Put the “treat” in “trick-or-treat” with these Halloween baking recipes.
Halloween is one of the most popular holidays of the year – and a lot of us find ourselves looking forward to the spooky celebrations that come with it.
But while our decorations and costumes are prepared, you may not have given much thought to what you’ll eat.
If you fit into that category, then these sweet bakes are perfect for recreating.
Not only are they frightfully fun to make, but they also taste the part, too.
For more baked goods and dessert ideas be sure to check out our other recipes here.
Brownie spiders
Makes 6
Ingredients
- 220g unsalted butter, melted (or use salted butter and omit the added salt), plus extra for greasing
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 200g caster or granulated sugar
- 180g dark muscovado sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 140g plain flour (or use gluten-free flour plus ½tsp xanthan gum)
- 100g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 250g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
To serve:
- 50g dark chocolate, broken up
- 1 pack pretzel sticks (approx 70g)
- 1 pack edible eyes (approx 25g)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 150C Fan/170C/325F/Gas Mark 3.
- Grease a 23cm (9in) square tin with butter and line with baking paper, allowing the baking paper to extend up two of the sides of the tin to make lifting out easier later.
- Place the butter, salt, oil and both sugars in a stand mixer fitted with a balloon whisk attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and whisk until just combined.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk on high speed until pale in colour.
- Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and fold in gently. Add the roughly chopped chocolate and fold in again. Don’t overmix after adding the flour!
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 20-30 minutes until no longer liquid in the middle, but it should still look technically “undercooked”. It will finish cooking as it cools.
- Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes, then lift out using the baking paper tabs, and place on a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Once cool, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes (this makes cutting out the shapes a lot easier and neater).
- Use circular cutters to stamp out shapes. You can cut out different sizes for different-sized spiders. Place the leftover brownie cuttings on a plate to be nibbled at, so none is wasted.
- Melt the extra chocolate in a microwaveable bowl in 15-30-second bursts. Break up pretzel sticks and attach to the brownies using the melted chocolate. Use more chocolate for where the pretzels join each other. Ensure your chocolate isn’t too warm, as you will be holding the leg in place for a long time before it sticks! Use more melted chocolate to attach the edible eyes.
Pannacotta eyeballs
Makes 12
Ingredients
- 500ml milk (or use soy milk to make vegan)
- 3½ tsp gelatine powder
- 500ml double cream (or coconut milk to make vegan)
- 120g caster or granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste (or 2 vanilla pods, split in half lengthways and seeds scraped out)
For the strawberry coulis:
- 500g frozen strawberries
- 75-175g icing sugar (or to taste depending on sweetness of fruit)
- 60ml water
- 3 tsp lemon juice
To serve:
- 1-2 kiwis, peeled and sliced as thinly as possible
- Black gel food dye
Method
- Add the milk to a small pan, sprinkle over the gelatine and leave to soften for five minutes.
- Add the cream, sugar and vanilla seeds and pod and heat over a low heat, stirring frequently.
- Don’t let the milk simmer or boil, otherwise this stops the gelatine from working.
- Heat until the gelatine has all dissolved: you can check by rubbing some milk between your fingers – it should feel smooth if it’s all dissolved, and should dissolve quite quickly.
- Remember it dissolves at body temperature, so you don’t need to heat it much.
- Remove and discard the vanilla pod (if using), then pour the mixture into 12 x 7cm (2¾in) silicone moulds or 12 glazed or glass small bowls and leave to set in the fridge. Gelatine will set in at least four hours.
For the coulis:
- Simmer all the ingredients in a pan until the strawberries have
thawed. - Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Push through a sieve before using.
To assemble:
- Spoon two generous tbsp of coulis on to serving plates, allowing for some splashes.
- Turn the panacotta out and carefully place on top of the coulis. Place a slice of kiwi in the centre of the panacotta. Use some of the reserved sieved fruit to redden the kiwi eye, then use a dot of black food dye to create a pupil.
- Serve straight away.
Recipes from Celebrate With Kim-Joy (Quadrille, £20). Photography ©Ellis Parrinder.