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 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 everyone will love, as we count down to the very best idea of all.
Click or scroll through our gallery for the spookiest recipes that are guaranteed to be shockingly tasty.
We've based our ranking on the ease, creativity and fun factor of each recipe, and on the opinions of our well-travelled (and well-fed) team. The list is unavoidably subjective.
For this ingenious Halloween meal, begin with a recipe for an orange-coloured soup, such as classic pumpkin (click or scroll to the next slide for our recommended recipe and just leave off the cheesy toast). Add some spooky flair by decanting double cream into a squeezy bottle and drawing a spider web over the surface of your soup just before serving.
Nothing says Halloween like the colour orange. This vibrant roasted 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.
If you’re looking for a slightly healthier Halloween snack, these little pumpkins couldn’t be easier – or cuter. All you need to do is peel oranges (or another citrus variety such as satsumas or clementines), stick a little piece of green jelly sweet on top for a stalk and paint on some melted chocolate triangles for eyes. They’re a great way to get kids to eat some fruit, and they look the part for the season too.
Turn any cake, big or small, into a spider's web with this simple feathering technique. Start by spreading dark or milk chocolate ganache or glossy black icing over the top of your cake. Drizzle melted white chocolate over the cake in a spiral pattern (or use a white icing pen), then take a cocktail stick and gently drag it from the middle to the edge at different points around the cake to create a wonderful web effect.
A simple piece of cheese becomes a cute seasonal snack with these witches’ brooms. Take a third of a string cheese and cut three-quarters of the way into it, lengthwise, splaying out the pieces to make it look like a broom. Stick a pretzel stick through the non-cut end for a handle. To bring home the effect, tie a little slice of spring onion or chive around the top of the cheese, and there you have it: a tasty broom for a tiny witch.
Ever noticed how walnuts kind of look like brains? This happy coincidence makes them perfect for a quick and easy biscuit decoration for Halloween. Spread biscuits with white icing (this will maximise the blood effect), drop a walnut in the centre of each one and drizzle over some bright red icing for a grizzly treat you can put together in minutes.
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!
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.
Who knew that mushrooms could be turned into accurate-looking skulls? Halve some button mushrooms, cut out a couple of little holes for the eyes and score the stalks to make teeth, and you have yourself a bunch of tiny craniums to scatter over a pizza. Whether you make your own pizza from scratch or choose to jazz up an existing one, the mushrooms will shrink slightly when cooked, but still hold their shape for a terrifying topping. You could toss them into a pasta dish too.
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.
To put together a breakfast fit for spooky season, turn your pancakes into little monsters with some fruit and sauce or syrup. Use slices of banana and blueberries to create eyes, draw on a mouth with chocolate syrup or use strips of strawberry. Thick, American-style pancakes are easy to make: to serve four, mix 7oz (200g) self-raising flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder and 1 tbsp golden caster sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, then add three large eggs, 2 tbsp melted butter and 7fl oz (200ml) milk. Whisk to combine, then cook your pancakes in a non-stick pan for two to three minutes on each side, until fluffy and golden.
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. Just cut your salami into triangles, use mini mozzarella balls and halve some black olives for the perfect pupils.
Treats made with marshmallows and puffed rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies) are one of the easiest things to cook with kids, and you can give them a Halloween spin with this idea. Melt 1.5oz (45g) butter with 11oz (300g) marshmallows in a heavy-based pan over a low heat, stirring constantly. Take off the heat and mix in 6oz (180g) rice cereal, then press into a greased 32 x 23 cm (13 x 9 in) tin and leave to cool before cutting into squares. To decorate, melt white chocolate and drizzle over in ribbons to resemble bandages, finishing with fondant or jelly eyes.
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. A healthy treat that’s so effective, even trick-or-treaters will be impressed. Who needs a pumpkin?
Pumpkins aren’t the only thing you can carve. Get out your knife and give some red peppers creepy faces by quickly cutting out eyes and mouths. With your peppers beheaded and gutted, you can fill them with spaghetti to simulate escaping brains. Toss your pasta in a little tomato sauce or red pesto to really bump up the slime factor.
Turn a humble burger into a silly yet spooky pumpkin with a couple of clever cuts with a knife. Cut out two triangles from the top half of your burger bun to create some classic jack-o’-lantern eyes and snip triangles out of a cheese slice for a toothy grin. When you assemble your burger (with whatever fillings you like), add a real pumpkin stalk to the top for a final flourish.
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 trickle over a little 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'.
Another spooky breakfast idea perfect for 31 October. Give your usual avocado toast a ghoulish makeover by adding some frightening Frankenstein monster faces; all you’ll need are some olives for hair and pupils, red pepper pieces for the mouth and some thinly sliced radishes for the whites of the eyes.
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.
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.
These cute spider muffins are decorated with strawberry laces and M&M's, so you could use some of your trick or treat stash. Use white icing to cover the tops of muffins or cupcakes, then add M&M's for the spiders' eyes and snip some small lengths of strawberry laces, pressing them into the sides to create creepy-crawly legs.
Got a couple of glass serving dishes 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.
You're sure to impress your Halloween party guests with this easy-to-make snack. To create these creepy pumpkins, cook 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.
To make these creepy-yet-cute eight-legged creatures, you'll first need to bake up a batch of vanilla sugar cookies, or any round biscuits you feel like. Once cooled, top the cookies with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, add edible googly eyes, then pipe on some chocolate icing for legs. What could be easier than that?
Forget twee little gingerbread people and create more frightening gingerbread vampires instead. Use a regular gingerbread man cutter for the basic shape, then once your biscuits are cooked and cooled, use coloured royal icing or water icing to pipe on toothy (or fang-y) grins, dark eyes and perhaps even some flamboyant vampire outfits. You could also try zombies, skeletons, Frankenstein’s monster or other famously spooky figures.
Making meringue can take a little practice, but it’s worth it for these fun Halloween shapes. Make meringue by whisking two large egg whites with two drops of fresh lemon juice until thick, white and foamy. Add 7 tbsp white sugar, a spoon at a time, whisking constantly until the mixture holds its shape. Use a piping bag to create shapes such as ghosts or bones and bake at 140°C/120°C fan/275°F/gas mark 1 for about an hour until firm, turn off the oven and leave to dry for another hour. Use melted chocolate to add haunting ghost eyes or jam for brilliantly bloody bones.
Marshmallows dipped in melted chocolate and decorated with seasonal sprinkles are a low effort treat that the whole family will love. Melt your chocolate or some candy melts, skewer a marshmallow with a Halloween-themed cocktail stick or lollipop stick and start dipping. Arrange your marshmallows on a plate or lined baking sheet to set.
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.
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.
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.
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.
For a spook-tacular hot dog, turn 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 or adding green food colouring for shocking results.
Everyone will want to grab one of these sweet treats on a stick. To make them, start by whipping up a batch of 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.
You can use any white fish you like for these easy homemade fish fingers with a witchy twist. Cut your fish into strips, then tip some flour into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Set out two more bowls, one with beaten egg and one with breadcrumbs, dip your fish first in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, coating well on all sides. Arrange on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook at 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6 for about 10 minutes, turning halfway. Now for the magic touch: make some triangular nails with tomato skin and place them at the end of each finger. Serve with ketchup for extra gruesomeness.
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 pie filling, before baking as instructed in the recipe.
Get the recipe for apple, plum and cinnamon skillet pie here
Making these little fellows is as easy as wrapping sausages in ribbons of pastry, then baking them in the oven until cooked. Brown your sausages in a frying pan first and leave them to cool. Meanwhile, unroll a sheet of ready-made puff pastry and cut into thin strips, then wrap around your cooled sausages. Bake in a medium oven for about 20 minutes, until the sausages are cooked through and the pastry golden. For an extra sinister touch, use a handful of cloves to give your kooky cadavers some eyes.
To make these spooky bats, start by baking a batch of chocolate cupcakes and whipping up plenty of chocolate buttercream icing (or buy some ready-made cupcakes). Once the cakes are cool, get your kids to help decorate them with jelly eyes and halved Oreos for wings. Prepare to watch these treats fly off the serving platter when your guests arrive!
This is similar to our recipe for sausage mummies – but instead of using sausages, you'll need to wrap strips of puff pastry around three or four pressed-together meatballs instead. Once your mummies are cooked, drizzle over some ketchup 'blood', then serve. You can also use candy eyes for a quick way to bring them to life.
These toothy treats are perfect for peanut butter lovers. To make them, cut a green apple into quarters. Then, using a sharp knife, cut out a triangular shape from each quarter to represent a mouth. Cover the inside of the 'mouth' with peanut butter, then press in whole peanuts for gnashers. Use a toothpick to attach a marshmallow eye. Terrifyingly tasty!
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). Simply mix your cooked pasta with pesto to get the green effect and halve your cherry tomatoes to scoop out their 'guts', so there’s space to nestle the mozzarella inside.
These funny-looking monsters might seem elaborate and time-consuming – but really, all you need to do here is stick together two cookies using thick chocolate icing, then decorate them with marshmallows to give them goofy eyes and teeth. It's the perfect low-effort recipe (though they look so good, no one will realise).
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Last updated by Laura Ellis.