50 Best Halloween Recipes | Halloween Party Food Ideas | Recipes, Dinners and Easy Meal Ideas
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Our Favorite Halloween Party Food Ideas
Planning a day full of frightfully delicious fun? You’re in the right place. We’ve got all the Halloween food ideas you need! Looking for a creepy-cute breakfast to serve your kids in the morning? How about some family-friendly drinks and party-worthy appetizers to snack on before trick-or-treating? Need a horribly delicious dessert to round out your Halloween dinner menu? From ghost pancakes and spiderweb-covered hot cocoa bombs to mummified hot dogs and vampire cupcakes, these halloween foods are sure to scare up everyone’s appetite. Best of all, none of these recipes are too tricky to make, chocolate-covered strawberries included. Sure, they require a bit of planning and know-how but with this recipe, you’ll find that they come together pretty easily. And, they’re one of the many Halloween foods that you can whip up a bit in advance; just be sure you don’t keep them in the refrigerator for longer than an hour. If you do, the moisture in the refrigerator can cause the candy eyes to run.
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Halloween Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
Black Magic Cake
This deep, dark chocolate cake is the perfect canvas for an eerie holiday dessert. Top it with a spider web or a mummy made from melted and stretched marshmallows.
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Black Magic Cake
Witch Finger Cookies
You won’t be able to keep your hands off these creepy butter cookies — even though a dip in raspberry jam makes them look like a pile of detached fingers!
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Witch Finger Cookies
Halloween Hot Cocoa Bombs
This simple method for tempering chocolate will give you smooth, shiny hot cocoa bombs. Use a good-quality bittersweet chocolate with at least 70% cacao for best results. You can make the bombs ahead of time, but wait until right before serving to cover them in the webbing.
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Halloween Hot Cocoa Bombs
Caramel Apples
A deep, rich caramel makes for a classic shiny apple. Toppings (like mini chocolate candies, shredded coconut, crushed cookies or chopped nuts) make them extra special.
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Caramel Apples
Halloween Jell-O Shots
Why should kids have all the fun for Halloween? For your holiday table, include treats for grown-ups, like these vodka-spiked Jell-O shots. They’re beautifully layered in a baking dish with colors meant to evoke candy corn and flavors inspired by a creamy orange ice pop. Simply cut them into squares then top with lightly sweetened whipped cream and some orange and black sprinkles.
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Halloween Jell-O Shots
Chicken Pumpkins
How do you make chicken bites look like little pumpkins? The trick to this savory treat is a few strategic (but straightforward) knife cuts. The nuggets are soaked in buttermilk, then coated in Cheddar-cracker breadcrumbs and stuffed with mozzarella for the ultimate chicken and cheese experience.
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Chicken Pumpkins
No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Brain
Spook your friends and serve a delicious brain on Halloween. This no-bake strawberry cheesecake made in a plastic mold looks hauntingly real. Top it with fruit syrup “blood” and you’ve got the scariest dessert in town.
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No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Brain
Blueberry Mummy Muffins
Packed with blueberries and loaded with cream cheese frosting, these mummy muffins are the perfect Halloween party treat.
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Halloween Blueberry Mummy Muffins
Pumpkin Cheese Ball
This adorable take on a pumpkin-shaped cheese ball gets its bright orange coloring from ground-up cheese puffs and its stem from a bell pepper.
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Pumpkin Cheese Ball
Scary Peanut Butter Spider Cookies
These creepy-crawly spider cookies are entertaining for little ones and adults to make together. From pushing chocolate candies into warm cookies, to drawing spider legs with chocolate and making silly eyes, there’s plenty of fun for everyone.
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Scary Peanut Butter Spider Cookies
Frankenshake and Bride of Frankenshake
His and hers Halloween shakes (one mint, one vanilla) are made in a single batch, then dressed up for the holiday in this ultimate trick-or-treat.
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Frankenshake and Bride of Frankenshake
Apple Spiderweb Pops
Fresh fruit awaits you in these chocolate-dipped webbed treats. Thick slices of tart apple stand in for candy.
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Apple Spider Web Pops
Mac-o’-Lantern and Cheese Bowls
An orange bell pepper — carved and ready for Halloween — becomes an edible bowl for creamy mac and cheese.
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Mac-O-Lantern and Cheese Bowls
Berry Eyeball Punch
All eyes (har har) will be on the punch bowl when this scary concoction is part of the spread. Pair blueberries and sweet lychees to make the edible eyeballs.
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Berry Eyeball Punch
Halloween Oreo Roll
This easy chocolate roll cake starts with a package of chocolate wafer cookies that becomes a Halloween dessert centerpiece. We upped the spooky effect by decorating the cake with gummy spiders on a “web” made from melted marshmallows. We color the marshmallow with orange food coloring but feel free to change it to green or whatever color you like. When ready to serve, slice through the marshmallow webbing and scary spiders to reveal a beautiful hypnotic swirl.
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Halloween Oreo Roll
Crispy Treat Witch’s Hat
Get crafty with this edible witch’s hat: chocolate-flavored rice cereal, green food coloring and edible gold dust transform ordinary crispy rice treats into a sweet Halloween centerpiece.
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Crispy Treat Witch’s Hat
Halloween Chocolate Chip Cookies
These cookies are monster sized and monster themed, making them perfect treats for your Halloween party. They bake up crispy on the edges and chewy inside. Feel free to vary the sprinkles and add some non pareils to the mix. Candy eyeballs come in various sizes so play around to see which combo you like best — we happen to think one medium and one large makes the monster look delightfully deranged.
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Halloween Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cake Eyeballs
Did you ever get the feeling that someone (or something) is watching you? It could be these fun Halloween treats!
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Cake Eyeballs
Bloody Pancakes
Don’t worry: No pancakes were harmed in the making of this recipe. A drizzle of sweet strawberry sauce creates the gruesome yet delicious effect.
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Bloody Pancakes
Halloween Deviled Tea Eggs
Making these spider web-inspired treats is easier than you think. After you hard-boil and cool your eggs, lightly crack their shells all over. That way, when you soak them in the savory soy sauce mixture, a little bit of color can seep in.
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Halloween Deviled Tea Eggs
Hot Dog Mummies
Made with store-bought crescent dough, these mummy dogs will be a hit at dinner or a Halloween party. The dough is very forgiving and easy to wrap, and the best part is it doesn’t need to be perfect — these are ancient mummies after all.
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Hot Dog Mummies
Candy Corn Cheese Tower
Tap into your inner sculptor and make some edible Halloween art with cheese — three different kinds to be exact! Cheddar, goat cheese and a red wine and paprika-brushed Monterey Jack represent those iconic candy corn colors.
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Candy Corn Cheese Tower
Poison Apple Punch
One look at this apple cider-based punch’s red hue and it’s love at first sight. Finish each glass with a wormy apple — a gummy worm and an apple slice, that is — that’s sure to delight guests.
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Poison Apple Punch
Spider Web Guacamole
This webbed guacamole is a super-easy way to make a themed appetizer for your next Halloween party. Mexican crema (or sour cream) is used for the web and black olives make an edible spider.
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Spider Web Guacamole
Cake Pop Brains
Ruby chocolate is the perfect coating for these brains, but any color candy melting wafers work just as well if you want a silly rather than scary vibe. You can use a homemade recipe or store-bought cake mix for the red velvet cake.
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Cake Pop Brains
Skeleton Meat Platter
For meat lovers and the not-so-faint-of heart: This edible skeleton will likely bring a ghoulish chuckle from your guests.
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Skeleton Meat Platter
Candy Corn Fudge
The secret to these cute Halloween candies is a quick chill in the fridge between layers so the colors set.
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Candy Corn Fudge
Meatball-Stuffed Pasta Brain
There’s a creepy surprise when you cut this brain open: meatballs covered in prosciutto! It’s all very ghoulish.
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Meatball-Stuffed Pasta Brain
Pull-Apart Graveyard Cupcakes
Although it looks almost like a cake, this graveyard is made up of individual cupcakes, making it a self-serve party option. Just grab your cupcake and go–no knives necessary.
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Pull-Apart Graveyard Cupcakes
Individual Scary White Pizzas
The classic white pizza takes a ghostly turn with this recipe. Using prepared pizza dough makes this easy recipe even easier, and no sauce to simmer makes it simpler still.
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Individual Scary White Pizzas
Red Velvet Vampire Cupcakes
What looks like a gory encounter with the Count himself is just raspberry jam brightened with a drop of red food coloring. And if you dare sink your own teeth into them, you’ll find that more raspberry jam and chocolate await in the center.
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Red Velvet Vampire Cupcakes
Ghostly Cupcakes
Spook your guests with these “boo-tiful” cupcakes topped with chocolate ghosts. For the design, you simply glaze plain cupcakes with melted dark and white chocolate. You can use the cake recipe here, or try the technique on your favorite red velvet, peanut butter or chocolate cupcakes instead.
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Ghostly Cupcakes
Haunted Gingerbread House
Start gingerbread season a little early this year with a haunted display for Halloween. Make gumball pumpkins, chocolate tombstones and a scary (but candy-sweet!) monster hiding inside the house.
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Haunted Gingerbread House
Halloween Cheesecake
This no-bake pumpkin cheesecake has a jack-o’-lantern brownie grin.
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Halloween Cheesecake
Vampire Blood Tomato Soup With Muenster Sammies
Pair homemade tomato soup with cheesy sandwiches cut out to look like pumpkins, ghosts, black cats, bats and witches.
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Vampire Blood Tomato Soup with Muenster Sammies
Black Chocolate Cake
The perfect dessert for Halloween: a layer cake that’s black as night.
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Black Chocolate Cake
Sushi Brain
This frighteningly real-looking smoked salmon appetizer is perfect for your Halloween spread.
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How to Make a Sushi Brain for Halloween
Mummy Hand Pies
This easy, Halloween-inspired recipe can be made ahead and served later as a scary-good party dessert.
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Mummy Hand Pies
Stuffed Candy Corn Cake
Not only does this festive bull’s-eye cake slice up into pieces that look like giant candy corns, the inside holds a secret cache of the treats themselves that spill forth when you open it up.
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Stuffed Candy Corn Cake
Chocolate-Cinnamon Skeleton Cookies
Break out your gingerbread man cookie cutter early this year; it’s just the tool you need to make these easy cookies. With a little icing, you can pipe your way to haunted Halloween treats.
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Chocolate-Cinnamon Skeleton Cookies
Halloween Crispy Rice Treats
These colorful treats will be a hit at your Halloween party and they’re so easy to put together. The spider web decoration is made with melted marshmallows. Using gloves and working on foil to stretch the web makes cleanup a easy.
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Halloween Crispy Rice Treats
Eyeball Lava Cake
This eyeball cake is the stuff of Halloween nightmares: When you slice into it, a gush of raspberry jam flows out.
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Eyeball Lava Cake
Halloween Strawberry Shortcake Skull Cake
We topped elegant strawberry shortcake with a ghoulish white chocolate skull in this spectacular Halloween dessert. Pour over the hot strawberry sauce to reveal the surprise inside!
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Halloween Strawberry Shortcake Skull Cake
Stuffed Crispy Rice Cereal Brain
This giant crispy rice cereal treat is filled with silky chocolate mousse and covered in a pink buttercream frosting.
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Stuffed Crispy Rice Cereal Brain
Eyeball Cheesecake
Set your sights on this creepy no-bake cheesecake for your next Halloween party. We used canned lychees and blueberries to create bloodshot eyes that are set in a boozy cranberry gelatin.
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Eyeball Cheesecake
Bloody Cheesecake Bars with Broken Glass Caramel
Trisha keeps the cheesecake bars and raspberry sauce simple in this recipe (relying on store-bought sugar cookie mix and a jar of raspberry preserves) so that you have time to make the broken glass caramel for decoration.
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Bloody Cheesecake Bars with Broken Glass Caramel
Halloween Sugar Cookies
Spook yourself sweet this Halloween season with festive sugar cookies that are no trick, all treat.
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Halloween Sugar Cookies
Bubbling Cauldron Punch
You’re only four ingredients away from an adults-only punch that’s sure to wow guests. Ginger beer will get the cauldron bubbling, and rum or vodka will give the limey drink quite a kick. To make a kid-friendly punch, simply leave out the alcohol — you’ll still get the fizzy, fun effects.
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Bubbling Cauldron Punch
Deviled Ham Eyeball Sandwich
Turn a traditional ham salad on white bread into a bloodshot eyeball sandwich.
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Deviled Ham Eyeball Sandwich