Jack-o-Lantern Cookies
Recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest. Makes 30-40 cookies.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) salted butter
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces milk chocolate, melted
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (1 part cinnamon, 4 parts sugar, which is about 2 shallow teaspoons cinnamon, 8 shallow teaspoons sugar)
Instructions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until evenly combined. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt, and beat until combined and the dough forms a ball.
2. Generously flour your work surface. Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into a disk. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out the cookies using a pumpkin cookie cutter, and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Cut eyes and a mouth in half the cookies using a paring knife or cookie cutter. Cover the baking sheet and place in the freezer. Freeze until firm, about 15-20 minutes. Roll out the leftover scraps, and repeat with the remaining disk of dough. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
3. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 8-12 minutes (for soft cookies) or until just lightly golden brown. Do not over bake. Cool on the baking sheet for five minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
4. Add the butter to a medium sized pot. Allow the butter to slightly brown until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Stir often. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Brush the butter over the top half of the cookies and then sprinkle the cookies with cinnamon sugar.
5. To assemble, spread the melted milk chocolate over the half of the cookies with no face. Place the top pumpkin faced cookies over the chocolate, gently pressing to adhere. Cookies can be served immediately or let the chocolate firm up and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Witch’s Hat Cupcakes
Design inspired by a photo from Tastes Better From Scratch . Makes 20 cupcakes.
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup warm water
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons whipping cream
- Food coloring
For the hats:
- Milk or dark chocolate Hershey’s Kisses
- Thin chocolate wafer cookies, like Oreo Thins
- Food coloring
Instructions:
For the cupcakes:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Sift cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt (all the dry ingredients) into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth.
3. Divide batter among the muffin cups, filling each ⅔ full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks, and let cool.
For the frosting:
1. In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add sugar ½ cup at a time, beating after each addition, until combined.
2. Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.
3. Set aside around ½ cup of frosting, and add a couple drops of orange food coloring. Then, color the rest of the frosting (recommended: 1 drop of yellow, 2 drops of green).
4. Place the green frosting into an icing bag with your desired frosting tip. Once the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe the frosting onto the top of them (If you don’t let the cupcakes cool, the buttercream will start to melt, which doesn’t look very nice).
For the hats:
1. Place the ~½ cup of orange frosting into a ziplock bag and trim a corner to use as an icing bag.
2. Pipe a dollop of frosting onto the bottom of a Hershey’s Kiss, then place onto the chocolate cookie wafer. If desired, you can put some sprinkles around the “brim” of the hat. Place the hat on top of the buttercream frosting on the cupcake.
3. Enjoy!
Mummy Dogs
Ingredients:
- 1 pack of crescent roll dough
- Hot dogs of choice
- Mustard (and/or other condiments of choice)
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. On a nonstick baking sheet, roll out and separate the crescent roll dough. They’ll be shaped like triangles.
2. Place the hot dogs on the widest edge of the dough triangles, and roll towards the opposite corner until the hot dog is covered. If desired, you can stretch the corners of the dough to make the “wrappings” more mummy-like.
3. Put into the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes. When finished, the tops of the pastry should be a light golden brown, and the bottoms a richer brown color.
4. Once the mummies have finished cooking, remove them from the oven and let cool for 2 or so minutes. Then, using your mustard or other desired condiment, add two dots for eyes on one side of the exposed hot dog.
5. Enjoy!
Frankenstein’s Monster Treats
Recipe adapted from Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats' Website. Makes 18 Rice Krispies Monsters.
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 cups mini marshmallows
- Liquid (not gel) food coloring, green
- 6 cups Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Cereal
- Milk or dark chocolate (about one regular or extra-large bar will work)
- White chocolate (a quarter to a half of a bar will work)
Instructions:
1. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and add a couple drops of food coloring. Make it darker than you think it needs to be, so that it turns out your desired shade of green.
2. Add the Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until combined, making sure to fold in the hard-to-reach portions near the bottom.
3. Using a spatula or wax paper, evenly press the mixture into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Let the mixture sit until it is fully cooled, then cut into rectangles. Recommended: Cut 3 times lengthwise, 6 times widthwise.
4. Place the milk / dark chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 10 second increments, stirring after each. Repeat until the chocolate can be stirred without any lumps remaining.
5. Using a spatula, spread some chocolate onto the top edge and nearby sides of a Rice Krispies square to make the hairline.
6. Once all of the hairlines are completed, pour the remaining chocolate into a ziplock bag, snip a little off a corner, and use it as an icing bag to draw the mouths. Make them however you want; I drew a single long line with three shorter ones over it, to look like stitches. Don’t draw the pupils just yet.
7. In the same method that you melted the milk / dark chocolate with, melt the white chocolate. Once you’ve done this, place it into another ziplock bag and snip off a corner to use as another icing bag. Draw two medium-sized circles on each square for the whites of the eyes. If you have remaining white chocolate, try drawing stitches on the hair, or add other details. Have fun!
8. Allow the white chocolate to harden before you add the pupils. This may take a while, as the chocolate dries slowly. Feel free to put the squares into the fridge to speed up the process. Once the white chocolate has hardened, draw the pupils with the milk / dark chocolate.
9. Allow the chocolate to dry as much as you want before eating (the less time you wait, the messier it will be). If you don’t plan on eating all your Frankenstien’s Monster Rice Krispies Treats the day you make them, try to let them harden completely before storing. Note that they taste best eaten the day you make them.