Blogtober | How to: Kid Friendly Halloween Snacks
My nieces and I had an incredibly fun Halloween last year. We made yummy kid-friendly snacks together, made a huge mess trying to make slime, dressed up like bats and scientists, and had such a great time bonding with each other in the kitchen. Apparently our little party was a huge success because the girls kept asking me to throw another Halloween party this year! Who am I to deny these adorable tiny tyrants anything? They ask - they shall receive!
I love the idea of spending time in the kitchen with my nieces because it reminds me so much of my own childhood with my Aunt. I adored every culinary moment with her because she always involved me in every step of the cooking/making process. She wasn’t just teaching me how to cook - she was also bonding with me, teaching me how to create, teaching me how to be responsible in the kitchen, and showing me how to enjoy working with food. Those memories are ones that I will always cherish! Now I have two nieces of my own and I get to take on the role of Awesome Aunt for them. Words can’t express how happy that makes me - especially when they express how much fun they have!
Our culinary masterpieces this year consisted of cream cheese spiders, pb + apple monster mouths, and witches brew! My goal was to make something fun for Halloween while also trying to incorporate as many healthy-ish aspects as I could. Let’s be real - children and excess sugar is a combination that I try to avoid as much as possible because they turn into actual monsters! Yes, these are children that I can return to their owners, but I still try avoid sugar crashes and meltdowns.
We had a great time making these snacks together and I loved seeing the girls work together. I adore these little Tasmanian Devils and I couldn’t even get mad when the mini marshmallows kept “disappearing”. Our second annual Halloween Party was definitely a success!
Do you and your family do anything fun for Halloween? Let me know in the comments below if you have any awesome suggestions that we could incorporate next year!
Enjoy!
cream cheese Spiders
How cute are these spiders?! Of the three things we made, these are my personal favorite. We used cream cheese for ours but you could use any kind of spreadable butter or cream. If you’re going with cream cheese, I recommend using the kind in a tub because the stick versions are difficult to spread, especially when tiny hands are involved. If you have to, stir up the cream cheese in the tub to smooth it out and make it easier.
INGREDIENTS
Round Crackers
Pretzel Sticks
Cream Cheese (any spreadable butter or cream works)
Edible Eyes (you could use raisins or anything “eye-like”)
DIRECTIONS
Spread a generous layer of cream cheese on one side of a cracker.
Add pretzel sticks to resemble spider legs. I snapped the sticks in half to create shorter legs.
Layer another cracker with cream cheese and sandwich your spider closed.
Add a bit of cream cheese to the back of eyes as an edible adhesive.
Eat spooky cracker after admiring their cuteness!
PB + Apple Monster Mouths
If you want to see an element of magic while making these monster mouths, turn around for three seconds and the bag of marshmallows will perform a disappearing act! Usually tiny handfuls will disappear each time, followed by giggles and curiously mumbly children. Last year we made these monster mouths with just the marshmallow teeth, but this year I decided to try out candy corn for vampire fangs and strawberry slices for tongues.
Ingredients
Apple Slices
Creamy Peanut Butter
Mini Marshmallows
Candy Eyes
Optional: Candy Corn for Fangs
Optional: Strawberry Slices for Tongue
Directions
Spread a generous amount of peanut butter between two slices of apple. You want the thin end of the slices to touch and essentially create a “V” of peanut butter filling.
Add mini marshmallows for teeth. You could just stop here and they would look awesome, but if you feel like adding more, candy corn are awesome fangs and strawberry slices are great for tongues.
If the little hands helping you are reallllly little, embrace the absolute cuteness of their attempts.
Witches Brew!
This is what the girls were the most excited about. A bubbling cauldron of witches brew brings out the inner witch in everyone! You don’t need a cauldron but it sure does make the effect a lot cooler. If you’re not aware, drinking a liquid that is cooled by dry ice is completely safe but you can’t touch the dry ice directly and should use tongs and/or an oven mitt when handling it. Once it’s in your brew, you’re good to go! As for the contents of the brew, you could use anything you want. I know that people like to make punches with sherbet ice cream and lime soda, but we used White Cranberry because it is clear and chose to add green Jell-o to give the drink a neon effect when poured into a glass.
INGREDIENTS
Packet of Lime Jell-o
2 Cups Boiling Water
Clear Juice
Dry Ice
DIRECTIONS
Dissolve the Jell-o mixture into two cups of boiling water. Allow time to cool - do not put into fridge.
Add Jell-o water and juice of choice into your punch bowl, pitcher, or cauldron. The Jell-o is only to give it a neon green color but the lime can be a bit overpowering. The more juice you add, the less Jell-o-y it will taste.
Have an adult carefully and safely add a chunk of dry ice into your drink mixture. If it isn’t doing anything, add a little more until you get the desired effect.
Cackle like the witch or warlock that you are, cast a spell, and ladle your neon witches brew into a glass.
