When my stepdaughter, Sara, was a teenager, I wanted to give her a Howling-Good-Halloween party. But both my husband and I were working full-time. Plus, in the middle of a lawsuit, juggling family and job, I was really stressed out. The doctored-up store-bought menu I conjured up saved time and made Sara and her gremlin buddies cackle with delight. Later, grown-up ghouls screeched with pleasure at the same recipes. Check suggestions to alter these ideas for little goblins by using less scary substitutes for creepy crawlies.
Pizza Monsters
1. Ready-made pizzas
2. Lots of extra cheese in white and yellow
3. Any extra toppings you want to add
4. Green & red whole peppers, cans of whole black olives, pepperoni, plastic
glasses & nose
Concoct: Open ready-made pizzas. Add extra toppings. Cover entire top of pizza with plenty of extra white or yellow cheese to give your face a good solid background color. Use peppers, olives, pepperoni to make funny faces by cutting nose, mouth, eyes, eyelashes etc.. Decorate and cook following package instructions. Add any plastic glasses just before serving, after pizzas have cooled slightly.
Pumpkin Pie Faces
1. Ready-made pumpkin pies
2. Kool Whip or equivalent
3. Cinnamon
3. White paper
4. Pencil
5. Scissors
6. Red & yellow, or orange food coloring
Concoct: Set out pies. Cut paper to fit the tops of pies. Draw simple jack-o-lantern faces onto paper circles. Make a stencil by cutting out the eyes, nose & mouth. Put Kool Whip into bowl and color until light orange. Frost pie. Place stencils lightly on top of Kool Whip, then sprinkle the cinnamon over the holes to create wacky pumpkin faces.
Eyeball Brownies
1. Ready-made brownies or single layer chocolate cake
2. Large Eyeballs of Terror gumballs, usually available in gumball machines at grocery stores around Halloween, or other wacky Halloween edibles. If you don’t care if everything is edible, Glow-In-The-Dark Eyeballs will spook up your brownies. For smaller children, use things like pumpkins, smiley ghosts, or cat faces, but glow-in-the-dark unscarey things are cool, if you’re going to have the lights down low.
Concoct: Cut brownies into squares. Add one eyeball to each brownie.
Blood Punch with Spider Ice Ring
1. Jell-O or Ice Ring Mold
2. Ice cube trays
3. Various small plastic black spiders, ants & other bugs (colored Gummy bugs or bears for smaller children)
4. Your favorite light colored juice, apple or white grape are good choices
5. Ginger Ale, Sprite, or 7UP
6. Red food coloring
Concoct: Prepare ice in advance. Freeze to slushy one thin layer of ice in mold. Arrange plastic bugs in mold, spider tops to top of ice ring. Cover with water & freeze. Add final layer of water to fill ring completely and freeze. Drop one bug in each ice cube space. Add water & freeze. Use cubes in drink glasses. For punch, mix juice & 7 Up together or make your favorite punch recipe. Add enough red food coloring to make it look like clear blood. Place punch in punch bowl with ice ring.
Candied or Carameled Apples
1. Ready-made. Use as is.
Halloween Cookies
1. Ready-made. Use as is or cook plain sugar cookies and cut into Halloween shapes.
*As a party activity, let guests decorate cookies with store-bought frostings, frosting decorating tubes, & candy sprinkles & decorations.
Creepy Cake
1. Scare up a Halloween cake ready-made from your grocery’s cake counter (advance order). I used a green frosted cake with a spider web on it. Try a friendly Jack-O-Lantern or ghost cake for younger goblins. 2. Plastic spiders, one large and many small.
Decorate cake with plastic spiders.
Use leftover spiders, Gummy worms etc. to spook-up your table and have a ghostly, good evening!!!!
About the Author
Judie Ryan is the creator of Eduplates the original education party. She is a parent, teacher and business woman.
HalloweenPartySnacks
Slime Gelatin Ingredients:
Lime Gelatin, Gummy Worm Candy, Large Glass Baking Dishes Directions:
Follow the directions on the package of lime gelatin. Prepare in a large clear glass baking dish or bowl. Once the gelatin has begun to set (about 1.5 hours) place the gummy worms into the gelatin.
Ghost Sandwiches Ingredients:
Bread, Peanut Butter or Whipped Marshmallow Creme, Ghost (or gingerbread boy if you can’t find a ghost) Cookie Cutter, Raisins Directions:
Make the sandwiches using your choice of peanut butter or marshmallow creme (or both). Use the cookie cutter on the finished sandwiches to create spooky shaped sandwiches.
Gelatin Jiggler Eyeballs Ingredients:
Ice Cube Trays, White Grape Gelatin,Blueberries or Dark Grapes Directions:
Follow the directions to make the gelatin (use the jiggler recipe). Pour 3/4 full into the ice cube trays. Once they have begun to set, add the blueberries or grapes. Follow the directions explaining how to use warm water to remove the jigglers from the tray. Place in a white or clear serving bowl or arrange on a platter.
Cheese Boogers Ingredients:
Cheez Whiz, Green Food Coloring,Pretzel Sticks, Wax Paper Directions:
Follow the directions to melt the Cheez Whiz. Dip a pretzel half way into the cheese. Wait fifteen to twenty seconds then repeat. Place on wax paper to harden. When the cheese has re-hardened, remove from wax paper and place on a serving tray.
Popcorn Hands Ingredients:
Clear Plastic Food Service Gloves,Popcorn (popped), Candy Corn, Twist Ties or Ribbon Directions:
Place a candy corn in the finger of each glove, then fill with popcorn. Use the twist ties or ribbon to seal each bag. Place popcorn hands into a large serving bowl.
Spooky Suckers Ingredients:
Suckers (Tootsie Roll Pops work exceptionally well), White Facial Tissue, Orange or Black Ribbon or Yarn Directions:
Place the top of the sucker in the very center of the tissue, then wrap the tissue around the sucker. Tie the ribbon or yarn under the sucker. Use a felt tip marker if you like to draw features on the ghost faces.
Pigeon Poop Ingredients:
5 Cups Peanut Butter Crunch Cereal, 3Cups Rice Krispies, 2 Cups Pretzels, 2 lbs. of White Chocolate, 2 1/2 Cups Mini Marshmallows Directions:
While you melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, mix all other ingredients in a large bowl. Pour melted white chocolate over mixture, then spread onto wax paper until cool. Once cool, break into chunks and serve.
Halloween Rice Cereal Treats Ingredients:
Marshmallows, Rice Cereal, Halloween Candy, Orange Food Coloring Directions:
Follow the directions on the rice cereal to make rice cereal treats. Add in candy pumpkins, candy corn, chocolate chips and/or orange food coloring for extra fun.
Don’t forget about the traditional favorites: candy or caramel apples and popcorn balls!
Shrunken Apple Heads
Large red or golden delicious apple
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp. salt
Whole cloves
Rice
Bottle cap
Peel apple and coat with mixture of lemon juice and salt. With a potato peeler, knife, or pumpkin carver carve out eye sockets, nose, mouth and ears. Stick whole cloves where eyes should be and rice where teeth should be. Sit apple on top of bottle cap. Place on a drying rack in a warm, dry place for about 2 weeks. Shape the face as it shrinks and hardens. Once dry, insert a strong wire to form body and add clothes if desired or other accessories.
Ghost Cookie
Using peanut shaped cookies, spread with white frosting or marshmallow fluff, add chocolate chips for eyes and nose.
Witches Brew
Mix up a batch of lemonade from concentrate. Add green food coloring to the lemonade to give it a spooky look. Get a plastic witch’s cauldron and place a piece of dry ice in it. Pour the brew over the dry ice and watch your kid’s delight. Do NOT drink after putting dry ice in, it is just fun to see the effect 🙂
Ghost Cookies
Dip Nutter Butter cookies in white chocolate and let completely dry. Then let the kids decorate the face with cake mate frosting or chocolate chips.
Potato Ghosts
Hand sculpt mashed potatoes to look like a ghost. Place them on an oiled cookie sheet, brushed with melted butter, and put in the oven to heat and brown a little. You can serve it with bat shaped meat loaf (using a bat cookie cutter).
Pumpkin Faces
Ingredients:
English muffins Orange spreadable cheese Raisins Directions:
Let the children spread the cheese on the English muffin. Let them arrange the raisins to make the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Spooky Sandwich Puzzles
Let the children make their own peanut butter sandwiches with two pieces of bread. Give each child a Halloween cookie cutter and let them press the shape out of the center of their sandwich. They will now have a “spooky sandwich puzzle.”
“Hand” Snacks
Ingredients:
Clear food server gloves (one for each child) Popcorn Candy corn Yarn Directions:
Take one of the food server gloves and place a candy corn in each of the fingers. Fill the rest of the glove with popcorn. Fasten the top of the glove with yarn. Make a glove for each child in your class.
Monster Cookies
Ingredients:
Oatmeal cookies Candy corn Chocolate chip pieces Raisins Directions:
Each child creates a monster cookie by making a face on an oatmeal cookie (can be precooked or store bought cookies) by using candy corn, chocolate chips, marshmallows, raisins, etc. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and place in a hot oven just long enough for the faces to melt. This creates truly monster faces.
Ghost Toast
Ingredients;
Loaf of bread Margarine Shredded coconut Raisins Chocolate chips Directions:
Each child makes ghost toast by spreading margarine to make faces on toast then sprinkling coconut on it. Put raisins or chocolate chips for eyes and mouth. Toast.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars (T. is tablespoon; t. is teaspoon)
Combine:
1 c. flour 1/3 c. brown sugar
To this mixture, cut in 5 T. butter, softened.
Stir in: 1/2 c. chopped nuts (I use walnuts, but pecans would be good, too!)
Set aside 3/4 c. of the above mixture for top. Press remaining amount in a buttered 8×8″ pan. Bake at 350 for 15 mins. Cool slightly.
Combine until smooth:
8 oz. cream cheese 1 1/2 cinnamon 3/4 c. sugar 1 t. allspice 1/2 c. pumpkin 1 t. vanilla 2 eggs
Pour cream cheese mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake 30-35 minutes at 350. Cool before cutting.
Note: I do not have an 8×8″ pan, so I always make them in a 9×13″ pan. (My neighbors just usually get some!) I double everything, except for the pumpkin. I put in the entire can! (The small 14 or 15 oz. ones…has about 2 cups in it.) I also use, instead of the allspice, about 1/4 t. of cloves and 1/2 t. of ginger.
I cut them into about 1 1/2″ squares, but I was just thinking, they could be cut into bigger pieces and have whipped cream put on them!! Mmmmm…..
Pumpkin Cheesecake
2 – 8 oz pkgs of cream cheese 3/4 cup sugar 1 – 16 oz can pumpkin 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp nutmeg dash of salt 2 eggs
Mix together cream cheese and sugar. Blend pumpkin, spices and salt into cream cheese and sugar mixture. Add eggs one at a time. Pour mixture into pastry-lined 9″ deep dish pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees, 50 minutes.
Halloween Worms
Cooking time: ~ 5 min.
Prep time: ~ 15 min., plus overnight chilling
Notes: Use a cleaned 1-quart milk or orange juice carton to hold straws
1 pkg. (6 oz.) raspberry or grape flavor gelatin, 3 envelopes unflavored gelatin, 3 cups boiling water, 100 flexible plastic straws, 1 tall (same height as extended straws) slender 4 cup container, 3/4 cup whipping cream, 12 to 15 drops green food coloring
1.In a bowl, combine gelatins.
2.Add boiling water; stir until gelatins completely dissolve.
3.Chill until lukewarm, about 20 min.
4.Meanwhile, gently pull straws to extend to full length; place in tall container.
5.Blend cream and food coloring with the lukewarm gelatin mixture.
6.Pour into container, filling straws.
7.Chill until gelatin is firm, at least 8 hours, or cover and chill up to 2 days.
8.Pull straws from container (if using a carton, tear carton away from straws).
9.Pull straws apart; run hot tap water for about 2 seconds over 3 to 4 straws at a time.
10.Starting at the empty ends, push worms from straws with rolling pin, or use your fingers; lay worms on waxed paper-lined baking sheets.
11.Cover and chill until ready to use, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
12.Worms will hold at room temp. up to 2 hours.
Phantom Punch Ingredients:
1 Qt. Orange Juice 1 Qt. Seltzer Water or Club Soda 1/2 Gallon Sherbert Apple Pieces Raisins Tangerine Slices Grape Juice Directions:
Combine the liquid ingredients in a large bowl. Using a muffin tin, make 6 phantom faces by freezing apple pieces, raisins, and tangerine slices in grape juice. Float these on the mixture. Complete by slicing sherbert into small squares and float on top. Serves 8-10 thirsty ghosts!
Frozen Jack O’Lanterns Ingredients:
24 navel oranges, 1 gallon dark chocolate or fudge, ice cream, 24 whole cinnamon sticks Directions:
-Cut off the top of the oranges. -Gently hollow out the pulp, leaving a thick shell; hollow pulp out of cut-off tops too. -Cut Jack-O’Lantern faces into each orange. -Pack scoops of ice cream into shells (try to avoid letting ice cream ooze out of eyes or mouth). -Cut a small hole in the top of each orange. -Set tops back on over the ice cream and insert a cinnamon-stick stem through the hole. -Place in the freezer for at least 3 hours or until serving time.
I just used this recipe for a party and (after some experimenting) found out it works best if you freeze the hollowed-out oranges BEFORE filling them with ice cream. (Otherwise, the ice cream begins to melt as soon as it is in the orange shell and can run out the holes that are cut in the face.)
Black Widow Snack Cakes Ingredients:
1 package Devil’s food cake mix, Vegetable cooking spray —–GLAZE—– 4 cups Powdered sugar — sifted 5 tablespoons Milk — to 7 Tbsp —–DECORATE—– 1 cup Powdered sugar — sifted 1/4 cup Unsweetened cocoa 2 tablespoons Milk Plastic spiders Directions:
Prepare cake as directed on package. Pour into 2, 8″ square aluminum foil pans coated with cooking spray; bake at 350~ for 30-35 minutes or until tested done. Cool in pans on wire racks. Combine 4 cups powdered sugar and 5-7 Tbsp milk in a large bowl; spread a thin layer evenly over each cake. Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, cocoa and 2 Tbsp milk; spoon into a small zip-lock bag. Close bag securely and snip a tiny hole in bottom corner of bag. Carefully pipe concentric circles onto each cake. Pipe straight lines at intervals from the inner circle through the outside circle, forming a web design. Garnish with plastic spiders.
Black Cat Cupcakes Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup Reduced Fat Oreo cookie crumbs, 18 1/4 oz. reduced fat chocolate cake mix, 24 pieces Halloween Oreo cookies, 16 oz. reduced fat milk, chocolate frosting, black string licorice, jelly beans, semisweet chocolate chips Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare 24-2 1/2″ muffin cups with cooking spray and flour; set aside. Prepare cake mix according to package directions; stir in cookie crumbs. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from pans; cool on wire rack. Make cat faces on each of the remaining cookies: using some frosting, attach 4-1 1/2″ licorice strings for whiskers, 2 jelly bean halves for eyes and 2 chocolate chips for ears. Let set at least 30 minutes. Frost cupcakes with remaining frosting. Stand cat faces on edge on each cupcake. Place 3″ piece licorice string on back half of each cupcake for tail.
Choco Lanterns Ingredients:
12 miniature pumpkins, 1 cup sugar, 2/3 cup cocoa powder, 4 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 5 cups milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla Directions:
Cut the tops off the pumpkins and remove most of the interior with a sharp knife. Then scoop to even out the inside. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Add the milk gradually as you mix with a wooden spoon. Pour into a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the pudding thickens. Now add the vanilla and mix again. Remove from the heat and pour into the hallowed-out pumpkins. Chill until ready to serve. Makes 12
Pumpkin Ice Cream Ingredients:
1 can pumpkin pie filling, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 1/4 cups simple syrup (1 part water to 1 part sugar), 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon Directions:
In a bowl, mix together all of the ingredients. Pour the mixture into an electric ice-cream maker. Freeze for 20 minutes,or follow the instructions for your ice cream machine. Makes 1 quart (4 cups)
Chocolate Spiders Ingredients:
4 cups semisweet chocolate baking chips Directions:
Melt chocolate chips in top of double boiler. Let stand over the water until water is cool, about 10 minutes. Place wax paper on cookie sheet. Pour chocolate into a pastry bag that is fitted with a 1/8-inch or 1/4-inch tip. Squeeze chocolate onto wax paper in the shape of spiders. If chocolate is runny it needs to be cooled longer. Chill the spiders for about 10 minutes. When hard peel off wax paper. Store in refrigerator laid flat.
Witches Fingers Ingredients:
1 cup softened butter, 1 cup icing sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp almond extract, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 3/4 cup whole blanched almonds, 1 tube red decorator gel Directions:
In bowl beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla; beat in flour; baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Working with one-quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remaining dough refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoons full of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press almond firmly into one end for nail. Squeeze in center to create knuckle shape. Using a paring knife make slashes in several places to form knuckle. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet in 325 degree over for 20-25 minutes or until pale or golden. Let cool for three minutes. Lift up almond; squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back in place so gel oozes out from underneath. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Makes about 5 doz fingers!
Gingerbread Ghosts Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup softened butter or margarine, 1/3 cup molasses, 2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, Pinch of salt Directions:
In a large bowl, blend together the sugar and butter. Add the molasses. Fold in the sifted flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet. On a lightly floured board, roll out the dough until it is 1/8 inch thick. Cut out the cookie with a ghost-shaped cookie cutter and place on the baking sheet. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove form the oven and let cool thoroughly on a wire rack before decorating with Frosting.
FROSTING: 1 16-ounce box powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla Pinch of salt 3 to 4 tablespoons milk 1 8-ounce package miniature chocolate chips
Take half of the sugar and add the vanilla, salt and 2 tablespoons of the milk. Mix well. Now add the remaining sugar and mix again. Add as much of the remaining milk as you need to reach the desired consistency for spreading. Spread the Frosting on each cookie until it is totally white and looks like a ghost. For eyes, use two chocolate chips on each of the cookies. Makes 2 dozen
Sugar Cookie Pumpkins Ingredients:
1 cup softened butter or margarine, 1 cup sugar, 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 cookie decorator (in a 4 1/2 -ounce pressurized can) Directions:
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, blend together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla, and 1 cup flour and mix well. By hand, fold the remaining flour, the baking soda, and the baking powder. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet. On a lightly floured board, roll out the dough until it is 1/8 inch thick. Cut out the cookies with a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter and place them on the baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly before decorating. Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookie
Candied Apples Ingredients:
12 red delicious apples, 12 wooden skewers, 4 1/2 cups sugar, 3/4 cup light corn syrup, 1 tsp red food colouring, 1 1/2 cups water, 1 cup chopped peanuts Directions:
Grease a large cookie sheet and set aside. Wash and dry apples. Insert a stick through stem, leaving about two inches sticking out. In saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, food colouring 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 degrees, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile place shopped peanuts in a bowl. Remove syrup from heat and dip the apples, one by one, to coat evenly. Work quickly. As you dip each apple roll in peanuts to coat then place on prepared cookie sheet. Let apples cool for at least an hour.
Caramel Marshmallow Apples Ingredients:
1 package (14 oz) caramels, 1 cup miniature marshmallows, 1 tbsp. water, 5 or 6 small apples, Wooden skewers Directions:
Line baking sheet with buttered waxed paper; set aside. Combine caramels, marshmallows and water in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until caramels melt. Cool slightly while preparing apples. Rinse and dry apples. Insert skewers into apples. Dip each apple in caramel mixture, coating apples. Place on prepared sheet. Refrigerate until firm. For variety roll apples in crushed peanuts or drizzle with melted chocolate.
Nightcrawlers Ingredients:
12 large apples, 1 8-ounce jar boysenberry jam, 4 tablespoons butter, 12 gummy worms Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core apples from the stem end to 1/2 inch from the bottom. Do not push through. Stuff each hole with 1 teaspoon each jam and butter. Place in a pan and bake uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the apples. When done, the apple should be tender but not mushy. Remove the apples from the oven. Let cool 15 minutes. Now set each apple in a bowl and spoon syrup from the baking pan around it. In top of each apple, insert a gummy worm with at least half of its body protruding. Makes 12
Halloween Spider Poke Cake Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix, 1 pkg. green jello ,blue food coloring, chocolate frosting, 4 back licorice strips, 2 big green gumballs, 6 little gumballs Directions:
Prepare cake and gelatin according to package directions. Except use the 9″ round cake pans for the cake. Cut a smaller circle out of one cake using it as the head. Fill the hole left over with the gelatin. Place the other layer on top and trip to shape. To prepare frosting, in a mixing bowl, add blue food coloring to the chocolate frosting until black in color. Frost cake black. Then use the black licorice as leggs and gumballs as eyes. NOTE: When cake is cut into, it spurts green goop.
