30 Easy Halloween Recipes Guaranteed to Freak Out Your Guests

Witches' Finger Cookies and Red Velvet Hot Chocolate

Name a more iconic duo than witch finger cookies and red velvet hot chocolate — we'll wait. This Halloween recipe uses a buttery shortbread dough for knobby fingers, blanched almonds for fingernails, cinnamon for dirt and red food coloring to get the gory bleeding look. The coolest and creepiest part of this dish is the red velvet hot chocolate dipping sauce that looks like a goblet of blood.

Some quick tips: Once your cookie dough is ready to go, you'll want to measure out 1/2 tablespoon quantities of the dough, roll them into a ball, and then into a log shape. Be sure to make them quite thin as they were spread in the oven while baking. For the knuckle indentations, use a knife to make the ridges. Get the full spooktacular treat at Domestic Gothess. (via Domestic Gothess)

Halloween Monster Donuts

Kids can make their own frightful Halloween Monster Donuts over pre-made glazed donuts in this yummy no-bake dessert or breakfast. (via A Spicy Perspective)

Voldemort's Dark Serum

Harry Potter fans will delight in this spooky Halloween cocktail made with a mix of pomegranate juice, tequila, Chambord (raspberry liquor), lemon, and warming sage. (via Half Baked Harvest)

Mummy Pizzas

Trick your kids into eating their veggies by turning zucchini ribbons into tasty mummy bandages atop French bread pizzas. Take advantage of the Halloween holiday to get extra playful and silly with your food. To start this dish, grab ciabatta rolls or similar rectangular rolls, sun-dried tomato pesto or pizza sauce, grated mozzarella cheese, small zucchinis, and black olives. Halve the bread rolls, add your sauce of choice, sprinkle with cheese and use a vegetable peeler to cut the zucchini into thin ribbons that can be haphazardly placed on the roll at different angles. Use the sliced olives for eyes, and bake for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Then you can mummy out! (via Brit + Co)

Ghoulish Red Velvet Cake

Bloody bones, crumbled red velvet, lots of sugar — this dessert is everything a Halloween treat should be. You'll need a few hours to make the cake, frosting and bones from scratch in the DIY masterpiece. Check your pantry and refrigerator for butter, sugar, eggs, flour, cocoa powder, buttermilk, vanilla extract, white vinegar, baking soda and cake release spray for the cake; egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar for the bones; and mascarpone, icing sugar, heavy cream and blackberry syrup for the for the frosting. As far as supplies goes, it'll also be helpful to have a mixer, piping bags, cake stand, a few mixing bowls and a measuring jug. (via Brit + Co)

Spooky Halloween Popsicles

Autumn weather is notoriously unpredictable. Make a batch of spooky frozen pops in case you find yourself sweating through your monster mask. Your ingredient list for these includes a bar of dark chocolate, heavy whipping cream, a can of coconut milk, condensed milk, a pack of candy googly eyes, and popsicle molds. Also, be sure to set aside about four hours to complete this Halloween party food idea. (via Brit + Co)

Slow-Cooker Vampire Punch

Have chills running up and down your spine? Ghouls of all ages can sip on this non-alcoholic crimson punch. For a more potent potion, add rum. To master this recipe and round out your Halloween menu, you'll need a slow cooker, five minutes to mix all the ingredients, and three hours of patience to let it brew. Hawaiian Punch, ginger ale, and Red Hot Candies are the hero ingredients here. To take this to the next level on the spook-scale, use dry ice for a smoky vibe. (via Boulder Locavore)

Bug Tuxedo Cake

This bug-covered cake is gorgeous, but it will absolutely creep out your friends and loved ones. We imagine this is what they served when Beetlejuice tried to marry Lydia. For this Halloween menu item, grab a chocolate cake mix, white chocolate, butter, powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla. This recipe will yield a four layer cake with thick frosting and thick chocolate ganache poured over the top. Mm, yum! (via Brit + Co)

Raw Avocado Zombie Bars

Unlike zombies, vegans don't eat brains, or any other food that comes from an animal for that matter. Instead, serve them up some raw, vegan avocado zombie bars for a healthy treat. You'll get about 16 servings with this recipe, which requires Medjool dates, raw almonds, cocoa powder, coconut oil, avocados, agave nectar, coconut oil, a blender or food processor and an 8x8 inch brownie pan. (via Brit + Co)

Jack-o-Lantern Pumpkin Ice Cream

Halloween heatwaves don't stand a chance against cones of grinning, grimacing pumpkin ice cream. (via Salty Canary)

Haunted Orchard Cocktails

After tip-toeing through a haunted orchard, who wouldn't crave a cocktail to calm the nerves? (via Half Baked Harvest)

Jack-o-Lantern Personal Pies

Carve pie crust jack-o-lanterns to top these personal pies. (via Domestic Gothess)

Petri Dish Jello Shots

Usually we *avoid* putting germs in our body, but these Jell-O shot petri dishes look so good, we just can't resist having one for dessert. Oh, and they're make-ahead, leaving you more time to work on your costume. (via Brit + Co)

Spider Web Cereal Treats

Jazz up your usual cereal treats with a thick layer of chocolate ganache and a web of icing on top. Simple, spooky, and superb. (via Jelly Toast)

Blood Bones Cocktail

Spike your punch bowl with bones made from Jell-O shot ingredients, including whipped cream vodka. (via Brit + Co)

Halloween Avocado Toast

What's more terrifying than millennials spending all their hard-earned cash on avocados and destroying the real estate industry? Turning those avos into totally freaky breakfast toasts, of course. (via Brit + Co)

Halloween Monster Popcorn

When stocking your Halloween pantry, you'd better buy edible googly eyes in bulk. Add them to everything from popcorn to oatmeal to instantly make your meal mortifying. (via Salty Canary)

Whole Wheat Witch Fingers + Dip

Healthy and Halloween don't have to be mutually exclusive. Serve this on days when you're not feeling the sweet stuff. (via Texanerin Baking)

White Chocolate Strawberry Lab Mice

October 31 is the only time of year when seeing mice in the kitchen is actually a good thing. After all, they're made from strawberries and white chocolate! This make-ahead treat is easy to put together and ideal for a mad scientist themed spooky party.

For this Halloween recipe, all you need are strawberries, white chocolate melting wafers, and red food coloring. Set a few of the wafers aside to be used as mouse ears, and melt the rest in the microwave-safe dish for about 30 seconds. Then dip your strawberries into the melty chocolate and place on a flat plate or surface to help them keep their shape. As the chocolate starts to set, place two wafer on top of each strawberry for the ears. To achieve the spooky red eyes, mix red food dye into the remaining melted chocolate and use a fork or toothpick to pick up the color and complete the look. For more mad scientist Halloween food ideas, check out this lime green petri dish jello shot recipe. (via Brit + Co)

Black Martinis

This cocktail is sweeter than it seems. It gets its dark color from blackberries, Chambord, and a drop of food coloring. (via Brit + Co)

Midnight Galaxy Donut Holes

Howl at the full moon while snacking on glorious galaxy swirl donut holes. Just make sure you bring enough to share with the werewolves. (via Brit + Co)

Halloween Bark Recipe

Dark chocolate and bloody red candy melts combine to make this popcorn bark a spooky treat. (via Curbly)

Halloween Monster Sushi Bites

Get the kids to help decorate these monstrous sushi bites, and they might actually forget about candy for a while. (via Brit + Co)

Eyeball and Mummy Cake Balls

Nothing like popping an eyeball in your mouth for a sweet snack, right? (via Brit + Co)

Blood-Splattered Petit Fours

Pound cake squares and sugar glass sounds totally scrumptious to us. Those who faint at the sight of blood might want to skip this one, though. (via Brit + Co)

Bloody Meringue Bones

You don't need any special ingredients to make realistic edible blood. Frozen blackberries, sugar, and lemon juice do the trick nicely. (via Brit + Co)

Spooky Chocolate Glazed Cannoli Dip

When faced with a vat of chocolate glazed cannoli dip, the only thing we have to fear is our appetite. (via Give it Some Thyme)

Black + Orange Rum Punch

It's the one time of year that a black and orange cocktail won't freak out your guests too badly. (via Brit + Co)

(Gummy) Worm Ice Cubes

For a Halloween cocktail trick and treat, add gummy worms to your guests' ice. (via Brit + Co)

Monster Eye-Scream Cookies

If you like cute more than creepy, these adorable ice cream cookies have your name written all over them. Grab your favorite sugar cookie recipe, royal icing in a variety of colors, and fondant for homemade candy eyes if you can't find the store-bought kind. You can DIY candy eyes by rolling out fondant and using straws to cut out uniform small circles. Once the fondant dries, you can add on black dots with an edible market to finish the eyes and set aside. Then, before you bake your cookie dough of choice, use cookie cutters to create fun and cute shapes in the dough like hearts, triangles, stars, and more. Think about the colors you want to use for your designs (we opted for a pastel palette with pink, yellow, peach, and blue), and dye the royal icing as needed to match your desired hues. Then get to work on decorating your cute scary monster cookies! (via Brit + Co)