Delicious Halloween recipes that are easy to make

Cursed Candy Apple (recipe from YouTuber Gemma Stafford)

Serves eight

Ingredients:

8 Apples

8 oz. white chocolate

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp. red food dye

Lollipop sticks

You can make an entire day out of this recipe by going apple picking with a group of friends and then coming home to make these candy apples.

For this haunted twist on a classic, start out by washing your apples and placing one lollipop stick in each. Gently melt the white chocolate in the microwave. Spoon the white chocolate all over the apples, and allow the excess to drip off. Place them all on a parchment paper-lined tray to dry for roughly one hour. Make sure the chocolate completely sets before adding the candy ‘blood’ caramel.

For the blood caramel, place the sugar and water in a saucepan and put the heat on medium/low until the sugar dissolves. Once dissolved turn up to medium heat and allow the mixture to simmer for 4-5 minutes until you see a light caramel color.

Turn off the stove and whisk in the red food dye until you reach your desired ‘blood’ color. Let the caramel cool down before spooning it on the apples and letting it drip down the sides for the bloody effect.

Let your apples cool and set and then enjoy your bloody Halloween-festive apples.

Candy Corn Fruit Parfait (recipe from Suburbia Unwrapped via Pinterest)

Serves six

Ingredients:

2 (15 oz.) cans of mandarin oranges

3 cups fresh pineapple, cut into chunks

Whipped cream

Candy corn for decorating

If you want to get your candy corn fix without all the artificial sugars, try this colorful fresh fruit parfait.

Layer the fresh pineapple on the bottom of a decorative glass with mandarin orange slices on top of it. Top the fruit with the whipped cream and add a few candy corns on top to serve.

Bloody Red Velvet Cocoa (recipe from The Spring Mount 6 Pack via Pinterest)

Ingredients:

1 cup of whole milk

1/2 cup of chocolate syrup

1 – 1 1/2 tsp. red food coloring

1 tsp. vanilla

Hot chocolate is a fall and winter staple but it gets an extra boost in this red velvet revamp.

It’s super simple to make – just add red food coloring to your favorite hot chocolate recipe and enjoy your ‘bloody’ cocoa, perfect for curling up to your favorite Halloween movie.

Spiderweb Cookie Cake (recipe from That Skinny Chick Can Bake via Pinterest)

Ingredients:

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup M&Ms, divided

Tube of black frosting for spider web

Add a spooky touch to a comforting chocolate chip cookie cake by using black icing to pipe on a spider web design.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, grease a round baking pan and set it aside. Mix the butter and sugars in a large bowl and then add eggs and vanilla. Follow up by adding the dry ingredients and stir well. Add in the chocolate chips and half of a cup of M&Ms.

To give this dessert a fall feeling, you can use only orange, red and yellow M&Ms – but that’s optional. Bake for 20-25 minutes and use the other half of a cup of M&Ms to decorate the top of the cake. Allow the cake to cool and pipe on a simple spider web.

Mini Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecakes (recipe from Chocolate Moosey via Pinterest)

1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs

2 tbsp. melted butter

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 egg

2 tbsp. sour cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

You can’t have Halloween without a bit of pumpkin, so try out these mini pumpkin Oreo cheesecakes to get your pumpkin fix.

These little treats are sure to impress and are simple enough to make, even in a dorm kitchen. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a cupcake pan with nine paper liners. Mix together the cookie crumbs and melted butter until they clump together then press the mix down into the bottom of each paper liner. Bake for five minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and cinnamon until smooth and creamy then add in the egg, sour cream, vanilla and pumpkin.Pour the mix over your baked cookie crusts and bake again for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool completely at room temperature then chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours. Top it off with whipped cream and more Oreo crumbs and enjoy your festive cheesecakes.

Jessica Bain is a features staff writer and can be reached at features@ubspectrum.com