It's that ghoulish time of year again, when pumpkins are carved, costumes are made, and all things terrifying start to make an appearance. The shelves at your local supermarket may be stacked with Halloween-themed sweets right now, but why buy up the same old snacks when you can easily make your own? We guarantee that these homemade treats will taste even better than shop-bought ones – and they're fun for little fingers to make, too. Get into the spooky spirit with our collection of quick and easy recipes kids of all ages will love.
To make these spooky bats, start by baking a batch of chocolate cupcakes with plenty of chocolate icing. Once the cakes are cool, get your kids to help decorate them with jelly eyes, and halved Oreos for wings. Get ready to watch them fly off the serving platter when your guests arrive!
You're sure to impress your Halloween party guests with this easy-to-make snack. To create these creepy pumpkins, cook some sushi rice according to packet instructions, then roll it into balls. Cover each one with a slice of smoked salmon, then add scary faces by cutting out shapes from a nori sheet.
For a spook-tacular hot dog, use a knife to shape a pack of frankfurters into creepy severed fingers. First, cut the top of the sausage to create a nail-like shape, then make a few incisions further down to represent knuckles. Once cooked, smother your sausages in tomato ketchup for a blood-soaked effect.
If you’ve got some decent piping skills, these tombstone cupcakes will take no time to make. Simply add the letters RIP to half of an oval-shaped biscuit, stick it in an iced cupcake, et voilà. For an especially nightmarish look, you could try baking zombie-coloured kale cupcakes.
To make these creepy-yet-cute eight-legged creatures, you'll first need to bake up a batch of vanilla sugar cookies. Once cooled, top the cookies with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, add some sweets for eyes, then pipe on some chocolate icing for legs. What could be easier than that?
Everyone will want to grab one of these sweet treats on a stick. To make them, start by making some deliciously simple vanilla cake pops. When they’re done, use the back of your knife to shape each ball into a pumpkin, add some orange food colouring to a bowl of melted white chocolate, then get dipping. Once the cake pops are glazed, leave them to dry before piping on a scary face with chocolate icing.
Making these little fellows is as easy as wrapping sausages in a string of puff pastry, then baking them in the oven until cooked. For an extra sinister touch, use a handful of cloves to give your kooky cadavers some eyes.
For this ingenious Halloween meal, begin with a recipe for an orange-coloured cream soup, such as a classic pumpkin soup. Add some spooky flair by creating a spider web using double cream before serving – it’s easiest to do if you use a squeezy sauce bottle.
These grissini ghosts are a fun, easy recipe kids will love to make. All you need to do is dip the grissini into white icing, creating several layers of coating until it starts to resemble a ghost-like shape. Finally, using a toothpick, draw on a ghoulish face with melted chocolate.
These funny-looking monsters might seem elaborate and time-consuming – but really, all you need to do here is stick together two cookies with chocolate-flavoured icing, then decorate them with marshmallows. It's the perfect low-effort recipe (though they look so good, no one will realise).
Treat the little ones (or yourself) to a hearty Halloween breakfast by making a round of cheesy mummy toast. It's a simple recipe: spread tomato ketchup over slices of bread, layer on a few thin slices of cheese, then pop them under the grill for a few minutes, until the cheese starts to melt and the bread is toasted. When they're done, add some halved olives for eyes.
To make these healthier Halloween treats, cut a cored green apple into quarters. Then, using a sharp knife, cut out a triangular shape from each quarter to represent a mouth. Stick in a few pumpkin seeds for teeth, then use toothpicks to attach some goggly marshmallow eyes.
These toothy treats are perfect for peanut butter lovers. To make them, prepare your apples as before – but instead of using pumpkin seeds, cover the inside of the 'mouth' with peanut butter, then press in whole peanuts for gnashers. Monstrously moreish!
If you want to surprise your family at dinnertime – or if you're having your kids' friends round for a meal – why not serve up this spaghetti with a spooky twist? Use cheese, tomatoes and olives to create angry monster faces on top of your regular spaghetti and pasta sauce.
This is similar to our recipe for sausage mummies – but instead of using sausages, you'll need to wrap thin strips of puff pastry around three or four pressed-together meatballs instead. Once your mummies are cooked, drizzle over some ketchup 'blood', then serve.
If you’re short on time but have bananas in the fruit bowl and a bar of chocolate in the cupboard, this is the recipe for you. To make these spooky sweet treats, simply cut the top half off a banana, melt the chocolate, then use the end of a spoon to create eyes and a mouth. Once your bananas are decorated, leave them in the fridge for a few minutes to allow the chocolate to set.
Looking for a simple way to serve up some Halloween terror at dinnertime? It's all about the pizza toppings! Delight your little ones this 31 October by decorating a cooked margherita with salami teeth and mozzarella-olive eyes.
Arachnophobes beware – these fright night canapés will send chills down your spine. To make an edible creepy crawly topping for devilled eggs, all you need to do is chop up a few black olives; use halved olives for the body, and thin slices for legs.
Got a couple of glass serving bowls at home? Try making this simple dessert, which consists of crumbled chocolate cookies or brownies layered up with pumpkin mascarpone cream. To make the latter, simply whisk together mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla with whipped cream, then add pumpkin purée, making sure not to split the mixture. Top with marshmallow eyes for a frightening finishing touch.
All you need to create these fruity little zombies are pears, berries and some raspberry juice. Use a small paring knife to carve out the eyes and the mouth, then add a bit of raspberry juice until it starts to colour the pear. Use blueberries or blackcurrants for eyes, and add a slightly crushed raspberry for the mouth. For an especially morbid look, slice off the top of the pear and add a walnut 'brain'.
To create these flying menaces, simply take some soft cheese and roll it into balls (to stop the cheese balls from sticking to the plate, roll them in crushed pistachios). Use halved olives for eyes, and coloured tortilla chips for crunchy bat wings and ears.
Another spooky breakfast idea perfect for 31 October. Give your usual avocado toast a ghoulish makeover by adding some frightening Frankenstein's monster faces; all you’ll need are some olives, some red peppers and some thinly sliced radishes.
Scaredy-cats, look away now! An apple, plum and cinnamon skillet pie would make the perfect Halloween treat, topped with this wicked design. Forget about creating a lattice lid – instead, carve out a face from a sheet of pastry, then use it to cover your bake.
Get the recipe for apple, plum and cinnamon skillet pie here
If you’re not afraid to play around with some food dye and edible confetti, making these sweet treats will be super easy. Just stick a chocolate cone to a biscuit base using purple-coloured buttercream, then add plenty of sprinkles for a magical finish.
If Halloween has fallen off your radar this year and you’ve got no time to spare, this is the trick for you. Use a black marker to draw evil faces on clementines, and you’re good to go. Who needs a pumpkin?
Beetroot is mixed with sugar and spice to make the filling for this Halloween centrepiece. All you'll need for this recipe is shortcrust pastry, vacuum-packed beetroot, eggs, sugar, mixed spice, allspice, ginger and a little double cream. Serve with crème fraîche for a devilishly delicious dessert everyone will love.
You certainly wouldn’t find this one on a restaurant menu! For the ultimate slimy treat, pull out all the stops by topping gloopy red sauce and green pasta with a handful of squidgy eyeballs (mini mozzarella balls stuffed inside cherry tomato halves, with a pinch of basil for a pupil).
Get the recipe for green slime eyeball pasta with fiery hell sauce here
These cute spider muffins are decorated with strawberry laces and M&M's, so if might be a good idea to make them using some of your kids' Halloween stash (with their permission and help, of course!). They're also slightly healthier than 'regular' muffins, so they're a winning recipe all round.
You may remember Vincent Price from classic horror films like Witchfinder General and The Abominable Dr Phibes – or maybe your abiding memory of him is the maniacal laugh at the end of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. However, Vincent not only was a great thespian with a mellifluous voice; he was also a superb cook. Try his famous ghoulish goulash recipe for proof!
Nothing says Halloween like the colour orange. This vibrant roast pumpkin soup is flavoured with garlic and rosemary, then topped with toasted bread slathered in strong blue cheese. Drizzle with a little olive oil before serving – and make sure you warm your bowls first.
Although it's not really practical to give this one out to spooky guests at the door, it's a refined alternative for those who want to enjoy a quiet evening with a nice cup of tea (or if you want to make something tasty once you've carved your pumpkin). This creepy cake comes packed with pumpkin, cream cheese icing and crunchy pecan nuts in every slice.