty resealable plastic bag; tint orange with red and yellow food coloring. Set aside.
For hats, spread some of the remaining frosting in the center of chocolate wafers; press peanut butter cups upside down into frosting. Lightly spread bottoms of chocolate kisses with frosting; place on peanut butter cups. Cut a small hole in the corner of pastry or plastic bag; insert a small star tip. Fill the bag with frosting and pipe stars around the base of each peanut butter cup.

Secure a hat to each witch with a dab of frosting.

Yield: 1 dozen.

Source: Recipe.com

The Perfect Fall Cheese Ball

 

This is no ordinary cheese ball. This is the cheese ball that will get your friends asking: How did you do that?

Ingredients: 

16oz cream cheese, room temp
2 cups cheddar cheese
3 tbsp minced onion
3 tbsp salsa
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cups nacho cheese chips, crumbled
top of 1 bell pepper for stem garnish

Directions:

1. With a mixer, combine cream cheese, cheddar, onion, salsa and cumin. Mix until creamy.
2. Scoop mixture onto plastic wrap and use wrap to form a ball and chill for at least 2 hours.
3. When ready to serve, roll ball into the crushed nacho chips and place bell pepper stem on top. Serve with chips, vegetables or pretzels!

Source: familyfreshmeals.com

Peter Pumpkin Cheese Puffs

 You, too, can be "Peter the Pumpkin Eater" from the classic nursery rhyme when you prepare a batch of these fluffy and tender cheese puffs that look like mini pumpkins. Romano cheese gives them a nice tang and their cream cheese stems complete the seasonal look. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen

• Prep: 20 min. Bake: 20 min.
• Yield: 18 Servings

20 20 20 40

Ingredients

:

• 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 drops yellow paste food coloring
• 1 drop red paste food coloring
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
• 2 eggs
• 20 sprigs fresh Italian parsley, stems removed

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and vinegar. Cover and refrigerate. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter and salt to a boil. Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes.
• In a small bowl, combine the yellow and red food coloring; stir Romano cheese and food coloring into dough. Add eggs, one at a time; beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny.
• Drop by level tablespoonfuls 3 in. apart onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
• Using a star tip and reserved cream cheese mixture, pipe stems onto puffs. Add parsley sprigs. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 10 servings.

Originally published as Peter Pumpkin Cheese Puffs in Halloween Party Favorites 2009 , p20

 

Mini Spider Bites

These little cupcakes are almost too sweet to eat! Let the kids help you assemble the charmers and you can teach a science lesson, too—what a great way to teach that all spiders have eight legs! —Sara Martin

Ingredients

: 

• Miniature cupcakes of your choice
• 1 can (16 ounces) chocolate frosting
• M&M's minis
• Chocolate sprinkles
• Pastry tip—round tip #7
• 1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
• Shoestring black licorice

Directions:

• Generously frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting; add M&M's for noses. Top with chocolate sprinkles.
• Insert tip #7 into a pastry bag; fill with vanilla frosting and pipe spider's eyes. Add M&M's for pupils. Cut black licorice into 2-in. pieces; attach eight legs to each cupcake. Yield: varies.

Originally published as Mini Spider Bites in Halloween Food & Fun 2009 , p27 

Turkey Cookie Treats

Ingredients:

1    pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1egg

1   container (12 oz) Betty Crocker® Whipped chocolate frosting

Candy corn

1   tube (4.25 oz) Betty Crocker® yellow decorating icing

Miniature candy-coated semisweet chocolate baking bits

1   tube (0.68 oz) Betty Crocker® black decorating gel 

 

Directions: 

• 1 Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms. On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart.
• 2 Bake 11 to 14 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• 3 Frost and decorate 1 cookie at a time. After spreading frosting on cookie, add candy corn for feathers. Pipe yellow icing for beak and feet. Add baking bits for eyes; pipe black gel for center of each eye.

Expert Tips

Supply the baked cookies and the decorations, and let the kids decorate the turkeys for fun.

Source: BettyCrocker

Spider Pops

These leggy lollipops are both a trick and treat -- fitting for Halloween party favors and handouts.

Ingredients:

• Black pipe cleaners
• Lollipops
• Googly eyes
• Glue

Directions:

1. Holding all four pipe cleaners, center them at the base of the pop and wrap them around the stick once so there are four legs on each side.
2. Bend the pipe cleaner ends to form eight feet.
3. Glue on googly eyes.
   
   Source:  FamilyFun Magazine

Forked Eyeballs

These scary-good Halloween treats, prepared and eaten on the same fork, begin with a doughnut hole dunked in white chocolate.

Ingredients:

2 (11-ounce) bags white chocolate chips
12 doughnut holes
Semisweet chocolate chips
Tube of red decorator frosting
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

1. To coat a dozen doughnut holes, melt the white chocolate chips with the oil over low heat (and keep the chocolate warm while you work). With a fork, spear each doughnut hole and submerge it in the melted chocolate to coat it, then gently tap off any excess.
2. Stick a semisweet chocolate chip with its point cut off onto each doughnut hole, cut end first. Place the forks (handle side down) in a mug and allow the chocolate coating to harden.
3. Use a tube of red decorator frosting to add squiggly veins radiating out from the pupils.
   
   Updated: Vegetable oil has been included in the list of ingredients.
   
   Source: spoonfull.com

Halloween Ghost Meringue Cookies

 
Ingre­di­ents:

3 lg egg whites ( be very sure that no yolk remains in the whites, the fat will pre­vent the whites from peak­ing correctly)
3/4 cup gran­u­lated sugar
scant 1/4 tea­spoon cream of tar­tar (egg whites ben­e­fit from a small bit of acid to help them whip right)
A pip­ing bag (cake dec­o­rat­ing bag)
bak­ing sheets lined with either parch­ment or sil­pat liners
Wilton Black Sparkle dec­o­rat­ing gel

Direc­tions:

Sep­a­rate the whites from the yolks. Save the yolks in the fridge for another recipe. Let whites rest on counter until room tem­per­a­ture. Place in a very clean, dry bowl of a mixer. Beat at a low speed until whites look frothy & cloudy.

Increase mix­ing speed to medium and add the cream of tartar.

Mix until whites reach soft peak stage. The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites droop slightly, when the beater is turned off and lifted.

Increase mixer speed to high. Add the sugar at this stage. I added it at a steady stream on the inside edge of the bowl. Beat until firm peaks form. The egg white foam will become smooth, moist and shiny. Stop the beat­ers and then lift them — straight peaks should form.

Now con­tinue beat­ing on high until stiff peaks are formed. Whites will be very stiff and glossy. Make sure they are com­plete to this stage if you want defined peaks at the top of your cookies.

If you need a guide for the size of the meringues, use parch­ment and draw 1 inch cir­cles in pen­cil on one side of the parch­ment. They can be as close as an inch apart as the meringue doesn’t spread as it bakes. Flip the parch­ment over and place on the bak­ing sheet. You should be able to see the pen­cil lines through the parchment.

Pre­heat your oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

I find that for these ghosts, just using the open­ing of the pip­ing bag instead of a dec­o­rat­ing tip worked best.

Scoop the meringue into the pip­ing bag.

Close and pipe cir­cles onto the parch­ment, fill­ing to fit the cir­cles. Pipe out the meringue in the shape of lit­tle ghosts. Pull up at the end to make the peak. The tips should look like choco­late kisses. Just prac­tice to get this shape. The not-perfect ones still taste deli­cious, and the vari­ety gives the ghosts personality!

When all meringue is used or pans are filled, place into the oven for 1 hour and 30 min­utes. Don’t peek! Let set on pans for a few hours after done bak­ing before dec­o­rat­ing. They are a lit­tle frag­ile, espe­cially at the tip, but so yummy!

When cooled, add eyes and a mouth using dec­o­rat­ing gel. Make them dif­fer­ent look­ing to give the ghosts some charm!

Pretty sim­ple huh? How many cook­ies you pro­duce will depend on the shape and size. These ghosts were about 1 1/2 inches across the bot­tom, and about 2 inches tall.

Source: secretlifeofachefswife.com

Halloween Hand Meatloaf Recipe

Looking for a well balanced Halloween recipe? Try the Halloween Hand Meatloaf. It is packed with veggies and protein and makes the perfect meal as Halloween approaches.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 egg
• 2 onion (1 shredded or chopped)
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 5 slices of provolone cheese
• 1 shredded or chopped green pepper
• 3 shredded or chopped carrots
• Handful of Fresh chopped or shredded italian parsley
• Ketchup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl (except ketchup)
3. Separate beef mixture into 5 balls and put on aside
4. Flatten 4 of the balls (these will be the hands)
5. Create the fingers by using beef you put to the side. Just create a hot dog shape by rolling the meat mixture. Look at your own hand for reference as some fingers are bigger then others. Attach to the top of hand.
6. Cut the onion in half vertically. Stick on half of the onion in the bottom of the hand as if it is a bone.
7. Cut thick pieces of onion and place at the tips of the fingers as finger nails.
8. Place in oven for 45 minutes.
9. Take beef out of over and Place cheese over top, this will be the “skin”.
10. Remove meatloaf within 10 to 20 minutes  or when cheese is browned.
11. Serve over  mashed potatoes and squeeze some ketchup overtop.

Source: couponclipinista.com

Witch's Broomstick Cookies

They are so easy to make and are a great treat to make with the kids. Enjoy!

Make: 20 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons cream or milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
20 pretzel rods, about 5 inches long
2 teaspoons butter
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cups white chocolate chips, melted

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix brown sugar, butter, cream and vanilla in medium bowl. Stir in flour and salt. Shape dough into twenty 1 1/4-inch balls.

2. Place pretzel rod on ungreased cookie sheet. Press ball of dough onto the end of each pretzel rod. Press dough with fork to resemble "bristles" of broom.

3. Bake about 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely on wire rack, about 30 minutes.

4. Cover cookie sheet with waxed paper. Place brooms on waxed paper. Heat butter and chocolate chips over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth; remove from heat.

5. Spoon melted chocolate over brooms, leaving about 1 inch at top of pretzel handle and bottom halves of cookie bristles uncovered. Drizzle with melted white chocolate chips. Let stand until chocolate is set.

Source: Yummy Recipes

Yummy Mummy

The kids will love this one. Looks just like a mummy and tastes great!

 

Ingredients:

• 1   package Smithfield Smoked Sausage Loops or Links
• 1  13.8 ounce package prepared pizza dough
•  Ketchup and mustard for dipping

   

  Directions:

   

  1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out 1 package of prepared pizza dough and cut into 15 thin strips.

  2.If you are using Smithfield Smoked Sausage Loops, slice the sausage into 3- to 4-inch pieces.

  3.Starting with a completely dry sausage, wrap 3 strips of pizza dough around the meat in overlapping various patterns. Don't be too perfect, or it won't look like a mummy. Make sure to leave some of the sausage visible through the strips.

  4.Place mummies on a parchment lined sheet tray and bake for 13 minutes. Serve with mustard and ketchup.

   

  Source: Recipes.com