8 Spooky Halloween Food Ideas

It’s that time of the year again! Time flies, doesn’t it? 2020 may not be the most exciting year ever, but we should still celebrate the festivity of Halloween! Since parties are a big “no no” for this year, we suggest you have your own private party at your flat and to do that in the right way you need some spooky food! In this article, we are sharing some Halloween food ideas that you might want to try this season :)

Mummy Hot Dogs

Undeniably, one of the easiest recipes you’ve ever tried! These Halloween hot dogs are not only the perfect spooky finger food but they are student friendly as well!

Ingredients:

• Hot dogs
• Crescent dough sheet
• Candy eyes
• Ketchup or mustard

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
2. Use a pizza cutter, or simply a knife, to cut the crescent dough into thin strips and then slightly stretch them.
3. Wrap the pieces of dough around each hot dog, leaving small gaps to create the “Mummy-like” look. Don’t forget to leave some space for the eyes as well!
4. Place your “mummies” into a baking sheet and put them in an oven for 10-15 minutes (until the dough turns to golden brown).
5. Once they are out of the oven, wait until they are cool and place the kandy eyes using some ketchup or mustard. If you don’t want to be fancy with the candy eyes, you can just use a toothpick dipped in mustard to draw the eyes.

Bloody Cinnamon Rolls

Okay, cinnamon rolls are quite time consuming (you have been warned) but it’s worth it, I promise! Plus, I stole my Mom's secret recipe just for you!

Ingredients:

For the dough

• 500g all-purpose flour
• 1 package of dry yeast
• ⅓ cup sugar (80g)
• 80g of butter
• One pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk (250ml)

For the filling:

• 3 tablespoons soften butter
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup brown sugar

For the frosting:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 tsp milk
• Food colouring (red, yellow, blue)

Instructions:

1. Starting with the dough, grab a big bowl and add all the dry ingredients (meaning the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt).
2. In another bowl add the milk and the butter and place it in the microwave for 30-60 seconds, until the butter melts and then add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Knead the dough till it’s smooth, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let your dough rest for 30 minutes (it can be 20 if you are impatient!)
3. While your dough is “sleeping”, you can start making the filling by combining the softened butter, the sugar and the cinnamon
4. Roll the dough out and spread the filling on top. Carefully, roll the dough tightly and cut it into smaller pieces (thumb-sized rolls work the best!). Put the slices into the oven for 20 minutes.
5. For the icing, combine the powdered sugar and the milk and stir them well.
6. And now the fun part...DECORATING! You can be as creative as you want but I suggest you add red food colouring on the icing to give your rolls a Halloween/bloody turn or some orange and green colouring to create little pumpkins :)

Mini Halloween Aple Pies

Another typical recipe with a Halloween twist to prove that anything can become spooky when you use your imagination!

Ingredients:

• Pre-made pie crust
• 2 Apples
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Shred your apples with a cheese grater, place them to a bowl and add the sugar and the cinnamon. Mix well.
2. Draw some pumpkins, little ghosts or even Jack the Skeleton on paper and cut them. These will be used as your “stencils”
3. Unroll your pie crust into a waxing baking sheet and with a knife start cutting around your stencils to create your shapes. On half of them you can create little facial features like eyes and mouths to get your mini apple pies on a whole new level!
4. Put the first half of your shapes on a baking pan and add a tablespoon of your apple mixture on top. Cover each of them with the suitable face side and gently press the edges to stick the two parts of the pie crust together.
5. Put your mini apple pies in the oven for 15-20 minutes (170°C)

An Alternative Hot Chocolate Drink

Hot chocolate is always a must but it can be pretty plain sometimes don’t you think? Here’s an alternative recipe you can try during spooky season! (or whenever really cause it’s awesome!)

Ingredients (For one big mug):

• 1/5 cup milk
• 3-4 teaspoons hot cocoa mix
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• Whipped cream
• Halloween candy decorations/ sprinkles/candy eyes etc
• Marshmallows

Instructions:

1. Add the milk and the cinnamon in a pot and bring them to a simmer over medium heat.
2. Add the hot cocoa mix and the instant coffee in a mug, pour a small amount of the heated milk and stir well.
3. Keep on stirring while adding the rest of the milk to the mug.
4. Time for toppings!! Add some whipped cream, sprinkles and some candy eyes on top to make it extra spooky! Or you can also add some ghost marshmallows to “swim” in your mug!

Autumn Salad

Let’s bring some healthier food into your Halloween diet :p

Ingredients:

• Sweet potato fries (ready to cook)
• 4 carrots
• Cherry tomatoes
• Feta cheese
• Pitted black olives
• Dried parsley
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper

Instructions:

1. Bake the sweet potato fries for 15-20 minutes in a preheated oven (200°C).
2. Peel and chop the carrots. Mix the carrots with 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Roast in a preheated oven for 30 minutes (200°C).
3. Put the sweet potato fries, roasted carrots, cherry tomatoes, chopped feta, pitted black olives, and dried parsley on a bowl.
4. Stir with extra virgin olive oil as dressing.

The main ingredients for the salad represent the colours of the Autumn: orange and red, while the combination of orange and black (from the pitted black olives) represents the colours of Halloween!

Haunted Cupcakes

“Feed two birds with one scone”. The cupcakes from this recipe can be made into another type of baked good in the next recipe. It’s all about efficiency ;) Now, let’s make some cupcakes!

Ingredients

• 40g butter (at room temperature)
• 60g granulated sugar
• 120g brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 50g all-purpose flour
• 50g almond powder
• 35g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 50ml vegetable oil
• 100ml buttermilk (at room temperature)
• Vanilla/almond buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting

Instructions:

For chocolate cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with baking cups.
2. Sift the flour, almond powder, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a medium bowl (make sure that everything is thoroughly combined). Set aside.
3. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl using a paddle attachment until the mix is slightly pale and fluffy (about 2-3 mins).
4. Add in vanilla extract, almond extract, and 2 large eggs, one at a time. Mix well (about 2 mins).
5. Using a spatula, add in half of the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl followed by half of the buttermilk and oil. Gently whisk until all the ingredients are just combined.
6. Repeat Step 5 with the remaining dry ingredients and wet ingredients (do not overmix).
7. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake pan. Fill only halfway to avoid spilling over the sides or sinking.
8. Bake for 15-17 minutes until golden brown (you can also use a toothpick to test by inserting it into the centre of each cake. When the cupcakes are well-baked, the toothpick comes out clean).
9. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
10. Using a piping nozzle and a piping bag, create a small flower on top of each cupcake with your chosen pastel-coloured buttercream, then sprinkle some powdered sugar for the final touch. These should make your cupcakes give a “Corpse Bride” kind of vibe ;)

For vanilla cupcakes

Use the same steps in the chocolate cupcake recipe, however remove the cocoa powder. Instead, add 20 grams more of flour and 1 more teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Halloween Cake Pops

Ingredients:

• Cake of any flavour (you can use the cupcakes from the previous recipe)
• 1-2 tbsp chocolate frosting (depends on the moistness of the cake)
• 2 packs of white chocolate
• Lollipop sticks
• Orange food colouring
• Hazelnut/chocolate spread
• Sprinkles/chocolate chips/any Halloween sugar decorations (optional)

Instructions:

1. Put the cake/cupcakes in a large bowl. Crumble until it resembles fine crumbs
2. Add in chocolate frosting. Blend until the mixture can hold a ball shape.
3. Using a mini ice cream scoop or using your hands, get two-scoop worth of cake mixture. Roll the mixture into a ball shape.
4. Repeat Step 3 until all the cake mixture has been rolled into balls.
5. Melt the white chocolate. (To see how to melt chocolate properly, check out this video.)
6. Dip the tip of the lollipop stick into the white chocolate and insert into the cake pops about half way. Do this to each one of the cake pops.
7. Put into the fridge for an hour to set.
8. Take each of the chilled cake pops and dip into the white chocolate that have been stirred together with a few drops of orange food colouring.
9. Let them dry for a little bit (about 10 mins) before drawing Halloween-related creatures (bats, spiders, etc) on each cake pop using hazelnut/chocolate spread and a piping bag. (Optional: After dipping each cake pop into the white chocolate, immediately stick a chocolate chip to make the cake pop look like an eyeball or use sprinkles or ready-made Halloween sugar decorations).
10. Fix the decorated cake pops into mugs filled with coffee beans (or other mediums that can make your cake pops stand still) to dry at room temperature for an hour or in the fridge for 20-30 mins.

Creepy Snack and Dessert Decorations

If baking or cooking is not your thing, let’s decorate some ready-made desserts and snacks!

Headstone Biscuits

Simply decorate rectangle/square shaped biscuits with “R.I.P.” or cross sign using melted dark chocolate and a piping bag.

Rings of Blood

Put onion ring crisps on a fake hand’s fingers (make sure they are cleaned first :p) and pour some ketchup on the fingers.

Internal Organs

Lay down a fake skeleton on a table (again, make sure it’s clean xD). Line up salami, hams, sausages, and any other kinds of red-coloured ready-to-eat meat inside the skeleton.

Well, that’s all for now. Hope the recipes can make your Halloween more fun and spooky ^^ Happy Halloween!

“There’s only 365 days left until next Halloween!” “364!”

– Mayor and Wolfman in The Nightmare Before Christmas