Halloween is one of our favorite times of the year for truly creative, fun food. It’s a great way to get kids involved in the kitchen, too! Once they’ve decorated a mini monster pizza, they’ll realize that cooking can be a lot of fun! These six spooky snacks from our award-winning kids’ magazines are perfect for your next Halloween party– or just an extra special after-school snack!
Tarantula Terrors (CRICKET Magazine)
Turning your muffin tin upside-down is the secret to creating these sweet spiders!
What you’ll need:
- 1 envelope dry yeast
- 1 and 1/2 cups warm water
- 3/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 4 cups flour
- 1 egg
- Coarse grained salt
- Cooking oil
- Muffin tins
- Large mixing bowl
- Small bowl
- Pastry brush
What to do:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Turn muffin tins upside-down and rub cooking oil on bottom of each cup.
- Dissolve yeast in the water in a large mixing bowl.
- Add sugar and table salt.
- Add flour and mix until dough is smooth.
- For each spider: pinch off about 1 teaspoon of dough and roll it into a thin rope to form a leg. Repeat to make 7 more legs. Put 4 legs on each side of muffin tin.
- Using about 1 tablespoon of dough, make an oval body with a head. Put it on top of the legs.
- Pinch body and legs together. Add 2 small pincers to the head portion of the oval.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough, using every other section of the muffin tins so that the spiders don’t touch each other.
- Beat the egg with a fork in a small bowl. Brush beaten egg onto the tarantulas with your fingers or a pastry brush.
- Lightly sprinkle with coarse-grained salt.
- Bake your tarantulas at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are light brown. Remove from oven. Let cool 10 minutes.
Creepy Peepers (SPIDER Magazine)
These “yummy mummies” are mini English muffin pizzas with a Halloween twist!
What you’ll need:
- Black olives (pitted and halved)
- English muffins split in half
- String cheese sticks
- Red and green bell pepper (chopped)
- Pizza sauce
- Cookie sheet
What to do:
- Ask a grown-up to preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce onto each English muffin half.
- Set olive slices in place for your creatures’ eyes. Add little pieces of pepper in the olives’ holes for scary pupils. To make your creatures even creepier, add an extra pair of eyes!
- Lay strings of cheese across the muffin halves for your creatures’ wrappings. Remember not to cover the eyes!
- Put the muffin halves face-up on a cookie sheet. Have a grownup bake them for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the muffin halves are toasty. Bon appetit!
Nocturnal Nibbles: Fruity Fruit Bat (SPIDER Magazine)
They say you are what you eat, and this tasty fruit bat treat is made of delicious fruit! This is just one of three fun recipes inspired by nocturnal animals. Check all three of them out here!
What You’ll Need:
- banana
- fruit leather
- 2 almonds or raisins
- 3 chocolate chips
- 2 pretzel sticks
- plate
- butter knife
What To Do:
- Cut or tear the fruit leather diagonally. Place one triangle on the plate with the corner pointing down.
- Peel the banana. With an adult’s help, cut the banana in half midway, then again lengthwise. Lay the flat side of one piece on the fruit leather. The narrow end of the banana should be above the flat edge of the fruit leather.
- Stick the almonds or raisins in the narrow end of the banana for ears.
- Add the chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth.
- Stick the pretzel sticks into the cut end of the banana for legs.
Bugalicious Punch (CRICKET Magazine)
Give your guests a spooky surprise with creepy-crawly ice cubes in your party punch!
What you’ll need:
- 3 liters chilled lemon-lime soda
- 1 quart chilled pineapple juice
- Plastic or gummy bugs
- Ice cube trays
- 1/2 quart lime sherbet
What to do:
- The day before the party, fill ice cube trays with one bug per section and lemon-lime soda, then freeze. Every time a tray is frozen, transfer the bug-cubes to a zippered freezer bag. Repeat as often as needed.
- Shortly before the party, mix remaining lemon-lime soda, the pineapple juice, and lime sherbet in a punch bowl and add the frozen bug cubes! Decorate with more gummy bugs.
Miro’s Creepy Hollow Cookies (SPIDER Magazine)
Give your classic chocolate chip cookie a dose of Halloween charm with this delicious dessert! You can even arrange the chocolate chips in the shape of a jack-o’-lantern smile for extra Halloween fun.
What you’ll need:
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 15-ounce can pumpkin
- 4 cups flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
What to do:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Grease cookie sheets.
- Mix shortening and sugar in large bowl until smooth
- Beat in eggs, one at a time.
- Mix in vanilla and pumpkin and blend well.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add to
- pumpkin mixture and mix well.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until edges begin to brown. Use spatula to slightly flatten each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven, then allow cookies to cool.
Guac-o’-lantern (SPIDER Magazine)
This party dip may look disgusting, but it tastes great! If you don’t want to carve a real pumpkin, you can also use an orange bell pepper for an edible jack-o’-lantern face!
What you’ll need:
- 1 small pumpkin
- pumpkin carver or sharp knife*
- metal spoon
- cookie sheet
- 6 avocados
- 2 limes
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- ½ onion
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- Tortilla chips
What to do:
- With an adult, slice off the top of the pumpkin.
- Scoop out the guts and carve the pumpkin’s expression—surprised, angry, or sick to its stomach.
- Place the pumpkin on the cookie sheet and refrigerate.
- Wash and chop the tomatoes, onion, and cilantro.
- Remove the skin and pit of the avocado. Mash the green fruit in a bowl.
- Squeeze the limes over the mashed avocados. Mix the garlic powder, salt, and chopped veggies until smooth.
- When ready to serve, spread the green “barf” from the mouth of the pumpkin to the center of the serving tray.
- Eat up the guacamole with tortilla chips.
