With Halloween just around the corner, does anyone have any nice tips, recipes or tricks for buying/making Halloween treats (preferably sweets)? Most store-bought candies are usually marked-up in price during this period, and you could probably make your own candies for cheaper at home. They might be healthier as well! Personally I tried making some gingerbread snaps in the shape of pumpkins. They turned out pretty well, but I'm afraid that they're a bit too perishable and won't keep for long enough until Halloween...
Err, Halloween isn't all about treats, it's about tricks too. Honestly, i like a good trick more than a treat, because it's much more memorable. However, treats I usually give to Halloween costumed participants, are the candy I buy from the store - I ain't got time to cook special treats. Sometimes, I buy simple toys by the bundle and give it to kids who have very good costumes.
My grandmother every halloween makes a pasta with a black sauce. She does it by using a squid and its ink. It's basically a marinara, just that it differs with color. She also prepares a chocolate cake and serves black candies to the kids knocking on our door to for the trick or treat. We also drink red wine. It is somehow weird, but every holiday, we celebrate it even if it's the day for the dead ones. Those that I have mentioned are the basic food that we have, there are more, but those more vary per year, depending on my grandmother's mood. But with the foods, we really enjoy the holloween. It's something that we always look forward to.
Martha Stewart has lots of ideas on this so I'd suggest checking out her site for more ideas. A simple one would be to use marshmallows on two ends of the sticks with some dabs of caramel to look like used Qtips. I know it is gross but that's kind of the point and I think it will be a hit with the kids since they would at least find it funny or amusing.
I don't really make treats for Halloween. Children appreciate the store-bought ones more than homemade cookies. I guess it's because Halloween is the one day when children can have all the candies that they want. I usually buy chocolates and gums for children.
I'll admit that as a kid I greatly preferred store bought candies and chocolates, but as an adult you would probably be more concerned about not giving the kids too much sugar, and also being able to save some money. My family usually gave out a mix of store bought candies and homemade treats, so we would get the best of both worlds. Making Halloween treats with the kids is also a nice way to spend some family time!
I love buying regular cookie dough and frosting in black and orange, so I can back different size cookies and let the kids decorate them with whatever they want. Sugar cookie dough works best because it's very light and you can see the decorations very well. Also I love buying jello packs and making jello and using fun cookie cutter to make them into Halloween inspired shapes, like pumpkins and black cats. Using food coloring for different foods can always turn a regular dish into a scary or fun Halloween dish. Have fun with it!
