Although Halloween is over there’s still plenty of time to enjoy the fall and Halloween festivities. One of the best things that come along with the holiday season is the festive foods. Here are some decorative and creative ways to turn your ordinary sweet treats into fall and spooky Halloween desserts. 

Ghost Brownies

To start off strong, these delicious Ghost Brownies from AllRecipes.com. In this recipe, you will create ghosts to decorate your brownies. To create these festive brownies, you’ll need the following ingredients. 

For the chocolate brownies, 

• three ounces dark chocolate
• half of a cup of unsalted melted butter
• two large eggs
• one and one-fourth cups of granulated sugar
• one teaspoon of vanilla extract
• three-fourths of teaspoon kosher salt and two-thirds cup of all-purpose flour

Next for the Cheesecake Ghosts that you’ll decorate your brownies with you will need one half (eight-ounce) package of softened cream cheese, two tablespoons white sugar, one large egg white and one-fourth teaspoon vanilla extract.

Now that you have all you need, the first thing you should do is grab your 8×8 baking dish, make sure to grease it and line it with parchment paper. Then, place chocolate chunks into a heatproof bowl. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat and pour the butter over the chocolate. Let it sit for five minutes until the chocolate starts to melt. Make sure to mix well until the chocolate has completely melted. 

Next, place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and mix with a mixer on high speed until light and pale yellow in color. Add vanilla extract and salt. Continue mixing on high for 1 minute. Transfer in chocolate-butter mixture and mix until well combined for 30 seconds. Fold in flour with a spatula until flour has disappeared. Set aside 2 teaspoons of brownie batter. 

Now transfer the remaining batter into the baking dish and distribute evenly. Smooth out the top with a spatula.  For the cheesecake ghosts combine the cream cheese, sugar, egg white and vanilla extract in a bowl. Stir until the mixture is well combined. 

After that, set nine tablespoons of cheesecake drops onto the brownie batter in an even pattern. Spread out drops into ghost-like shapes with a spoon, skewer or a chopstick.  Place the brownie batter into a small plastic bag, snip off one corner, and place 2 eyes and a mouth onto each cheesecake ghost. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake brownies in the center of the oven until the edges are lightly golden brown and the center is just set, 35 to 40 minutes.

Because these are very thick brownies, a toothpick will not come out clean, so that test will not work for these. Make sure to allow brownies to cool in the pan before moving them to a plate and cutting them into squares. Lastly, once they are done cooling serve and enjoy.

Autumn Chex Mix 

This salty snack from delish.com is a great way to get into the fall mood. What you’ll need is four cups of Corn Chex, four cups of Wheat Chex, two cups of cinnamon Teddy Grahams, one-half cup (one stick) of unsalted melted butter, six Tbsp. of light brown sugar, one tsp. of ground cinnamon, one tsp. of kosher salt, one tsp. of pure vanilla extract, two cups of candy corn and/or candy pumpkins, two cups of chocolate-covered pretzels, two cups of salted sweet potato chips and one cup Reese’s pieces.

To make this Autumn Chex mix the first step is to preheat the oven to 250° F. In a large bowl, combine Corn Chex, Wheat Chex, and Teddy Grahams. 

Next in a small bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Pour about one-third of the butter mixture over the mixture. Toss the mix to coat, then do the same with the remaining butter mixture until everything is coated. 

The next step is to separate the mix into two baking sheets in an even layer. Place the baking sheets into the oven and toss every 15 minutes until toasted. This should take about 30-45 minutes. After it is out of the oven, let cool then add Reese’s pieces, candy corn, pretzels, and sweet potato chips. 

Finally, put your Autumn  Chex mix into a bowl or container and snack!

Vampire Cookies

The Vampire Cookies also from delish.com are a great party treat for the season, the perfect easy spice-up for your favorite ordinary cookies. You’ll need the following ingredients. One tube of chocolate chip cookie dough, One can of vanilla frosting, red food coloring, mini marshmallows and slivered almonds.

What you’ll need to do first is to Preheat your oven to 350° F. Get two large baking sheets then line both with parchment paper. Separate the cookie dough into about one and a half -balls and place on the baking sheets. Place both baking sheets into the oven and bake for 12 minutes or until golden. Once your cookies are out of the oven let them cool. After they have cooled, cut them in half.

For the frosting, add a few drops of food coloring to the vanilla frosting and mix until smooth. After spreading a layer of red frosting onto each cookie half, place mini marshmallows around the round edges of half of the cookie. Place one of the halves on top of each, then stick a slivered almond on each side to make fangs. Place on a plate and now they are ready to serve. 

Pumpkin Puree Mini Cheesecakes 

These Mini Cheesecakes from livewellbakeoften.com are delicious, but let’s add a spin on them by adding a pumpkin puree topping. 

The ingredients you’ll need for the graham cracker crust are one cup of graham cracker crumbs, three tablespoons of granulated sugar, and three and one-half tablespoons of unsalted butter. For the cheesecake filling you need sixteen ounces of brick-style cream cheese softened to room temperature, one-third cup of sour cream also at room temperature, half a cup of granulated sugar, one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract and two large eggs at room temperature. If you would like to add the pumpkin puree use the puree as the filling. 

First, preheat your oven to 325°F. Grab a 12-count muffin pan and line with cupcake liners. You’ll need a large bowl to mix together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Once mixed add the melted butter and mix all together till the crumbs are moistened. Split the mixture into the 12 liners and press each down into a smooth even level.

Now bake at 325°F for 5 minutes, after removing and let cool. Make sure to keep the oven temperature at 325°F.

For the cheese cake filling you will need a bowl, a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer to mix the cream cheese and sour cream together. Once mixed to a smooth consistency add in the sugar and vanilla extract and mix. (Take time to stop and scrape down the side of the bowls as needed) Now one at a time add in the eggs on a low speed. Place the batter in all twelve liners in the cupcake pan filling each to the top. Once done, bake at 325°F for 17-20 minutes. When removed from the oven, set aside and let cool for one hour. The final step is to remove each from the pan and place in an airtight container to leave in the fridge for three to four hours or overnight.

These are all perfect party favors or even just for yourself. Halloween is festive for the holiday and is a great way to bring spirit. Baking these treats are exciting hands-on activity you can do with your family and friends. If you don’t like certain foods it’s a good thing that there is a variety of Halloween treats.