Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!  Our pumpkins are carved and the kids' costumes are neatly laid out and ready for the big day tomorrow. I'm excited to help at C's school party during the afternoon and our fingers are crossed for decent weather tomorrow night...it's not looking good!  Definitely one of my favorite days of the year. I can't wait to see everyone's costumes on Facebook over the next couple of days. :) Happy Halloween!!!

Witches Broom Cookies

Eek! Only SEVEN more days until Halloween!!! The final pieces to the kids' Halloween costumes came in the mail and I am getting so excited!

For dessert last night we had Witches Broom Cookies.  What a fun way to show our Halloween spirit. To make it even easier we used Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookie Dough from our friends at Immaculate Baking. So these were a cinch to put together.

In a few more days we'll be carving our pumpkins and ready to go Trick-or-Treating.

Witches Broom Cookies

1 pkg. Immaculate Baking Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookie Dough

12 Pretzel Rods

2/3 c. chocolate chips

2/3 c. white chocolate chips

1 t. shortening, divided

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place the pretzel rods on two separate ungreased cookie sheets. Take ball of cookie dough and form it into a broom shape then press onto the end of each pretzel rod. Gently press with your palm to slightly flatten. Further press with a fork to create bristles on the broom. Bake 15 minutes or until set but not brown. Cool completely. 

Make a chocolate drizzle by melting 2/3 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 t. shortening in a microwavable safe bowl. Microwave on medium-high for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave for 10 seconds intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted. Once the cookies have cooled completely, spoon the melted chocolate over the brooms.

Optional: Create a white chocolate drizzle (the same way you made the milk chocolate drizzle) and drizzle over the milk chocolate. You can decorate these brooms however you like.  For some I drizzled some white chocolate over the milk chocolate.  For others, I highlighted the broom's bristles with the white chocolate.

Allow the chocolate to harden on the cookies before packaging them up.

* Please note that Immaculate Baking did provide me with coupons and free product; however all opinions are 100% mine. :)

Halloween Cakes, Cookies & Cupcakes

Halloween is a little over two weeks away. It's one of my favorite times of the year and I've already started decorating some Halloween-inspired cakes at the bakery.  These next 2 weeks will be filled with pumpkins, spider webs, ghosts, and even Frankenstein cookies! I am also working on finishing up the kids' Halloween costumes this week. Just a few more pieces and they'll be all set! I can't wait!!!

At the Bakery...

Here's the last Halloween bakery post this year!  I had so much fun making all things pumpkins, spiders, and even Frankenstein!  It's hard to believe November will be here in 2 short days. Here's a few of my creations from this week.

Frankenstein...


Pumpkin cake...


Pumpkin cupcakes...


and even a Spider cake!


 HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all!!!

At the Bakery...

Lots of fun Halloween goodies have been brewing in the bakery this week! With Halloween only 7 days away, everyone is in the holiday spirit. Here are a few of the things I've made this week...

Fun Halloween cupcakes...with creepy crawly spiders!


Halloween cookies of all kinds...


400 Halloween-themed cupcakes for the University of Michigan...


Fall inspired cake...with leaves


And last but not least...let's not forget that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month!

Halloween Witch Cake

Halloween is only TEN days away!  I've been making lots of festive baked goods at the bakery, including this cake. Our whole family will be dressing up this year. I won't give away any secrets but our costumes will coordinate with one another. I can't wait! Halloween is such a fun time of year. Here's hoping for a nice, dry, and semi-warm Halloween night to take the kids trick-or-treating!

Halloween Recap

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope everyone has fun {and stays warm} while trick or treating with your little ones tonight. I know my two are super excited to go knocking on doors for candy!

Here is a Halloween recap of some fun Halloween treats I've made over the last couple of years. Enjoy!

Jello worms, pumpkin Rice Krispies, and Nutter Butter ghosts


Haystack Creatures


Owl Smores


Candy Corn Cookies


Candy Corn Pudding


and Halloween Cake Pops


Happy Halloween from my family to yours!

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

Last but not least, we made Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats this year. Aren't these cute? Just make your standard rice krispie treat recipe, add red and yellow food coloring, shape into pumpkins, and top with a green gum drop "stem".

This recipe came directly from Rice Krispie's website however their version is a bit more fun. They are called Surprise Pumpkin Treats and they actually hid a small piece of candy inside. So whether you decide to make the surprise treats or plain treats like mine, they make a great treat for Halloween!

Super Easy Nutter Butter Ghosts

The second Halloween treat that my son and I made this year were Nutter Butter Ghosts. I dipped the Nutter Butters in the white chocolate and C enjoyed putting their eyes (mini chocolate chips) on them! Super easy, super fun Halloween treat!

Jello Worms

My son and I had a blast in the kitchen today. With only three days left until Halloween it was time for this momma to get on the move if we were going to make any Halloween treats this year! First off of this year's to-do list...worms! Edible worms!!! My preschooler got the biggest laugh out of these and I must admit that eating them brought out the kid in me too.



This is such a cute idea and comes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. She has a wonderful PDF that has step by step pictures showing how to make these worms.

Mel's worms turned out greyish in color. Mine were more green. The reason for this is because I only had a 3 oz. box of purple gelatin (the recipe calls for 6 oz. and then using green food coloring). So instead I used a 3 oz. box of purple gelatin and a 3 oz. box of green gelatin. They still turned out great and I love my green worms!

Halloween Cake Pops

I did it! I finally did it! I made Cake Pops! I just love reading a food blog called Bakerella. She's the one that came up with cake pops and has made them for pretty much every holiday and carton character out there. They are just adorable! If you have never looked at her blog you should check it out. It's what inspired me to make these cake pops.

I'm pretty happy with how my cake pops turned out. It was a bit challenging to get the icing smooth but with practice, I kept getting better and better. My biggest disappointment was in the cool edible black pen that I bought from Michael's. I had all intentions of turning my pumpkins into jack o'lanterns but I could not get the pen to write on the orange chocolate melts. I barely got it to work on a couple of the white ghosts. Other than that I would call them a huge success though! I made them with chocolate cake and can of chocolate frosting.



Halloween Cake Pops
Source: Bakerella

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can frosting (16 oz.)
Wax paper
Green Tic Tacs (pumpkin stems)
Orange candy melts (pumpkins)
White candy melts (ghosts)
Chocolate candy melts (plain cake pops)
Halloween sprinkles
Lollipop sticks
Edible ink pens

After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl. Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I use the back of a large spoon, but it may be easier to use fingers to mix together. But, be warned, it will get messy. Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.)

Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50) Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 sec intervals, stirring in between.) Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)

Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up. Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too. Place in a styrofoam block to dry. Once dry, draw faces with an edible ink pen and allow ink to dry!

Candy Corn Pudding

Halloween may just be my favorite holiday. If not my favorite, it definitely ranks pretty high up there! Making all of these fun Halloween recipes has made me want to host a Halloween party. I told my hubby we'll have to plan one next year for sure!

Here's another cute and simple candy corn recipe for you. It just takes 2 boxes of pudding, some milk, and Cool Whip. Don't you just love these?



Candy Corn Pudding
Source: www.paperjewels.blogspot.com

1 box instant vanilla pudding
1 box instant butterscotch pudding
4 c. milk
yellow food coloring
Cool Whip

Make each kind of pudding according to directions on package. Add some yellow food coloring to the vanilla pudding. Layer puddings and Cool Whip in a martini glass to resemble candy corn. Optional: Decorate with candy corns or pumpkins.

(Make this kid friendly by using clear plastic tumblers.)

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

Here's another fun Halloween recipe for you! It's amazing that I don't weigh 400 pounds after all the Halloween goodies I've made this week. Luckily I am good about sending them off with my husband to take to work. The less I keep in the house - the less I can eat! :)

I do not like the taste of real candy corn but I find myself buying a package of them every year to use for decorating something with. These candy corn sugar cookies on the other hand are very good and have a hint of lemon to them! They were a blast to make and would be a wonderful treat to make if you are hosting a Halloween party this year.



Candy Corn Sugar Cookies
Source: Kaitlin in the Kitchen

2 Sticks Butter, softened
1 c. Sugar
1 Egg
2 T. Lemon Juice
2 t. Lemon Zest
1/8 t. Salt
3 c. Flour
1/2 t. Baking Soda
Red Food Dye
Yellow Food Dye
1/2 c. Granulated Sugar (for dusting)

Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt. Continue beating until well mixed. Add flour and baking soda, beat until well mixed. Divide dough into thirds. Press one-third of the white dough evenly into the bottom of a loaf pan that you have lined with foil, wax, or parchment paper. Place another one-third of the dough into a bowl and add yellow and red food dye to make orange (refer to the chart on the back of your box). Once it is mixed evenly, press orange dough evenly over white dough. In another bowl, add the final amount of dough and dye yellow. Press that evenly over the orange dough. Cover and refrigerate until firm (2 hours or overnight is best). Once chilled, invert your loaf pan and unwrap your dough. Flip it back over and place it on a cutting board. Cut loaf crosswise into 1/4-inch slices using a sharp knife, trimming edges to make even, if necessary. Cut each slice into 6 wedges.



Place 1-inch apart onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes in a pre-heated 375 degree oven. Place cookies straight into a bowl with sugar and coat. Place coated cookies on a baking rack to cool.

Haystack Creatures

Here's yet another cute, tasty, and easy Halloween recipe. My 3 1/2 year old keeps asking me if he can eat another monster. These things are hilarious. I love them! You can make any size creatures you want.

Look! Here's a family of 5. A papa, mama, and 3 kiddos. They're a good lookin' family aren't they?



Haystack Creatures
Source: Woman's Day

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used a partial bag of chocolate chips and a T. of shortening)
1 can (5 oz) thin chow mein noodles
1⁄2 c. vanilla frosting (I used some melted white candy melts)
18 green jelly beans (I used M&M's)
18 small purple sugar ball candies (You can use any color!)

Line a large baking sheet with waxed paper or nonstick foil.

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and melt on high in microwave 1 to 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Scrape chocolate into a large bowl; add noodles and gently toss with a rubber spatula until all the noodles are evenly covered in chocolate.

Drop heaping 1⁄4-cupfuls of noodle mixture into 9 haystacks on prepared cookie sheet. Let dry 1 hour at room temperature (or speed it up by refrigerating them 30 minutes until hard).

Put frosting into a small ziptop bag; snip off a tiny corner of the bag and pipe 2 dabs onto each creature and attach 2 jelly bean eyes. Pipe a dot in center of each eye and attach a candy ball in center. Let dry 1⁄2 hour.

Owl S'mores

Halloween is quickly approaching! I saw these adorable little owls while surfing the internet the other day and fell in love with them! They were super easy to make and my 3 year old loved helping make them. These would be great to make for a school Halloween party and are sure to make people smile.

Oh Look!!! There are even baby owls!!! :) I had so much fun making the big owls that I used miniature marshmallows and mini M&M's to make some babies. There are 8 babies in all. Perhaps I will call them John and Kate plus EIGHT!



Owl S'mores
Source: www.livinglocurto.com

Graham crackers
Marshmallows
Chocolate chips
Yellow candy melts
Candy corn
Mini M&M's and miniature marshmallows (If you want babies too!)

For directions on how to make these adorable owls please visit the original post provided by Living Locurto by clicking HERE.