Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

Saturday, October 31, 2009

A Pinch of This, and a Dash of That Halloween Bash


Happy Halloween 2009 all! I was just thinking how fun it would be to have a blogger Halloween bash—great friends, food, and of course some ghoulish fun would all make October 31st just a bit sweeter than all the candy that accumulates, don’t you think?

But since we are all scattered across the globe on this spooky day, I figured I’d invite you to a little ‘virtual’ Halloween bash.

Upon knocking at my door and saying, “Trick or treat,” I would hand you one of the following..that is if I haven’t eaten them all myself! =)

CIMG0841

Pumpkin Pie Candy Corn—found at Target

CIMG0839

1 lb of Warheads candy in a Spongebob Frankenstein treat caddy.

Or I might even possibly be handing out some of these..

Candy Corn Cookies

Monster Mash Cookies

What will I be dressed up as?

Well one thing—you’ll want to dress warm, because this is how the weather is currently:

CIMG0877

Here’s what I would be dressed up as..

(disclaimer: this is not me)

And then once the fun is done, and Halloween is a thing of the past..here’s some ideas for your leftover candy!

Homemade Flavored Drinks

Add Jolly Ranchers or any fruit flavored candy to seltzer to make  bubbly infused fruit sips!

Make Hot Chocolate With Real Chocolate

Melt a 1 oz. mini chocolate bar into a mug of milk, making sure to stir frequently. It's especially tasty with rich chocolates such Dove miniatures.

Sweeten Your Choice

Add some excitement to pork chops by adding a Pixie Sticks glaze. Simply combine red or white wine, vinegar, Pixie Sticks and salt. Try adding Smarties or Red Hots to BBQ for a homemade chipotle sauce.

Make Movie Night Sweeter with Ice Cream Toppers

M&Ms and gummy bears make a great toppings for ice cream sundaes. You can also mix them directly into your ice cream. And don't forget adding some mixed candy to your blended ice cream drinks.

Brownie Blends

Simply stir chopped candy directly into brownie batter. You can also sprinkle it as a topping or use it as a garnish for brownie sundaes.

Secret Treasure Cookies

Cut cookie dough (homemade or store-bought) into 12 slices, bring it to room temperature and then mold each slice around individual-size candies before baking.

Freeze & Forget It!

Place wrapped candy in a freezer bag and throw it in the freezer for later. Candy stored this way will last for up to a year. When you're ready to use, thaw at room temperature (the whitish bloom' that develops on chocolate candy when it freezes will go away after it thaws).
The same goes for cookies - which will keep for six months in the freezer when placed between sheets of freezer paper and stored in a plastic container. Keep the cookies between their wrappers for 10 to 15 minutes when thawing.

Make a Batch of Candy Coated Popcorn

Simply melt any type of leftover Halloween candy and use it as a glaze to coat popcorn (microwave or air-popped) in a large bowl. The key is to make sure the popcorn has no butter or salt (or as little as possible). Spread the glazed popcorn on a cookie sheet to dry, and voila: candy coated popcorn. Even better with nuts.

Try a New Recipe: Apple Candy Bar Salad

You'll need:

  • a few Granny Smith apples
  • a bunch of candy bars (e.g., Snickers, Baby Ruth or 3 Musketeers)
  • Cool Whip

Cut the apples and candy bars into small pieces and mix them with thawed Cool Whip. If the candy is too mushy to cut, put it in the fridge for a few hours before cutting. Serve.

Brought to you by BakeSpace

Have a Bootiful day!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

My 2008 Halloween Cookie Creations



Just another look back at the fun baking I had during the fall season.
This time, I was baking for a specific purpose; one of our family friends
had asked me to bake up about 6 dozen or so cookies for her church
Harvest Fest. They would be auctioned off as prizes for the annual cake
walk. For those of you who don't know what a cake walk is, it is a giant
circle(or square) on the floor made up of numbers 1 through however many
spaces they choose to have. People pay x amount of dollars to play the game. Then once everyone is on a numbered space, the music starts and you go around in a clockwise fashion. Once the music stops, the person hosting will draw a number. If the number
you are standing on gets called, you get to go up to the table covered in goodies
(that are donated), and pick whatever you want!! It is such a fun concept. I remember
it being the main highlight of the fall season when I would go to the Penny Carnival
as a kid. You might think since the goodies are donated, they would lack flavor, but
that was hardly the case! All the older ladies would make the best breads, pies, etc.
and I knew when I got old enough to bake, I definitely wanted to contribute!
So I was ecstatic to make these cookies. I wanted to do something crazy and fun to
delight all the little kids, and hoped that they would look back on all the great goodies
when they grow up as well! I was so glad my creations turned out a success!
I also found a funny little cartoon picture showing what a cake walk looks like.
I would highly recommend using the cakewalk idea at any charity events! People
are always willing to donate baked goods, and people love even more to join in
the cakewalk fun, just like I did!!

Monster Mash Cookies

*I came up with this recipe after seeing the eery colored M&M's in Target
one day. I used my favorite base of cake mix cookies (easy, cheap, and everyone

seems to go crazy over the "cakeness of the cookie" texture) and added these

into them. After debating on a name, I finally settled on "Monster Mash" cookies,

because the colors reminded me of some ghostly monster blob sort of thing. =)

But don't be fooled, these aren't scary tasting! They're actually quite delightful.

Ingredients:

1 (18.9 oz.) box of chocolate cake mix (in this case I used the Pillsbury German Chocolate flavor)

1/3 C vegetable oil
2 large eggs

1 1/2 C Halloween mix M&M's


Directions:

1. HEAT oven to 375°F. Combine cake mix, oil and eggs in large bowl; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Add in the M&M's, saving about 2 Tbsp. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten to 1/4-inch thickness with bottom of glass dipped in flour. Press a couple M&M's on the top of each for a pretty display!

2.BAKE 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.
3.STORE in tightly covered container.



Candy Corn Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies
Yes another cake mix cookie. I swear once you try these, you will also gravitate

toward them when situations call for huge batches of cookies, and you just don't

feel like mixing numerous batches from scratch, and dread the mess at the end.

For this one I used Pillsbury limited edition Halloween Funfetti Cake Mix along

with Hershey's candy corn kisses which are oh so cute! Result=Fun/Cute Cookie

Here's a link to a review of these fun Hershey's kisses to check out at one of my


+= Cassie's Candy Corn Funfetti Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients:
1 box of Pillsbury Halloween Funfetti Cake Mix
1/3 C vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 bag of Hershey's Candy Corn Kisses
Directions:
1.Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness. While first batch is baking unwrap the kisses.
2.Bake at 375°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute, then press 1 kiss into the middle of each cookie; remove from cookie sheets once kisses are completely cooled and have had a chance to harden up again.
3. Store in tightly covered container.