10 Easy Halloween Snacks You Can Make in Under 15 Minutes
Costumes, decorations, and party planning have a way of eating up every spare minute in the weeks before Halloween. Whoever ends up in charge of snacks rarely has much time left over for anything complicated.
Luckily, some of the most fun Halloween treats barely qualify as cooking at all. Here’s exactly how to pull off ten of them fast.
Mummy Hot Dogs
Unroll a tube of crescent dough and cut it into thin strips. Wrap each strip around a hot dog in a criss-cross pattern, leaving a small gap near the top for the face, then bake at 375°F for about 12 minutes, until the dough is golden.
Once the mummies come out of the oven, let them cool for a minute or two before adding the face. Two small dots of mustard in the gap instantly become the eyes, and the tray is ready to serve.
Banana Ghosts
Slice bananas into thick rounds and melt white chocolate chips in short bursts in the microwave, stirring between each one. Dip each banana slice about halfway into the melted chocolate, letting the excess drip off before setting it on a lined tray.
While the chocolate is still soft, press two mini chocolate chips into each slice as eyes. A few minutes in the fridge sets the chocolate completely, and the ghosts are ready to eat.
Clementine Pumpkins
Peel a clementine as cleanly as possible, keeping the segments together in one round shape. Take a small piece of celery, or a broken pretzel stick, and push it straight down into the top center of the fruit.
That single stem is all it takes to turn the natural ridges of the clementine into a convincing pumpkin shape. Repeating this with the rest of the bag fills a bowl in just a few minutes. Check out the recipe here.
Witch Finger Pretzels
Melt white chocolate chips (or green candy melts) in the microwave, then dip each pretzel rod about halfway in, twisting gently so the chocolate coats it evenly. Set the dipped pretzels on a lined tray while the chocolate is still wet.
Press one sliced almond onto the tip of each pretzel to look like a fingernail. A light drizzle of red food coloring or gel around the base of the almond finishes the gruesome effect before the chocolate sets.
Apple Monster Bites
Slice apples into rounds about half an inch thick and spread a layer of peanut butter across the top of each one. Press a few mini marshmallows (or sunflower seeds) halfway into the peanut butter along one edge to form crooked “teeth.”
Add candy eyes or two mini chocolate chips above the marshmallows as eyes, pressing gently so they stick. The peanut butter acts as glue for both the teeth and the eyes, so no baking or extra tools are needed.
You can even add the strawberry slices to get a silly look.
Candy Corn Fruit Skewers
Cut pineapple, orange segments, and banana into similarly sized chunks so they stack neatly on a skewer. Thread pineapple first, then orange, then banana onto each skewer, repeating the pattern if the skewer has room for more.
That order mimics the yellow, orange, and white stripes of a piece of candy corn almost exactly. A batch of skewers comes together as fast as the fruit can be cut and threaded.
Spider Deviled Eggs
Halve pre-boiled eggs lengthwise and scoop the yolks into a bowl, mashing them with mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper until smooth. Spoon or pipe the filling back into each egg white half.
Cut thin strips from a black olive and arrange four on each side of the filling to look like spider legs. A tiny dot of filling or a peppercorn on the front makes the eyes, finishing the spider in one step. Check out the whole recipe here.
Graveyard Pudding Cups
Crush a handful of chocolate sandwich cookies into coarse crumbs, either in a bag with a rolling pin or in a food processor. Sprinkle a generous layer of the crumbs over the top of each chocolate pudding cup to look like dirt.
Push one or two gummy worms partway into the crumbs so they appear to be crawling out. A broken cookie piece stuck in at an angle makes a quick tombstone for extra effect.
Ghost Popcorn Mix
Pop a batch of popcorn, or use a store-bought bag, and spread it out on a lined tray. Melt white chocolate chips and drizzle it evenly over the popcorn, then toss gently with a spoon to coat as many pieces as possible.
While the chocolate is still wet, scatter candy eyes across the tray so they stick to the popcorn. Letting it sit for a few minutes firms the chocolate up enough to eat by hand.
Jack-o-Lantern Quesadillas
Cut a simple triangle-eyed, jagged-mouth face out of one tortilla using a small knife or kitchen scissors. Lay a second, uncut tortilla on a hot, lightly greased pan, cover it with shredded cheese, then place the cut tortilla on top.
Cook for a minute or two until the cheese melts and the bottom tortilla turns golden, then flip carefully to crisp the top side. The melted cheese shows through the cutout face, finishing the jack-o’-lantern look right on the plate.
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