Ghoulishy Sweet Halloween Treats

Remember those Halloween parties you went to as a kid where you were blindfolded and asked to touch intestines (spaghetti), eyeballs (peeled grapes) and other perfectly disgusting, creepy things?

Since Halloween falls on a Monday this year, you might be planning a party for your kids over the weekend. Remember, kids love to be scared (but not too scared). Besides spaghetti and grapes, other touchy-feely fiendish things include spiderwebs, pipe cleaner spiders, raisins for warts, boiled head of cabbage for a brain and cooked rice in oil for maggots.

Yuck!

After surviving that, the kids deserve a treat. You can do a lot with a simple sugar cookie recipe, decorations and your imagination. Use Halloween-themed cookie cutters, or simply make them round and decorate. This is a great way to involve your kids—they’re sure to come up with some ghoulish goblin-worthy cookies.

has some fun candy and other decorating items for your cookies: gummy snakes; Halloween-colored licorice—orange, green apple and grape; green mint chips; colored sugar sparkles and black icing.

has a fantastic selection of candy including Sour Brite Crawlers, gummy worms and old-fashioned favorites Sugar Babies, Boston Baked Beans and Hot Tamales. There are rows of sprinkles to choose from, including multiple colors, shapes and confetti letters, which you can use to spell out words such as “Boo!,” “Eek!” and “RIP.” You’ll find all colors of ready-to-use icing, including black and orange.

Here are some other homemade treats to make your fright night especially tasty. Recipes are adapted from Better Homes & Gardens.

Ghostly P&B

Directions:

1. Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with white or sourdough bread.

2. Use a ghost-shape cookie cutter to cut the sandwich, or shape it with a knife.

3. Press two raisins into bread—use peanut butter if necessary—for the ghost's eyes.

Werewolf Cupcake

You can make the cupcakes yourself, or purchase them and then decorate per the following directions. Frost the cupcakes with chocolate frosting.

1. Use pieces of shredded wheat to create the werewolf's hair, beard, and whiskers.

2. Press two red pieces of candy such as jelly beans or Red Hots into the cupcake for eyes.

3. Use chocolate icing to make a dot on each red candy piece for the pupils.

4. Press two candy corn pieces on each side for ears.

5. Use a small piece of black licorice for the nose.

6. Use white frosting to make the mouth.

7. Press two pieces of cut licorice on each side of the mouth for fangs.

Apple Monster Mouths

Directions:

1. Core two green or red apples; cut each into eight thick slices.

2. Spread about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter on an apple slice.

3. Assemble about five pieces of candy corn as "teeth" on the apple slice. The teeth can be crooked and put a couple upside down.

4. Spread another apple slice with about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter; press on top of first apple slice.