It’s time!! Well, sort of… I’m sure a lot of you are planning to either hold or attend a Halloween party this weekend, so we thought it might be fun to throw out some of our favorite “spooky” recipes that we found while scouring the web. Although it “fits the bill” to have sweets during the Halloween season, I’m a savory man myself and have tried to highlight some recipes for a more delicate palate (heh, don’t I sound fancy?).
From Sandwich Snakes to Mummy Dogs to Haunted Hummus, read on to see some great treats to stave off the hunger of those that might otherwise decide to feast on your soul…
Creepy Bug Buns
- 1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (5 ounces)
- 1 14 1/2 ounce can pizza sauce
- 1 16 ounce package frozen white roll dough (12 rolls), thawed
- 1 egg white
- water
- Sesame seeds
- 36 pretzel sticks
- 12 pretzel nuggets
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a small bowl combine mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup of the pizza sauce. Using a rolling pin or your fingers, roll or stretch one of the dinner rolls to a 4-inch circle. Spoon a slightly rounded tablespoon of the cheese mixture on top of the dough round. In another small bowl whisk together egg white and the water; brush the edges of the dough circle with the egg white mixture. Gather the dough edges together and pinch to make a ball. Place, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining rolls and cheese mixture to make 12 balls.
3. Brush dough balls with egg white mixture; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Halve each pretzel stick. For legs, push three pretzel stick halves into dough on one side of each ball and three on the other side of each ball. For head, place a pretzel nugget on top of each ball. Let rise in a warm place for 10 minutes. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden. (Bug buns may leak cheese and sauce onto parchmentthis makes them look creepy.)
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan heat the remaining pizza sauce over medium heat until heated through. Serve warmed pizza sauce with bug buns.
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Black Cat Cheese Ball
Ingredients
- 4 8 ounce package finely shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 8 ounce package cream cheese
- 1/2 cup margarine or butter
- 2 tablespoons milk or dry white wine
- 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
- 1/4 cup diced pimiento or finely chopped roasted red pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- Several dashes bottled hot pepper sauce
- 1 1/2 cups crushed blue tortilla chips
- 2 triangular blue tortilla chips
- 2 triangular white or yellow tortillas chips
- 1 small green apple, halved lengthwise
- Lemon juice
- 1 square wheat cracker
- 6 4-inch pieces spaghetti
- 1 cup blanched almonds
Directions1. Bring the cheeses and margarine to room temperature. (Reserve 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese and set aside.) Add milk, green onion, pimiento, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and hot pepper sauce; beat till combined. Cover and chill 4 to 24 hours.
2. Shape mixture into a ball; roll in crushed blue tortilla chips. Press whole blue and white tortilla chips for ears. Remove green apple skin except sliver of green in the center of each apple half forming the eyes. Brush with lemon juice. Make 2 indentations into the cheese ball for the eyes to rest in. Insert into the cheese ball with toothpicks on the flat side of apple halves. Cut a triangle out of the square cracker. Attach to cheese ball with some of the reserved cream cheese for the nose. Stick in the spaghetti pieces for cat whiskers. Press in the blanched almonds forming a smiling cat face.
3. Can chill cat cheese ball in refrigerator several hours before serving. Let stand 15 minutes. Serve with crackers.
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Corn Dog Mummies
- 1 8 (oz) can Crescent Rolls or Seamless Dough Sheets
- 10 large hot dogs
- 10 craft sticks
- DIPPING SAUCE:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons BBQ sauce
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons yellow mustard (plus extra for mummy eyes)
Try a mini version with cocktail sausages.
- Heat oven to 375°F.
- Unroll crescent dough, separating at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal and and cut into thin strips (about 1/4 of an inch thick) with kitchen scissors or a sharp knife. You should end up with a total of 40 pieces of dough.
- Insert craft sticks straight into the ends of each hot dog, until just less than half of the stick is still showing.
- Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog to look like “bandages,” stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate “bandages” so hot dog shows through for “face.” Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With extra yellow mustard, dot eyes on the “face.”
- While the corn dogs bake, whisk together the dipping sauce ingredients and let sit in fridge until you are ready to serve.
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Rats Baked in Blood
- For the rats: 1-1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 egg, beaten
- uncooked spaghetti, broken into quarters
- thinly sliced raw carrots
- black peppercorns, cooked black beans
- For the sauce, um, blood: 1 can (19 oz.) crushed or ground tomatoes
- 1-1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Helpful Tip:This dish goes nicely with pasta or mashed potatoes.
Directions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, rice, onion, egg and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Mix well.
- Now make the rats. Using a measuring cup, scoop out 1/4 cup of the ground beef mixture. Form it, by hand, into a firmly packed teardrop shape — pointy on one end, rounded on the other. This is your basic rat. Place it into a 3-quart shallow baking dish and gently pinch in the neck area. Poke a piece of uncooked spaghetti into the larger rounded end as a tail. Repeat with the remaining ground beef mixture.
- When all the rats are neatly placed in the baking dish, stir together the tomatoes, water, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pour over the rats. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes, basting occasionally with sauce. Then cover the dish with foil and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the rats are fully cooked.
- Gently remove rats, one at a time, from the sauce and place gently on a serving platter. (Take care not to damage the tails — they’re fairly delicate.) Into each rat, insert two carrot slices as ears, peppercorns (or whatever) for eyes, and a few more broken strands of uncooked spaghetti for whiskers. Spoon sauce around the rats and serve, smiling wickedly.
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Bread Bones and Witch Fingers
- 1 Can (8 oz) Crescent Rolls
- Whole or Sliced Almonds
- Grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Heat oven to 375°F. Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray, or cover with cooking parchment paper.
- On cutting board, unroll dough; separate into 8 triangles. For the witch fingers, roll the triangle length wise and squish to a finger shape with knuckles. Place a whole almond where the fingernail would be. Extra shaping around the almond is optional.
- For the bones, slice triangle in half, length wise. Roll the dough between your palm and bread board making a 5 or 6 inch long string of dough. Tie the each end like a knot and place on your baking sheet. If it seems too long, cut in half before knoting.Sprinkle both the witch fingers and the bones with Parmesan cheese (and/or garlic salt),
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The Snakewich
Ingredients
- 1 16 ounce loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
- 4 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese, diagonally cut in half
- 4 ounces sliced cheddar cheese, diagonally cut in half
- 1 3 1/2 ounce package sliced pepperoni
- 1 8 ounce can pizza sauce
- 1/2 cup red, green, and/or yellow sweet pepper strips
- 1 strip roasted red sweet pepper
- 2 pimiento-stuffed olives
Directions
1. Place thawed bread dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 22-inch long rope. Place on a large greased baking sheet forming a “snaky S” shape. Let rise in a warm place for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until double in size. Bake in a 350F oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Remove from baking sheet to a wire rack. Cool to room temperature.
2. Hollow out the center portion of the loaf about 1-inch deep and 1-1/2-inches wide, leaving about 2-inches on each end of the loaf. Layer cheeses down the center of loaf, pressing cheese slices down into the hollowed portion of the loaf. In a medium bowl, stir together the pepperoni and pizza sauce. Spoon atop the cheese. Top with the strips of sweet pepper. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake in 350F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
3. Make a slit in the front of the loaf and insert a roasted red pepper strip for a tongue; insert two pimento stuffed olives with toothpicks for eyes. Makes 8 servings.
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Swamp Creatures
- Macaroni and cheese
- Sautéed spinach
- Olive slices
Directions
- Mix up a batch of macaroni and cheese, then spoon it into greased muffin cups and bake until firm, about 25 minutes.
- Let the creatures rest for about 10 minutes, then gently remove them from the tins. Place them upside down on a swamp of sautéed spinach and add olive slice eyes.
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Hummus Pumpkins
This spooky hummus pumpkin is just begging to be carved into.
To make, scoop hummus onto a serving plate, then cover with finely shredded carrots.
A small piece of green onion makes a perfect pumpkin stem.
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Graveyard Taco Dip
- 1 16 ounce can refried beans with green chiles
- 1/4 cup bottled salsa
- 2/3 cup bottled ranch salad dressing
- 2 teaspoons taco seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken
- 1 7-ounce pouch refrigerated guacamole
- 1/2 of a 2-1/4-ounce can chopped pitted ripe olives, drained
- Tombstone Graveyard Characters (see below)
- Shredded lettuce
- 10-inch tortillas
Directions
1. In a small bowl, combine refried beans and salsa. Spread refried bean mixture in a 2-quart rectangular dish. In a small bowl, combine ranch salad dressing and taco seasoning; stir in chicken.
2. Spoon on top of the beans in an even layer. Spoon guacamole in small mounds on top of the chicken mixture. Carefully spread to an even layer.
3. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes or up to 6 hours before serving. Just before serving, place Graveyard Characters into dip. Sprinkle the graves with chopped olives and shredded lettuce.
4. Serve with tortilla chips.
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Pumpkin Roll-ups
- Cream cheese or American cheese
- Sun-dried-tomato tortillas
- Toothpicks
- Cilantro or parsley sprigs
Directions
- Spread cream cheese or lay American cheese slices on sun-dried-tomato tortillas.
- Roll them up, then cut them into 1-inch sections. Secure with a toothpick topped with a cilantro or parsley sprig.
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most of these recipes were found via google search, some that I remember came from Better Homes & Gardens site, others were shared from the Martha Stewart Cookbook….dude…did you ever see Martha Stewart dressed all Goth? It’s weird.
Nerd-Base 