School parties, fall festivals and trick-or-treating, OH MY! No matter how you’re enjoying the season, get the party started with a fun and spooky treat from our own (simplified) versions of a few already famous hits.
Food prepared, styled and photographed by Brooke Echols
Snake Calzone
- 1 tube Pillsbury refrigerated pizza dough
- 1 jar marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/2 pound ground sausage, cooked and crumbled
- (or substitute 1 package pepperoni)
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 red or yellow bell pepper (optional), diced or thinly sliced
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 small jar olives with pimentos, sliced
Roll out pizza dough into a long rectangle, careful not to make the dough too thin (it can break while baking). Mix ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, Italian seasoning and salt. Add meat of choice, sausage or pepperoni (or substitute mushrooms for a meat-free version) and bell pepper, if using, stirring to combine. Add filling mixture evenly down the length of the dough, leaving a 1-2-inch border and saving a couple inches at one end for a thinner tail. Pull edges of dough together, pinch to seal and form a long roll. Place roll seam side down onto lined baking pan. Form snake into an “s” shape. Beat egg with one tablespoon of water and brush egg wash over dough. Place olive “eyes” onto face of snake, adding a thin slice of bell pepper into the end as the tongue. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.
* Substitute sliced mushrooms for a meat-free version!
* Make sure filling is not too liquidy to prevent a sagging snake after baking.
Peanut Butter Spider Cookies
- 1 package ready-to-bake refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough or peanut butter
- cookie recipe of your choice
- 24 miniature Reese’s cups, unwrapped
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 package candy eyeballs
Place unwrapped miniature Reese’s cups in freezer at least an hour before baking cookies. Take the pre-portioned cookie dough and roll into balls about 1-inch in diameter. Place onto a greased cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 8-12 minutes. Remove cookies when lightly browned and allow to cool on tray for 5 minutes. After the cookies have cooled slightly, but still warm, press one frozen miniature Reese’s cup in the middle of each cookie. Allow to cool completely. Place 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30-second increments until chocolate is fully melted. Cool for one minute and add to a small resealable plastic bag. Snip a tiny corner of the bag and create 8 chocolate legs on each spider cookie. Use remaining melted chocolate to make a “glue” for spider eyes, pressing onto peanut butter cup. Allow to cool completely before serving.
Hocus Pocus Popcorn
- 1 large bag ready-popped popcorn
- 2 packages white chocolate chips
- Orange, green and purple gel food coloring
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk, divided
Divide chocolate chips among 3 large microwave safe bowls. Roughly 1 cup per bowl. Microwave one bowl 30 seconds at a time, stirring until melted. Add 1-2 tablespoons cream or milk if chocolate begins to harden. When fully melted, add 3-4 drops of orange food coloring or more as needed until desired color is achieved. Quickly fold in 2-3 cups pre-popped popcorn until all coated with orange chocolate. Spread orange popcorn onto sheet pan, lined with wax paper, to harden. Can be placed in the refrigerator to harden faster or keep fresh longer. Repeat steps for remaining two bowls of chocolate chips with green and purple coloring. When chocolate coated popcorn is hardened, gently break apart and mix all colors together in larger bowl for serving or placing in treat bags.
Mummy Dogs
- 1 package hotdogs, uncooked
- 1 package crescent roll dough, uncooked
- Mustard
Unroll crescent dough and pinch together perforations to seal seams. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, slice long thin strips of dough. Remove hotdogs from package and dry with paper towel. Place on a lined baking sheet or spray with cooking spray. Wrap strips of crescent dough around bottom two thirds of hotdog in any pattern, criss crossing to resemble a mummy. Repeat at the top of the hotdog, leaving a space to create eyes after baking. Lightly spray with cooking spray. Place in a 375 degree preheated oven. Bake about 10 minutes, watching for golden dough. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Dip a toothpick in a small amount of mustard. Dot onto open space on hotdog to create two eyes for the mummy. Plate and serve with condiments of choice for dipping.
Ghost Pretzels
- 1 bag mini pretzel twists
- 1 bag white chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon light colored cooking oil of choice
- 1 package candy eyeballs
Place chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil of choice and stir. Microwave 30 seconds and stir, repeating until chocolate has melted. Use a fork to dip pretzels into chocolate, let excess drip off and place on wax paper. Immediately place candy eyes onto top pretzel holes while chocolate is still melted. Allow to harden. Move to refrigerator to speed up hardening.
The Buttered Home
Halloween is here and we are all excited to kick off all things fall. Our recipe for these easy sheet pan caramel apple slices are perfect for all of your fall fun! They are easy to whip up to give to your special trick or treaters. They are also a great little treat to have on a dessert board for any fall-themed party. Caramel apples are a favorite this time of year and this is an easy and delicious way to get your fix. We’ve suggested a few special toppings, but the sky is the limit! For more recipes like this, give us a visit over at thebutteredhome.com.
Easy Sheet Pan Caramel Apple Slices
- 5-6 apples, cored and sliced
- 1-2 cups water
- 2-4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 22 ounces caramel candies, 2 bags
- 1/4 cup Half & Half or heavy cream
- Toppings of your choice. Here is what we used:
- 1/2 cup mini M&M’s
- 1/2 cup chopped mini-Reese’s cups
- 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate
- 1/2 cup chopped pretzels
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Core and slice apples into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick slices. We left the peel on. Cover them with water and lemon juice and allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from lemon juice bath and dry well. Place on a large sheet pan fitted with parchment paper in a single layer. Prep your toppings to have them ready and close by.
Unwrap caramel candies and place in a microwave safe dish. Add Half and Half and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring each time. Continue to heat in 30-second increments until caramel can be mixed with the Half & Half and becomes smooth. In my small microwave, this took about 3 to 3.5 minutes. Carefully drizzle caramel over prepared apples.
Allow the caramel to set for about 2 minutes. Top with your prepared toppings, lightly pressing them in the caramel. Allow to set completely for about 20 to 30 minutes or refrigerate to set about 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
