Monster Brownies
Your little human monsters will love decorating brownies with chocolate, marshmallows, and M&M's to make these sweet treats. For the base, we doubled the recipe for Dark Chocolate Brownies, baking it in a 9- by 13-in. pan and omitting the glaze. Thin, flat chocolate bars work best for the faces.
Sweet and Savory Tortilla Bats
Making a spooky snack for your Halloween table is as easy as cutting tortillas with a bat-shaped cookie cutter (R&M Flying Bat; amazon.com). We seasoned one panful with cinnamon and sugar and the other with chile salt, but you can go for all sweet or all savory if you prefer. These Halloween snacks can be served as appetizers alongside salsa for a savory bite or Greek yogurt swirled with honey for something sweet that goes beyond candy.Â
Chorizo and Caramelized Onion Stuffed IntestinesÂ
Take your Halloween party to the next level with Mexican sausage and onion stuffed "intestines". Store-bought pastry dough makes this masterpiece simple to make and contributes to the rich taste and flaky texture. A cranberry sauce adds sweetness to this salty, savory dish while contributing to the realness of its presentation. This appetizer is sure to be a memorable one!
Pumpkin Cake
For this festive version of a pumpkin cake, we opted for a "spiced pumpkin" box cake mix, but any box mix will do. Adding powdered sugar to the prepared frosting helps make it thicker and less likely to melt off the cake or get too soft and drippy. It's helpful to use piping bags to get a nicel layer of frosting and then blend together on the pumpkin to get green vines and leaves.
Marinated Mozzarella Eyeballs
Serve a mad scientist-inspired, Jekyll and Hyde-themed appetizer for the ultimate spooky Halloween or horror snack. Your friends will not believe just how real these mozarella balls look and just how delicious they taste. With spices like garlic and red pepper and fresh Italian herbs, this ballin' recipe is packed with flavor that will keep your guests coming back for more.
Stuffed Pepper Mummies
An adorable take on jalapeño poppers, these sweet pepper "mummies" are stuffed with a gently spicy mix of Mexican chorizo, cream cheese, sharp cheddar, and cilantro.
Brain Dumplings with Kimchi-Chile Sauce
Take your Halloween eats to the next level with these Jekyll and Hyde-inspired dumplings. Make ahead of time and freeze for a stress-free, yet totally spooky, spread.
Halloween Spider Cookies
Landing somewhere between adorable and slightly spooky, these Halloween spider cookies are sure to fulfill all your creepy-crawly sweet needs for your upcoming Halloween festivities. Using a classic cut-out butter cookie dough keeps the edges of your spider cookies shape neat and clean—no worries about the cookies expanding when they bake. Decorate these Halloween cut-out cookies with black gel icing, royal icing, candy eyes, orangle and black sprinkles, or whatever fun decorations you have on hand. These cookies make for a playful, spooky food craft that grown-ups and kids alike can enjoy.
Spider Web Cake
This incredibly fudgy flourless chocolate cake is a much better way to satisfy your own spooky sweet cravings than dipping into your kids’ Halloween candy. Dark and delightful, this rich and chocolatey cake only requires five ingredients and about an hour to pull together.
Frankenstein Cookie Bars
These bars make a fun Halloween treat, and they're very flavorful: the green tea frosting cloaks a chewy-soft coconut-lime cookie. They're easy enough that the kids can help you make them.
Midori Lemon Gin Fizz
Egg whites form a spooky, frothy top, giving the cocktail a mad-scientist makeover. The cocktail gets its green hue from Midori liqueur, a super sweet muskmelon-flavored liqueur. Serve in beakers or test tubes to up the Halloween aura.
'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Caviar
Need a great appetizer for your Halloween bash? Serve up chips and this classic veggie and bean dip for some spook-tacularly good flavor. This recipe features staples that you may already have in your pantry or fridge, making this a perfect last-minute appetizer to take to the party. And while the name suggest that a Halloween party is where it's at with this recipe, you can just as easily much on this great dip any day of the week!Â
Ghost Cookies
Prepare for a  sweet scare when these adorable Halloween ghost cookies are all iced, decorated, and ready to party. Super easy and kid-friendly to make, these butter cut-out cookies coated with royal icing are the perfect dessert for your Halloween spread. Candy eyeballs add a playful, whimsical touch to these spooky treats, but you could also use black icing to draw eyes on your ghost cookies. Using a classic cut-out butter cookie dough keeps the edges of your ghost cookies shape neat and clean—no worries about the cookies expanding when they bake. Whip up a batch with the kids and let them go to town with the decorating for a fun Halloween kitchen activity.
Bell Pepper Jack O'Lanterns with Vegetables and Dip
Give your Halloween party some personality with these carved edible "bowls." Make them as goofy or as scary as you like, depending on your mood! Not only do these jack o'lantern snacks add a festive touch, they will make sure kids and adults alike will continue to snack on vegetables in between bites of Halloween candy. This healthy Halloween snack is a must.Â
Bat Cake
For the Halloween crafter inside all of this, this simple Halloween sheet cake is a fun, easy dessert to make. Devil’s food cake is very dark chocolaty color, but a red velvet cake would look just as fitting and festive for the bat, too. Piping bags and tips are found in craft stores or specialty baking shops. Be sure to cut the cake rounds in the prescribed order so that the bat’s head with ears comes out as 1 of the cuts.
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Witch's Hat Cake
For a spooky spin on a Halloween-inspired sheet cake, look no further than this festive witch's hat cake. We opted for boxed cake mix for simplicity, but if there's a homemade recipe you prefer, that works too. As long as you're ready to get a little crafty and extra witchy, this easy, Halloween dessert will come together in a flash.
Mummified Candy-Corn Cake
This festive candy corn-colored cake is sure to impress your Halloween guests.Â
Spiderweb Spice Cake
Colored candies are all you need to transform a chocolate cake into a creepy, crawling Halloween-themed cake. Don't worry, even with the spiders you won't be able to resist this delicious confection.
Halloween Hummus
For a truly spooky treat, this hummus is a great way to create a fun and festive Halloween effect. Simply fill a carved skull prop with this ghoulishly delicious hummus for a great appetizer to serve to guests. This hummus is red pepper based and features cayenne pepper, cumin, and plenty of garlic cloves for some great flavor. This dip is great to serve with crackers, chips, or veggie sticks. Dig right in, if you dare!Â
Autumn Punch
"Punch" is a good description of this one--a couple of glasses pack a wallop. Add extra cranberry juice if you want it weaker.
Blood Orange-Bourbon Coolers
Blood Orange-Bourbon Coolers are an adults-only treat featuring three different fruit juices, bourbon (of course), and the perfect Halloween hue.
Olive Spiders
Dress up your spooky Halloween table (or your drink) with this fun garnish.
Red Velvet Cake Balls
Red Velvet Cake Balls are the perfect bite size dessert. They are incredibly easy to make and are a wonderful indulgent treat or gift.
Pork Dumplings with Chile-Sesame Sauce
These wrinkly dumplings are filled with pork, shiitake mushrooms, bok choy, scallions and ginger. For Halloween, David Burtka soaks the brain-like dumplings in the dipping sauce, then serves them in science-lab beakers.
Snackin' Pumpkin Seeds
Every Halloween carved pumpkins appear. Now that you know what to do with the seeds, you can cut down on food waste! Pumpkin seeds are such a great Halloween party food idea for an easy get together or casual fall hangout. This recipe for pumpkin seeds is basic, so start here then flavor to fit your tastes. The seeds will keep in an airtight container for several days, so make a large batch. You can add them to fall-themed snack mixes, stir them into soups, or simply snack on them by the handful.Â
Deviled Green Goblin Eggs
For a festive look, serve in decorative Halloween cupcake liners.
Halloween Kitty Cake
What a sweet kitty this is! The cake is baked, cut into shapes and then put together to make a purr-fect cake for any Halloween party.
Monster Eyes
Halloween is dominated by sweets so go the savory route and make these Monster Eyes with simple sausage ball ingredients and green olives with pimentos.
Spiced Lamb Chops with Rosemary Crumbs
These spiced lamb chops are great for cocktail parties, since you can eat them one-handed.
Mummy Dogs
These make-ahead hot dogs use refrigerated breadstick dough, perfect for goblins, pretty princesses, superheroes, and even their parents. Watch the how-to video at SouthernLiving.com.
Monster Meatball Sandwiches
These 5-ingredient, money-saving mini sandwiches will satisfy the heartiest of appetites. Using premade frozen meatballs keeps preparation swift and simple.
