4 Easy Recipes for a Halloween Meal

What's the best part of Halloween?
The treats of course!

But does it have to be all candy?
Nope, not necessarily.

Halloween is positively my most favorite holiday. I love everything about Halloween: the costumes, the festivities, the candy... But as I got older I noticed it became harder and harder to find ways to celebrate. At 21, I'm a little too old for trick or treating; but I'm not much of a bar hopper either (which is a hot Halloween activity in New York City). However family time, I could do. A couple years ago, I surged the net and read up on some Halloween recipes. I found lots of sweet treats that looked amazing, but I wanted to see if I could make a whole Halloween meal. Thanks to a website called Taste of Home, I found countless recipes for Halloween goodies.

I was amazed at how much there was on this site and all for Halloween. These Recipes were perfect for parties and family meals. There were recipes that were simple enough to make with your children and complex enough to make by yourself. So I wrote down some of my favorites and started practicing. I'll be honest, I'm yet to actually make that family meal on Halloween, but with the coming of my first child this December, I'm hopeful that next Halloween will be my year to make these delicious treats for my family too. However there's nothing stopping you from trying these recipes out on your own family or party guests this Halloween. So grab a pen and paper and take some notes. Just keep in mind these are just my favorite recipes. There are tons more on the website, I mentioned above and it's completely worth taking a look at, especially if you love cooking and hosting parties.

Tickle your friends and family members taste buds with some crunchy monster claws. Just simple chicken fingers with a spooky touch make these a great addition to any Halloween meal or even just some "finger food" for a party.

Servings: 15
Total Time: 30 Min.

Ingredients

• 1 sweet yellow pepper
• 2 tbsp of all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp of Cajun seasoning
• 3 lightly beaten eggs
• 1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp of chopped green onion
• 1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breasts
• BBQ sauce

Directions

• Cut chicken breasts lengthwise into 3/4 in. strips.
• Cut yellow pepper into 15 triangles.
• Combine flour and 2 tsp of Cajun seasoning in either a plastic bag or bowl.
• Break eggs into a bowl and beat.
• Combine the bread crumbs, the green onions and the remaining Cajun seasoning in another bowl.
• Coat the chicken in the flour and Cajun seasoning mix.
• Dip the chicken into the egg bowl.
• Dip and coat the chicken in the crumb, onion and Cajun seasoning mix.
• Lay the chicken onto a greased baking pan and repeat the process for the remaining pieces of chicken.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cut a small slit into an end of each of the chicken fingers.
• Put a pepper triangle in each slitted chicken finger.
• Serve your delicious claws with BBQ sauce.

Enjoy!

A nice cold drink to go with your meal?

Mad Scientist Punch

Servings: 16
Total Time: 15 Min.

Ingredients

• 2 cans of frozen pineapple-orange juice concentrate.
• 2 cups of water.
• 1 packet of unsweetened orange kool-aid mix.
• 2 liters of chilled lemon-lime soda (like sprite or 7up).
• 1 pint of softened orange sherbet

Directions

• Combine the concentrated juice, water and kool-aid mix in a large punch bowl.
• Stir in the soda.
• Top with scoops of Sherbet.
• Serve immediately and enjoy!

Slainte!

These cute burgers will grab your family and friends attention instantly. Simple and easy to make and everyone loves burgers. All it takes is some face making with the cheese. Leave off the top bun and serve. It's a decorative main course that will thrill your guests.

Servings: 10
Total Time: 20 Min.

Ingredients

• 1 packet of onion soup mix.
• 1/4 cup of ketchup.
• 2 tbsp of brown sugar.
• 2 tsp of prepared horseradish.
• 2 tsp of chili powder.
• 2 1/2 lbs of ground beef.
• 10 slices of American Cheese.
• 10 hamburger buns.

Directions

• Combine the chili powder, horseradish, onion soup mix, brown sugar and ketchup in a large bowl.
• Break apart or crumble the beef into the mixture and mix well.
• Shape the mixed meat into 10 patties.
• Grill or fry until the meat is cooked all the way through.
• Create a spooky jack o' lantern face by cutting a pair of eyes, a nose and a mouth into the cheese slices.
• Put the cheese slices on the burgers.
• Slightly melt the cheese on the meat for about a minute.
• Now serve on buns, leaving the top half off to reveal your jack o' lantern faces.

Bon Appetit!

Satisfy your friends and family members' (especially your children's) sweet tooth with these chocolaty delights. End your meal with a delicious spiderweb brownie. Simple to bake and decorate and a total crowd pleaser. A sure way to appease chocoholics like me!

Servings: 24
Total Time: 50 Min.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup of cubed butter.
• 4 oz. of chopped unsweetened chocolate.
• 2 cups of sugar.
• 3 lightly beaten eggs.
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract.
• 1 cup of all purpose flour.
• 1 Jar of fluff or marshmallow creme.
• 1 oz. of semisweet chocolate.

Directions

• Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate in a large microwavable bowl.
• Stir it until smooth.
• Remove mixture from the heat and stir in sugar, then cool for 10 minutes.
• Whisk in the eggs and the vanilla extract.
• Stir in the flour.
• Pour the mix into a greased and foil lined 13x9 in. baking pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. If you insert a toothpick near the center and it comes out clean, it's done.
• Immediately spoon the fluff or marshmallow creme over the hot brownies evenly.
• Then let it cool completely.
• Lift the brownies out of the pan and remove the foil when it's cool.
• Melt the semisweet chocolate in the microwave, for the web decoration.
• Stir it until smooth then pour it into a small plastic Zip-lock bag.
• Cut a small hole into one corner of the bag.
• Then drizzle the chocolate over the top of the brownies in a spiderweb design.
• Let it set and then cut it into squares.

Cheers!

I hope you and your family enjoys your Halloween dinner! And don't forget to check out more great holiday recipes at Taste of Home. This is just a tiny fraction of what I seen on their website. I have so many favorites it was hard to choose which ones to write about.

Skylar Spring © copyright 2011