I didn’t really plan on doing a whole series of Halloween treats for the kids, it just sort of worked out this way. I think these two may be the last of them for this year, but with a week to go I don’t want to bet on it.
Eyeballs on a Fork
First up is the eyeball on a fork up top there. All you need is donut holes (powdered sugar works best), white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and red decorator icing.
If you’ve done candy before, skip down to the next picture. You can probably figure out the next six paragraphs.
Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. If you don’t have one, just use a metal or glass bowl and a small pot. A metal bowl will transfer heat faster so the chocolate starts melting faster, but it’s easier to overshoot and burn it. Glass takes longer to heat up, but that makes it easier to control and hold at the right temperature.
Whichever one you use, make sure not to let any steam get down into the chocolate. It will seize. (That means it will go from smooth and creamy to hard and gritty.)
Put about an inch of water in the pot over medium heat, put the chocolate in the bowl, and put it on top of the pot. As soon as the chocolate starts to melt, turn off the stove. The heat left in the water should be enough to melt the chocolate.
If you’ve melted semi-sweet or milk chocolate before, be aware that white chocolate melts — and burns — at a much lower temperature.
Once the chocolate is melted, give each kid a fork with a donut hole on it. Let them dip it in and then hold it over a plate (to catch drips) until it hardens. As soon as the chocolate has cooled enough that it won’t burn them, but it’s still soft, give them a single semi-sweet chocolate chip to press in for the pupil.
Once the white chocolate has hardened, add the bloodshot veins with the decorator icing.
Mummy Dogs
Next up, mummified hot dogs. And no, I don’t mean the ones you find in your 8-year-old’s room when you finally get him to clean it.
Take your croissant dough — if you use the stuff in the blue can, I won’t think any less of you — and cut it into strips. Wrap each hot dog up irregularly. Put them on a baking sheet and bake according to the directions for your croissant dough.
Add eyes with mustard or ketchup. Our ketchup was kind of runny, so the mustard worked much better.
What Halloween treats do you plan on making for your kids? Or yourself? Let me know down in the comments.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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8 Comments
I know the eyeballs on a fork! I saw it in a magazine and was going to try them this year. What I think would take them over the top is to get jelly filled donut holes. I know of one place that makes them, but I don't know if it's worth the drive.
Ooh, so they squire when you bite into them. Good call.
Mummy dogs are a fun and quick halloween lunch for the kids before they take off trick or treating!
They might not be gross or body-part-like, but for halloween I'm fixing Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with sweet ricotta cheese-cake-like filling.
I like both of these, Drew – Even though, like you, I pride myself in cooking from scratch, these seem to be great on the fly. Not only can you be super anal-retentive and make the [eyeballs] from the ground on up but you can pretty much buy everything in the store and assemble at home in no time. Great for on the fly. Thanks!
Love the mummy dogs! Hilarious! I am so looking forward to Halloween this year. Wrap-around porch, fog machine and strobe light. Mwah, ha, ha!!!
Making mummy dogs right now! And jack o' lantern grilled cheese (cut triangle eyes & toothy grin out of bread and am using orange sharp cheddar cheese).
Okay, turns out grandparents like the mummy dogs, too. The eyeballs looked cool, but no one really liked eating them all that much.
Ilina, how do you keep the cheese from leaking out when you're grilling that side?