Whether you’re looking for Halloween cookies, scary good cakes, or savory pumpkin treats, we’ve got everything you need and more for parties and trick-or-treaters.
Scrumptious treats and Halloween food ideas to delight little ghosts and ghouls. With these Halloween party food ideas, frightening on the outside still means delicious on the inside.
Candy apples
Because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, candy apples (also known as toffee, taffy or caramel apples) are a common treat at Halloween. They are made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, and sometimes then rolling them in nuts.
The beloved Halloween treat is said to have been invented by William W. Kolb, a New Jersey confectioner, in 1908. The candy maker supposedly dipped an apple into a cinnamon glaze as an experiment and discovered that patrons loved them. Chicken Feed,” candy corn became popular once the Goelitz Company took over production in the late 1800s. Love it or hate it, he sugary-sweet treat become a Halloween staple in the 1950s.
Ingredients:
- 12 red delicious apples
- 12 heavy wooden skewers
- 4 1/2 Cs sugar
- 3/4 C light corn syrup
- 1 tsp. red food coloring
- 1 1/2 C water
Optional: - 1 C chopped peanuts
- or
1 C toasted coconut - waxed paper
Instructions:
- Line a large cookie sheet with buttered waxed paper.
- Wash and completely dry apples. Insert a stick through stems. If you plan on using peanuts or coconut to coat the candies apples, get them ready now by placing in a small bowl.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, food coloring and water. Cook, stirring constantly, until ingredients are dissolved and liquid boils. Set a candy thermometer in mixture and continue cooking, without stirring until temperature reaches 290° F, about 20 minutes.
- Remove syrup from heat and, woking quickly, dip the apples, one at a time, coating them evenly. If desired, roll in peanuts or coconut to coat then place on prepared cookie sheet. Let apples cool for at least an hour.
Pumpkin pie
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup granulated
- sugar
- 1-1/2 cups (12 oz can) evaporated milk
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp.ground
- cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground
- ginger
- 3/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 & 3/4 cups (15 once can) pumpkin filling
- TIP: You can substitute pumpkin pie spice for all the individual spices Use 3 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice instead.
Instructions:
- Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a small bowl. Beat the eggs lightly in a separate large bowl.
- Stir in pumpkin and dry mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
- Press a pre-made pie crust into a 9-inch deep dish pie crust and cook according to directions on the package.
- Pour mixture into the pie shell.
- Cook in a pre-heated 425º F. oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the temp to 350º F., and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a knife tip inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack or a cool counter top for 2 hours before serving. This also gives it time to set up, so when you cut it and set it on a plate, it will stay in one piece.
- Store in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
- Top with a whipped cream
Barmbrack
A Halloween custom which has survived unchanged to this day in Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish “báirín breac”). This is a light fruit cake into which a plain ring is placed before baking. It is said that whoever finds this ring will find his or her true love during the following year.
Other foods associated with the holiday:
- Candy corn
- Bonfire toffee (in the UK)
- Toffee Apple (in Australia, instead of “Candy Apples”)
- Hot apple cider
- Roasted pumpkin seeds
- Pumpkin pie
Witches’ brew (non-alcoholic)
Ingredients:
- 4 cups cranberry juice cocktail
- 1 cup or jar of chopped candied ginger
- 1 cup gummy worms (you can use the sliced peel of an orange as a substitute)
- 1 can (12 oz.) thawed frozen apple juice concentrate
- 2 cups edible eyeballs
- 4 cups water
- 2 32-oz. bottles of ginger ale
- 1-2 lbs. dry ice–CAUTION! Never touch dry ice! Always use tongs to handle, or try this handy substitute:
Instructions:
- Rinse out surgical plastic gloves and fill them with orange juice, then tie them closed. Freeze the juice-filled gloves on a baking sheet. Once frozen, gloves peel off easily.
- In a 1-2-quart pan, bring 1 cup of cranberry juice and candied ginger to a boil over high heat. Boil uncovered for about 2 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes, then add gummy worms. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or as long as overnight.
- Stir in cranberry-ginger mixture, the 3 cups cranberry juice, apple concentrate, grapes and water. Cover and chill up to 2 hours.
- . Add ginger ale and about a 1-pound piece of dry ice (DO NOT put small pieces in punch or cups). Dry ice should smolder at least 30 minutes. When bubbling stops, add ice cubes or frozen orange juice hands. If you don’t have dry ice, add the frozen orange juice hands at this point.
Check the Monstrous cocktails post for recipes for recipes with spirits.
