Spooky Cream Cheese Brownies

It is midnight and officially Halloween! I am terribly late with all, or any of my recipes this season but here is a ooey gooey brownie recipe that is sure to make your Halloween even sweeter!

Ingredients:

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 c. veggie oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream Cheese Layer:

8 oz. whipped cream cheese
1/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Orange food coloring

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 baking dish with tinfoil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium size bowl, mix the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder together. Add in the eggs, oil and vanilla until well combined. Reserve 1/2 c. of the brownie batter and spread the remaining batter in the pan.

In another mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla. Stir together until most of the lumps are gone. Add in the food coloring and stir until you reach the color orange that you like. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownies and spread evenly. Dollop with the remaining brownie batter and swirl with a knife.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the cream cheese mixture is firm. Let cool fully before cutting into bars. Top with pumpkin sprinkles if you need more decoration.

Bloody Blondies

It's that time of year again....my favorite time of year that is. It is now officially sweatshirt, bonfire, pumpkin spice weather! Along with this season comes my favorite holiday of all time which is Halloween! I have been in the process for the last few months moving into a new house (well, a new, used house) which has taken up most of my husband and my time currently. I have over one hundred recipes to update, and over 60 restaurants to review for my other blog Small Town Girl, Foodie World and I am literally backed up since this past May. Yikes! Hopefully I will slowly be able to catch up, but for now, enjoy this spooky and easy to make treat!

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 c. veggie oil
1 egg
1/3 c. milk
1/8 tsp. burgundy food coloring gel (or red liquid food coloring)
Spooky sprinkles! (Bloody Bones Sprinkles)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13 x 9 baking pan with non stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix the cake mix, veggie oil, egg and milk together until it is a sticky paste-like substance. Use a butter knife to scoop out about 1/8 of a teaspoon of the burgundy food gel and scrape it into the bowl. gently mix the batter with the gel. I wanted a marbled look, but if you want it fully mixed in, that is also okay. Spread the batter out in an even layer in the pan. Top with a few scattered bloody bone sprinkles (they will melt in the cooking process to give it a shiny random surface). Bake for 25-30 minutes until the edges of the bars are golden brown. While it is still hot, sprinkle a few more bloody bones on top! Wait for the bars to cool before cutting and serving.

Pizza Skulls

Ingredients:

1 roll Pillsbury pizza dough
Pizza sauce
1 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese
Turkey pepperoni
Skull pan

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray the inside of the skull pan molds with non stick cooking spray. Unroll the dough and divide into four equal pieces. Place the center of each dough rectangle in each mold. Fill the cavities with 1 Tbs., about 5 pepperoni slices and 2 Tbs. Mozzarella cheese. Fold the excess dough over the toppings until all of the filling is covered.

Spray the top of the pizzas with non stick cooking spray. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the skulls are golden brown. Let cool about 2 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Serve with pizza or pasta sauce to use as a dipping sauce.

Microwave Mummy's

Ingredients:

2 medium to large size baking potatoes
10 sprays of butter
2 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
2 string cheese (to be safe, I had enough with 1)
2 black olives, sliced
1 tsp. Pizza or pasta sauce

Microwave the potatoes according to your microwave (if you have a baked potato button). Both took 6 minutes. Cut both in half and let cool slightly before handling. Scoop the insides of the potatoes out into a bowl. Add the spray butter, grated Parmesan and add salt and pepper. Mix together and scoop back into the potato skins. Place two slices of olives on each potato skin for eyes. Spoon a very small amount of the spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce into the middle of each "eye".

Shred the string cheese and place on top of the potato skins in a random pattern to create the mummy wrap. Place the potato skins on a microwavable plate and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Ghostly Frozen Bananas

If you need a cute and simple Halloween snack idea, these are fun and easy to make (and even the dog's mouth was watering, as you can see from the creeping husky in the background). These frozen banana treats are a playful way to get your sweet tooth fix.

Ingredients:

Mini chocolate chips (ghost eyes)
1 large banana (or more, depending on how many your chocolate will make)
White Candy Melts (I used Wilton Marshmallow flavored, you could also use white chocolate)
*Popsicle sticks, or paper straws cut in half

Cut the banana in half lengthwise, and then in half width wise to make 4 pieces. They do not have to be equal in size. Push the paper straw into the cut end at least a half an inch inside. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet and freeze for at least half an hour. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a microwave safe glass bowl on 50% power for 1 minute. Stir, and continue to heat at normal power for 30 second intervals, stirring in between until the chocolate is fully melted.

Take the bananas out of the freezer, and dip, or spread the chocolate onto both sides, covering the banana fully. Place them back onto the prepared baking sheet and immediately add two mini chocolate chip eyes. Repeat for the rest of the bananas. Place back into the freezer until set, and store in the freezer if you aren't eating them right away! I added some sliced bananas because I had a bit of chocolate left. You can repeat and make more with sticks, or cut banana slices at an angle and chocolate coat them.

Candy Corn Peanut Bars

I was trying to find a way to "get rid of" part of the large quantity of candy corn that I ended up with after Halloween. My mom makes a snack mix of peanuts and candy corn together, so I decided to make them into a blondie recipe. They turned out great! Make sure not to cut them too large. They are very very sweet.

Ingredients:

1 stick margarine, cut into pieces
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 c. candy corn
1 c. salted peanuts

In a medium size microwave safe bowl, add the margarine and brown sugar and microwave for 15 seconds. Add in the pumpkin puree, egg and vanilla and stir until fully combined. Add the flour and salt and mix again. Stir in the candy corn and peanuts. Line an 8x8 pan with foil and spray with non stick cooking spray (I used Pam with flour). Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top out. Bake for 28-30 minutes. The top will still look raw but if you touch it it will be firm. Let cool until room temperature and cut into bars.

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 2 Tbs. heavy whipping cream together. When the bars are cool, drizzle the icing on top and place a candy corn on each bar. Let the icing dry slightly before putting into air tight containers.

Savory Cheesecake Skulls

I am not a cheesecake girl. In fact, unless it is packed full of flavor or has a ton of chocolate in it, I usually won't eat more than a tiny sliver. Savory cheesecakes however, that are more of a dip than a dessert, I do like. This recipe was created using random leftover ingredients that I had from my Halloween party. I had many kinds of fresh vegetables left and decided heck with it, put it all in a food processor and see what happens! I also have had this 3D skull pan since last year and needed an excuse to make something, but I am over the sweetness of Halloween and wanted it to be something savory. Best skull Ive had the pleasure of breaking into so far....

Ingredients:

8 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
4 green onions, rough chopped
1 orange pepper, rough chopped
1/2 c. fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves
3 Tbs. liquid egg whites
1 c. shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Meanwhile, combine the cream cheese, onion, orange pepper, cilantro, garlic, egg white and cheddar cheese in a food processor. Combine on low until everything is mixed together and there are no large pieces left. If necessary you can stop and scrape down the bowl and just pulse a few times if there is anything that gets stuck towards the top. Set aside.

Spray the 3D mini skull pan with non stick cooking spray (you could use jumbo cupcake tins). Gently flour your work surface and lay the puff pastry sheet out. Cut into 6 equal size rectangles. Using a rolling pin, flatten and stretch each piece out until it is quarter of an inch thick or less. Place in a cavity in the pan and very gently try and push down. Place 1/3 cup of the cream cheese mixture inside (as it cooks, it will press the dough down into the more defined holes). Evenly spread out and fold the dough over the top (shown in picture below).

Bake in the oven for 30-33 minutes. The back will open up slightly, but that is not a concern as to they will be face up. Let cool in the pan for five minutes, then place a wire drying rack on top of the pan, and using both hands on either side (with hot pads...) flip them over so that the cheesecakes are facing upright. Remove the pan and let the cheesecakes cool for at least 5 more minutes before serving.

These are great as is, just using a dip spreader to break into pieces. You could also serve this with crackers and use it as a spread. 

Halloween Oreo Stuffed Cookies

Stuffed. Oreo. Cookies....... that's really all I have to say. And the fact that somehow, for some reason, the Halloween Oreos taste better than every other kind of Oreo that's out there (even the Easter and Christmas that are supposedly dyed the same). It's just different! These cookies are the size of softballs and turn out so soft on the inside. Forget the candy....this is all you need to fill your sweet tooth for Halloween!

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
18-20 Halloween Oreos
Halloween sprinkles

In an electric mixer, beat the sugars and butter together until a paste forms. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix. Slowly add the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda) until just incorporated. Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out balls of cookie dough and place them on your work surface until all of the batter has been used up. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place one dough ball in your hand, an Oreo on top, and another dough ball on top of the Oreo. Press the top and bottom together gently and cover the edges of the cookie and roll sightly to form one large ball. Place on the prepared sheet. Continue that process until you have no more dough left. About 6-8 cookies can fit on the baking sheet at one time. Add the Halloween sprinkles on top and press down slightly. Bake for 12-15 minutes, remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

I wasn't lying when I said these cookies are the size of your palm! This only makes about 18-20 cookies, but it is well worth the effort!

Mini Cudighi Mummies

In Ishpeming (small town that I live in, in the UP of Michigan), Cudighi is a huge thing here. A lot of sandwiches that you can get at the many Italian restaurants in this town is a cudighi that comes with Mozzarella cheese and pizza sauce. These mummies are a somewhat tribute to those flavors. Even if you have to substitute for ground beef or turkey, the flavors will still be amazing. I recommend serving this with some warmed up pizza sauce!

Ingredients:

2 lb. ground cudighi (could use ground beef or turkey with Italian seasoning added)
1/3 c. green onion, chopped
1/2 c. Italian style bread crumbs
2 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. fresh cracked pepper
3 Tbs. Egg Beaters
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c. shredded Mozzarella
2 cans Pillsbury reduced fat Crescent Rolls
Mustard (for eyes)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking pan/sheet with tinfoil and spray with non stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix the cudighi, green onion, bread crumbs, seasoning, Egg Beaters, and cheese together until well combined. Form the meat mixture into eight ovals. Unroll the crescent roll dough and divide into the eight perforated rectangles.

Sprinkle a small amount of flour on your work surface and place one of the rectangles on the flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a larger thin rectangle. Leaving a two inch space in the middle, cut strips on each of the sides (length wise, mine was anywhere from 7-11). They do not have to have an even number of strips on each side, it's a random mummy pattern. Place the meatloaf oval in the center of the crescent dough. Wrap the dough strips over to the other side of the meat in a random pattern and tuck any pieces that overhand underneath. Make sure to leave a small gap to "draw" some eyes later.
 
Repeat the above process for the other seven mummies.  Place on the prepared pan. Bake in the oven for 26-28 minutes. You may have to sacrifice a mummy to cut in to make sure the cudighi is fully cooked, depending on how thick you make the meat loaves. When they cool slightly, add mustard, ketchup or pizza sauce eyes.

Candy Overload Bark

Need a way to get rid of that extra Halloween candy that you seem to have every year? Or a way to use or eat it differently other than unwrapping it and placing it in your mouth? Haha..... This candy bark is perfect! It can be very versatile, even though obviously my theme usually has chocolate involved somehow...

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. Wilton candy melts (I used bright orange with a few lime green and black pieces)
3 mini Butterfinger Cups, chopped
3 mini Snickers Bars, chopped
5 Halloween Oreos (orange filling), chopped
Halloween sprinkles (mine had pumpkins, bats and ghosts)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line  a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay out the orange candy coating pieces flat side down. Break up the lime green and black candy coating and randomly place on top of the orange. Bake for 5 minutes, checking frequently to make sure the edges are not browning. After removing from the oven, use a spatula to run along the top of the melted candy coating, and yes, it is okay if the colors start blending together to create the most strange brown color you have ever seen. The point is for it to be Halloween-esque and be creepy and weird looking!

While the candy coating is still hot/warm, spread out the three kinds of candy as random as possible. Add the sprinkles and gently press down with your hands to push the candy in deeper. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Cut, or break the bark into smaller pieces before serving. These would make a great gift or to bring to a party!