5 Spooky Halloween Treats That Will Make You the Talk of the Office

Fall is settling in, October is in full swing and all your neighbors are putting out their fake cobwebs and spooky jack-o-lanterns. All your coworkers are pulling out their trademark spooky mug and talking about what specialty dessert they are bringing to your office Halloween get together.  In an effort to stay with the season you concoct and share the idea to make the perfect Halloween treat to bring to the office. Except you don’t know what to make. Don’t worry we’ve got your back, here are five super spooky (and delicious!) treats to really impress your coworkers!

First things first, we will start with this classic Spicy Bat Cookies! To make this recipe the easiest go ahead and buy a bat cookie cutter, approximately 6 inches long for the ideal cutting time.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups of flour

½ cup dark chocolate powder

½ tsp. ground cardamom

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. fine sea salt

½ tsp. baking soda

¾ cups dark brown sugar

1 ½ stick unsalted butter

1 large egg

½ cup “unsulphured” molasses (don’t worry this will be labeled!)

granulated sugar

Now don’t be deterred by the amount of ingredients in the recipe, but that is just the start up to a dozen little bat cookies! These spicy treats are totally worth the effort and will wow your coworkers.

So here is how to start:

1. In a large bowl whisk together the first 7 ingredients, these are all dry ingredients and will combine easily. Place that aside.
2. Pull out the electric mixer! Beat the sugar and butter in a bowl, add the egg and continue to beat until it’s light and fluffy (4 minutes-ish). Add your molasses, and mix to combine.
3. To this mixture grab the first 7 ingredients and beat it in, until totally combined, about 1 minute.
4. You have dough! Divide it in half and place it each onto a disk and roll it out, it’s best to refrigerate for 1 hour.
5. While you do that, heat the oven to 325 degrees F, get your cookie sheet out and line it with parchment paper. Sprinkle cocoa powder onto the parchment paper and cut your dough into cute little bats.
6. Place your bats an inch away from each other and bake for 12 minutes, rotate it half way through so that they are nice and crisp.

Not a cookie lover? No worries! I have the perfect fall treat that will spruce up any table and are very easy to make. Here’s what you need for Cereal Bar Hay Bales!

Ingredients:

5 tbsp. butter

2 packets of shredded wheat

15 oz. marshmallows

6 cups puffed rice cereal

6 licorice laces

Here is the simple how-to on these cute and sweet little hay bales that are a sure fired crowd-pleaser.

1. Butter up an 8-inch square pan.
2. Crush the shredded wheat until it makes fine splinters that look like hay.
3. In a saucepan melt all that delicious butter and add marshmallows, stir this completely until it’s melted (lower the heat if it starts to burn), add the rice cereal. Stir together until the cereal is coated completely, but try and use a rubber spatula!
4. Put the mixture into a pan and flatten it with a spatula.
5. The marshmallow mixture will be firm, and will have taken the shape of the pan, so go ahead and flip the pan over onto a cutting board and cut squares out into little hay bales.
6. Finally, while the mixture is still warm, roll it in the shredded wheat and wrap your licorice around either side.

If you are wanting a quick treat that people can grab as they walk through the break room or your desk, try out these delicious Pumpkin Pretzels!

Ingredients:

1 bag of mini pretzels

1 bag of M&Ms (this is the pain of this recipe) needing only the green ones

1/8 tsp. of orange food coloring

1 bag of White Chocolate chips

1 tbsp. shortening, or coconut oil

These treats are delicious and don’t take too long to make, follow this “how-to”, to make the the best pretzel snack.

1. Our first step is to melt down the chocolate chips, this can be done in the microwave, but before you pop it in add the shortening or coconut oil to thin out the chocolate. If it’s too thick your pretzel will be swamped!
2. Start for 1 minute and then stir it gently, and then pop it back in for another 1 minute and stir again, if you try to put it in for the full two it will granulate.
3. Stir gently and add in the orange food coloring until it’s a nice orange color
4. If you have a dipping tool, use that for the pretzels, but your fingers will dip just as well!
5. Once it’s dunked, place it on wax paper, while it is still wet place the M&M on the top of the pretzel in the crook so it looks like a little pumpkin!

So you like the finger food idea, but are not sold on the pretzels, no problem! There is an easy tasty snack for you that is especially good if your kids recently carved pumpkins (or you!). Take the seeds from the pumpkin and make some Caramelized Spicy Pumpkin Seeds.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. white sugar

¼ tsp. cumin

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground ginger

1 pinch cayenne pepper

2 cups of the raw whole pumpkin seeds (washed and dried)

2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. sugar

The tricky part of the directions is making sure that your seeds are ready to be baked and coated. Make sure they are completely clean and dried, this can take a few hours.

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. While the oven is heating, stir together the 3 tbsp. of white sugar, cumin, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne pepper.
3. Bake your pumpkin seeds by laying them down on the tray evenly, drizzle lightly with olive oil and salt to taste, bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
4. With your 1 tbsp. of olive oil heat it in a large pan and stir in the toasted seeds with the 2 tbsp. of sugar, cook and stir until the sugar forms a coating and then take those caramelized seeds into your spice bowl and toss to coat and cool.  

If pumpkin seeds are not available to you, and you want to bring in a healthier Halloween treat for your office to reach your fitness and health goals. Don’t worry, you can still be the talk of the office with your spooky treat of Boo-nana Ghosts and Cutie Pumpkins!

Ingredients:

6 bananas

1 cup of chocolate chips

6 cuties

3 celery stalks

1 bag of cutie tangerines

This easy to assemble and create snack is adorable and healthy (try not to focus to hard on the three chocolate chips per banana!)

For the BOO-nana Ghosts:

1. Peel and cut the bananas in half
2. Place three chocolate chips in the soft banana and push in, two for eyes and one for a spooky mouth!

Pro-tip: make these day of to keep your ghosts crisp and white.

For the Cutie Pumpkins

1. Peel cutie tangerines and pull out the ribbing of the tangerines so the center is hollow.
2. Take the celery stalks, wash them, and cut them into thirds.
3. Place the stalk in the center of the cutie and there you have it! a healthy and cute pumpkin!

Whether you are excited to bake a cute cookie or want the simple and healthy snack, this season you can easily wow your coworkers and enjoy your own tasty snack as well! Halloween is a time to be spooky, celebrate, and enjoy so don’t stress over the perfect snack.