By Kelly Youngblood
It’s beginning to look a lot like Halloween around our house. Pumpkins and mums adorn the porch, costumes have been purchased, and Halloween treat ideas have already been tested and approved.
Every year, I like to try out new recipes so I have something fun to bring to the many Halloween festivities we attend throughout October. Whether it’s a classroom party or a friend’s fall potluck, I love finding recipes for treats that bring out the inner Halloween spirit in all of us. If those recipes happen to be easy and tasty, well then that’s just a bonus.
Here are a few recipes I found that meet those qualifications.
Frankenstein pudding
These treats are perfect for the little monsters in your life! Whisk vanilla pudding with 2 cups of milk. Add green flood coloring and stir. Pour pudding into clear plastic cups and place in the refrigerator. After the pudding has set, take crushed Oreos and pour on top of pudding cup to make the hair. Then, with a black marker, draw the Frankenstein face.
Donut eyeballs
This treat is so quick and easy to make, it’s done in the blink of an eye. Take a powdered donut, place a Gummy Lifesaver on top, and stick a chocolate chip inside the Lifesaver hole. Take red gel icing and draw lines on the donut to make the eye look bloodshot.
Owl S’mores
This is another easy-peasy recipe that takes seconds to complete and will have your kids shouting Hoo-ray! Cut a marshmallow in half and place on a graham cracker square. On top of the marshmallows, put two yellow candy melts. Microwave for up to 5 seconds. Take out and put a chocolate chip on the candy melts to finish the owl eyes and put one piece of candy corn in between the marshmallows to make the beak. They turn out so cute. I did notice the marshmallows melt faster than the candy melts so it was hard to get the chocolate chip to stick to the un-melted candy melt. However, a dab of frosting works as a good glue to keep the chocolate chips from sliding off.
Pumpkin pretzels
Whiles these sweet and salty treats won’t win any awards for their appearance, I will say they are pretty delicious. Melt orange candy melts in the microwave by following the directions on the back of the package. Toss some pretzels in and coat them thoroughly. Lay pretzels out on waxed paper. You may have to apply more orange coating to cover any holes in the pretzels. Add a green mini M &M at the top to make a stem and let them dry completely.
Orange Jack-O-Lanterns
Now why didn’t I think of this? Slice out the top of an orange and scoop out the insides. (FYI, it’s pretty juicy in there.) Carve out a little jack-o-lantern face and let the orange dry out. Fill the orange with cut-up fruit or anything else you like.
Kelly is a mom to three wild and wonderful children and a freelance writer for a weekly newspaper. She has lived in the “suburbs” of C-U for more than two decades, but is always finding something new and interesting to do in the area. – See more at: https://www.chambanamoms.com/2013/09/13/where-to-donate-stuffed-animals-in-champaign-urbana/#sthash.s2e1fCM3.dpuf