Cheap and easy treats to try out at your next Halloween party
Mizuki Kinoshita (she/her) // Contributor
Yohahnah Loker (she/her) // Illustrator
Of all the annual October events, the most famous is Halloween. Halloween is fun because everyone can wear cute or unique costumes, and kids can dress up and go trick-or-treating. The history of Halloween celebrations is long; for example, for ancient Celtics Halloween was a kind of religious celebration, and they wore costumes to ward off ghosts.
With all the celebration comes some pressure. For many events you have to find a costume or bring festive snacks. The nice thing is, you don’t have to be a savant in the kitchen to whip up some great treats to go with your tricks.
Here are three cute snacks and one drink that can be made easily and cheaply, and are sure to get you in the spooky spirit.
The first snack, called a Ghost Cookie, is the easiest to make. It only requires marshmallows, edible chocolate pens (or thinly piped chocolate icing) and cookies — which can be store-bought or homemade. The first step is to put marshmallows on the cookies, and heat them in the microwave for 10 seconds. Almost done! The final step is drawing on the ghost’s faces with chocolate pens. This snack only uses a microwave, so it is safe for kids to make.
The next snack is gluten-free, so it is friendly for many. This recipe uses pumpkin, so it feels like a fall staple, and is called Pumpkin Pancakes. You need 45g of pumpkin, 80g of rice flour, 1 egg, 60mL of soy milk, 8 mL of rice oil, 30 g of honey and 5 g of baking powder. The first step is to cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the pulp. Next, brush it with oil and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the insides are soft, or approximately 45 to 50 minutes. Opt for store-bought pumpkin puree if you want to cut down on cook time.
Next, add the egg, honey, soy milk, and rice oil to a bowl and mix. After that is combined, mix the baked pumpkin into the bowl, followed by the rice flour and baking powder. Once everything is combined, cook in a non-stick frying pan, just like a pancake. You can decorate the pancakes by creating faces or adding festive toppings.
The next recipe is for Mummy Cookies. This snack is good for making with friends, classmates or at school events. This snack needs Oreo cookies, white chocolates, and M&Ms. The first step is melting white chocolate in the microwave for approximately 30 seconds, and then dipping one side of the Oreo cookie into the melted chocolate. Next, put M&Ms on the Oreo cookie in order to make the mummy’s eyes. Put the remaining white chocolate in a Ziploc bag and cut the end off, and use this to pipe chocolate on the Oreo cookies to look like a mummy’s bandage. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm.
The last recipe is a Halloween drink called Witch’s Brew. It uses grape and orange juice, and liquid sweetener. If you can make it correctly, the two colours sit on top of one another and look beautiful in your glass. The first step is to fill half of the glass with orange juice, and then 40 mL of liquid sweetener that is similar to what you might use in iced coffee. The last step is to pour the grape juice slowly over the orange juice. Since the orange juice with sweetener added is denser than the grape juice, it should float on top!
All of these recipes are easy, fast, safe, and fun. In addition, these are really good for spooky season events in school or at costume parties. Enjoy Halloween and overcome the rainy season with these spooky snacks.