Halloween Party Food

By Katie Knorovsky
September 08, 2014
Throwing a monster bash this Halloween? Keep guests (big and little) happy with our recipes for snacks fit to fuel a spooky soiree—from fall-flavor favorites to ghoulish treats.
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Pizza Nightmarinara

Credit: Lucy Schaeffer 
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Here's a hauntingly tasty idea for Halloween dinner. First, top a premade pizza crust with pizza sauce and shredded mozzarella. To make the spider, cut a pitted black olive in half lengthwise. From another olive, cut 8 thin slices for the legs. Set the spider pieces in place (tweezers make this easy). Bake the pizza according to the instructions on the crust's package. Meanwhile, cut a ball of fresh mozzarella into 1⁄4-inch-thick slices. With a paring knife, trim away bits of cheese to form head and arm shapes. With 3 minutes of cooking time left, set the ghosts on the pizza, then finish cooking. Remove the pizza from the oven and add bits of olives for eyes. Serve warm. 

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Spewed Fruit

Credit: Lucy Schaeffer 

Let this melon monster make a scene at your Halloween bash. To create it, cut open one end of a watermelon and scoop out the flesh with a large spoon or melon baller. Trim a zigzag edge along the top, and cut eyes and a mouth. Add horns by securing leftover melon pieces with toothpicks. Fill the head with bite-size fruit—we used melon cubes, sliced strawberries, blueberries, and grapes—and add more pieces spilling out of the mouth. 

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Deep Space Cupcakes

Credit: Lucy Schaeffer 

When these aliens invade a classroom party or family gathering, earthlings will cheer. To make them, pre- pare a batch of your favorite cupcakes. Tint prepared white frosting with green food coloring, then top each cupcake, using the spreader to form a pointy chin. Roll the frosted tops in a bowl of green sugar sprinkles. Add white Good & Plenty candies for the eyes. 

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Terrifying Tapas

Credit: Lucy Schaeffer  

GREMLIN GRINS: Counteract candy overload with this veggie-packed Halloween snack. To form a mouth, cut a slit along one side of a snow pea, beginning and ending about 1/2 inch from each end, as shown. Cut tongues from red bell peppers or carrots sliced on the diagonal, then slide them into the slit. Insert fresh or frozen corn kernels for teeth. 

SPOOKY SUSHI: These monster morsels, topped with slices of smoked salmon or avocado, let your family enjoy a feast of sushi without a scary restaurant tab. Serve them with soy sauce for dipping. 

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Scary Snacks

Credit: Lucy Schaeffer 

RODENT NIBBLES: Turn cheese and crackers into an eek-worthy snack. To begin, trim sliced cheddar and Monterey Jack to fit on triangular crackers (we used Town House Pita brand). Add sliced almonds for ears, black sesame seeds for eyes, and a bit of red bell pepper for a nose. Use a peeler to slice a thin strip of celery, then tuck it under the cheese for a twitchy tail.

BAGS O' BOO: Treat hungry souls to some ghostly goody bags. With black permanent marker, draw faces on clear coneshaped treat bags (available at craft stores). Fill them with a mix of popcorn, mini marshmallows, and yogurt-covered raisins. Tie closed with ribbon. 

FRESH FROM THE CRYPT: Who said that mummies don't grow on trees? To make one, use a peeler to trim strips that spiral around an apple or a pear as shown. With a small knife, carve two small eyeholes, then insert mini chocolate chips. If you're not serving it immediately, brush the fruit with lemon juice to prevent browning.

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M&M's Pumpkin Cake

Credit: Rita Maas
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This cheery cake doubles as a festive table centerpiece. Older kids will have fun helping you decorate it: Simply arrange M&M's like a jack-o'-lantern and press onto a frosted cake. Use orange-tinted icing as glue.

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Spiderweb Cookies

Credit: Kate Mathis
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The sophisticated flavor of these cookies—pumpkin spice—appeals to grown-ups, while the spiderweb icing wins over the younger crowd.

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Quick Spooky Snack

Credit: Paula Hible
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Skip the chips. Instead, upgrade store-bought Chex mix with candy corn plus festive M&M's for a painless Halloween snack.

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Apple Monsters

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Simply cut a wedge from apples to make a mouth, then let your kids go to town decorating the funny fruit monsters with their favorite candy.

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Creepy Finger Food

Credit: Heather Weston
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Piled on a plate, these sinister, finger-shaped breadsticks are sure to illicit a shudder or two. After a bite, though, guests will be grabbing the cinnamon-sugar digits by the fistfuls.

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Sweet & Salty Party Mix

Credit: Blaine Moats
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This sweet and savory snack is a snap to prepare and a guaranteed hit at your next get-together. Simply dump a few varieties of store-bought snacks—from shredded wheat cereal to dried banana chips—into the biggest bowl you own, gently toss ingredients, and watch it quickly drain.

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Halloween Treat: Savory Owl Snack

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Festive Halloween Snack

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

It may be hard to imagine your kids eating anything good for them with all the candy floating around on Halloween. Try our simple solution for getting a healthy dose of nutrition into your little monsters. Arrange cauliflower, carrots and yellow peppers In the shape of a candy corn and serve with a side of hummus in a pumpkin dish.

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Witch Cupcakes

Credit: Paula Hible
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No need for any magic spells or witchcraft to turn predictable cupcakes into darling witch heads. Strip the liners off baked cupcakes, turn them on their sides, frost with green icing, and stick a chocolate ice cream cone on top as a hair-raising hat. Draw faces and hair with icing and candy.

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Halloween Treat: House on Witch Cupcake

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Vanilla Halloween Cookies

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Who said cookie decorating was reserved only for Yuletide cheer? Trot out a few ghoulish cookie cutters and whip up a batch of vanilla (or chocolate!) roll-out cookies.

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Creepy Crawly Chili

Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Before you send your little ones out to collect candy, fuel them up for the hunt with a bowl of creepy bug or bat topped chili. Use cookie cutters to cut the shapes from slices of cheddar cheese.

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Jack-o' Muffins with Cobweb Icing

Credit: Mark Thomas
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Spice up your spread a notch by icing pumpkin muffins instead of cupcakes. Spin a chocolate cobweb pattern on muffin tops coated with cream cheese frosting.

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Tricks on Sticks

Credit: Paula Hible
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These easy homemade lollipops make swell party decorations as well as sweet treats. Spread a dollop of melted chocolate onto one side of vanilla wafers, attach sticks, and refrigerate. Once the candy-on-a-stick is set, dunk cookies into melted orange and purple sprinkles.

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After School Dip

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Combine cream cheese, milk, brown sugar, and pumpkin-pie spice for a creamy dip that makes an excellent autumn-flavor accompaniment to fruit and vegetable slices.

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Halloween Treat: House on Witch Cupcake

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Curried Pumpkin Pizzas

Credit: Paula Hible
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Top mini pizza crusts with a perfect-for-fall pumpkin and applesauce concoction spiked with curry powder; then load apple slices like wheel spokes and bake.

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Apple Raisin Nut Triangles

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For the ultimate comfort food, whip up a batch of these homemade turnovers. Stuffed with apples, raisins, and walnuts, the flaky snack is laced with fall flavors like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Flash-freeze a pan ahead of time and pop it in the oven once guests start arriving.

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Green-Goblin Punch

Credit: Paula Hible
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Kids will love how their lips get stained black after sipping this electric green punch from glasses rimmed with black sugar crystals. For the goblin gulp, pour a mix of apple juice and seltzer on top of scoops of Jell-O.

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