Looking for fun Halloween cookies to make with your kids this year? Here are a few favorites:
Autumn Spiced Fall Leaf Cookies
Twix Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
Happy Spooking!
Tag Archives: Halloween
Chocolate Halloween Pretzels
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An alternate heading and photo I probably should have led with:
What Not To Do When You Move
In the spirit of putting away some extra food for a rainy day, I have a 5-gallon bucket full of chocolate chips (of various varieties). Shown above: what used to be a bag of Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet Chips, Costco-sized bag. My favorite.
Don’t judge my food storage choices. When the zombie apocalypse hits, what do you really want to eat: cracked wheat porridge or chocolate?
Before moving last year, I did not think about the effects that a month of sitting in the back of a moving truck in June/July, would have on my precious bucket of chocolate chips. So instead of a bucket full of chocolate chips, I had a bucket full of chocolate bricks. I have finally made it through the last bag!
The struggle is real.
This is certainly a lemonade from lemons kind of first-world dilemma. We ended up with some fun chocolate dipped pretzels to share at a recent Fall Fest.
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Don’t want to bother remelting the chocolate block? It also makes a good paperweight.
Halloween Spider Cookies
Looking for an easy way to turn a chocolate chip cookie into a chocolate spider cookie? A few melted chocolate chips and a piping bag are all you need!
Use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (mine is below) and cut the normal amount of chips you use about it half. After baking, add 3-4 chocolate chips to the tops of the hot cookies. Melt some more chips in a piping bag (or Ziploc bag) and use a narrow tip to pipe legs onto your spider bodies.
RECIPE:
Chocolate Chip Spider Cookies
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 Tbs cornstarch
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups chocolate chips, divided
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla.
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat into butter mixture. Stir in ½ cup chocolate chips.
Drop by tablespoonsful onto baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Gently press 3-4 chocolate chips onto the top of each HOT cookie (these will be the spider bodies). Cool cookies on wire racks.
Place remaining chocolate chips (about 3/4 cup) in a pastry bag or Ziploc bag. Microwave for 30 seconds. Knead bag with your fingers to melt chips. Heat for an additional 10-15 seconds, if necessary.
Using a very thin tip, pipe legs around the spider bodies (chocolate chips). Let chocolate harden completely before storing.
Makes 3 dozen cookies
NoEmptyChairs.me
Filed under Cookies
Roasted Pumpkin (Squash) Seeds
What to do with all of the seeds from your recently carved Jack-o-Lantern or roasted pumpkins and winter squash? Whatever you do, don’t throw them away! Save them for a super delicious (and nutritious) snack that will keep you out of your kids’ Halloween candy.
Seeds from any variety of winter squash or pumpkin can be roasted and eaten.
Scrape pumpkin/squash and remove pulp and seeds.
Separate seeds from pulp, discarding pulp. Rinse the seeds and pat dry with paper towels or a dishtowel. Place the dry seeds in a shallow pie plate or roasting pan.
Seeds can be cooked immediately, or allowed to further dry first. Drying the seeds longer will make them less chewy, more crisp. This will help if you tend to get things stuck in your teeth or dental work.
To dry, let seeds air dry in a shallow pan for several hours up to several days, stirring occasionally, to keep them from sticking to one another.
Stir in seasonings and roast seeds until they are a golden brown.
Roasted pumpkin, butternut squash and acorn squash seeds.
Roasted Delicata squash seeds (small yellow squash with green stripes). These are especially delicious. Very tender.
RECIPE:
Roasted Pumpkin or Squash Seeds
2 cups rinsed and dried pumpkin or winter squash seeds
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp hot (spicy) Hungarian paprika
Place seeds on a foil lined (I like non-stick foil) baking sheets. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Melt butter and stir in remaining seasonings. Pour over seeds in pan and stir until well coated.
Roast for about 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until seeds are golden brown. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Yield: 2 cups roasted seeds
NoEmptyChairs.me
Filed under Appetizers, Tips and Tutorials
Halloween Humor
Why did the Mushroom get invited to all the parties?
‘Cuz he’s a fungi!
Filed under Uncategorized
Pumpkin Oat Waffles with Cinnamon Syrup
Happy Halloween!
It is not feeling much like Halloween here in western Pennsylvania. On Monday, in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy, school was cancelled (Tue) and delayed (Wed), trick-or-treating was moved to Saturday, and school Halloween parties and parades moved to Friday. Gratefully, we had much less of an impact from the storm than was predicted, so kids are back at school today (on time!). But with all of the Halloween activities for today postponed, it feels like just another wet, slushy Wednesday.
We were all prepared to wake up on Tuesday without power, but instead we had a great day at home together with nothing on the schedule! I love days like that. Days that can start with a great breakfast full of healthy things like pumpkin and oats and topped with unhealthy things like a thick homemade cinnamon syrup.
New at waffle making? Try these Tips for Making Great Waffles.
RECIPES:
Pumpkin Oat Waffles
2 cups flour
¾ cup rolled oats
2 Tbs cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 cups buttermilk
4 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
½ cup butter, melted
½ cup brown sugar
Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Use a whisk to mix. Combine wet ingredients in a separate mixing bowl. Use a mixer to beat thoroughly. Beat in dry ingredients until just mixed. Do not stir batter after mixing.
Use a ladle or measuring cup to pour batter evenly into hot waffle maker (about 2 cups for the 4 small Belgian waffles in my waffle maker). Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or according to directions on your waffle maker. Remove waffles from waffle maker and place on a wire rack (not a plate). Serve immediately or keep warm in a warm oven (very low heat).
Makes about 5 large Belgian waffles (20 small squares)
Cinnamon Syrup
¾ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbs butter
½ tsp cinnamon
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 5 minutes. Serve warm.
NoEmptyChairs.me
Filed under Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Condiments/Sauces
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