Tag Archives: Halloween dessert

Spooky Chocolate Brownies

Posted on October 2, 2021 by Ruthanne

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You know it’s October when I pull out the eyeball and bones sprinkles! 🙂 These deliciously rich chocolate brownies are a family recipe that we LOVE. Whether you decorate them or not, they are guaranteed to make your family smile!

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A couple of months ago, a friend of mine came across this recipe of my mom’s that I hadn’t ever made. I actually don’t remember her ever making it either, but my friend sent me a copy in my mom’s handwriting and told me that she’d made them for their wedding reception years ago. We lost my mom to cancer about 7 years ago, so I loved trying this recipe of hers for myself. And… these brownies are the BOMB. The brownies aren’t super sweet, but the frosting is like fudge. They cut *perfectly* too- which I love. When you want to share brownies with a group, there is nothing worse than trying to cut them, and ending up with gooey piles of chocolate. Plus…. they are super easy to make!

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Want to try them? Here’s the recipe (printable version):

INGREDIENTS:

Brownies

1 cup of sugar
1 stick butter (room temp)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups Hershey’s chocolate syrup
1 cup flour

Icing

1 1/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup milk
6 Tablespoons butter
6 oz. chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Brownies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream together butter and sugar
Add eggs and syrup
Blend in flour
Pour into a greased 9×13″ pan
Bake at 350F for 30 min
Cool

Icing

Combine sugar, milk and butter in a saucepan
Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes
Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until completely melted.
Pour over the top of brownies
To decorate, drizzle with colored Wilton Candy Melts and sprinkle with Halloween candies (if desired)
Allow icing to harden up before cutting brownies into squares.

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My thoughts: Just make these. Honestly, they are one of the best brownie recipes I have tried, and they have become a go-to recipe for us! Enjoy! ~r

Want to try a different Halloween dessert? We have SO MANY! Click on a photo to see the recipe:

And… our top two favorite Halloween recipes on Easybaked:

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Posted in Brownies, Kids recipes, Seasonal dessert and tagged brownies, chocolate brownies, fun scary dessert, halloween brownie, Halloween dessert, hershey syrup brownies. Bookmark the permalink.

Tie Dye Slime Cake for Halloween!

Posted on October 19, 2019 by Ruthanne

Slime Cake1

This deliciously scary layer cake has all the fun colors of Halloween, with green slime oozing out of the layers!

I think that of all the desserts I create all year long, the October ones are my favorite. There is just something fun about the purples and greens and oranges this time of year- and the “yuck” factor that actually tastes amazing. This cake has all the colors, all the feels, and that slimy green layer? It is actually white chocolate pudding that is absolutely delicious.

This filling is inspired by our Toxic Slime Cupcakes from a few years ago. I loved the flavor of the pudding slime so much that I wanted to use it in something else. The cake-of-many-colors is inspired by our Tie Dye cake recipe from a few years back. Put the two together and you have this Franken-dessert mash-up. Just in time for Halloween!

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Want to know how we made it? Here you go: (printable recipe)

Ingredients:

One white cake mix (plus eggs, oil and water to make according to package)
One chocolate cake mix (plus eggs, oil and water to make according to package)
Food coloring gels in orange, green, purple and black
Two large boxes of instant White Chocolate pudding mix (plus milk to make according to package)
2 sticks of salted butter
2 sticks of unsalted butter
3 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
Halloween sprinkles

Directions:

Make two cake mixes according to package.
Use black food coloring gel to make chocolate cake a black color
Divide white cake batter into three bowls and add color gels to make them orange, green and purple.
Spray three 9 inch pans with cooking spray and cut a round piece of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of each. If you don’t have three pans, bake layers one at a time.
Starting with black, place a circle of batter in the middle of each pan. Tap it to make it spread out a bit (batter should not be at the edges yet). Add a circle of green in the center of the black, tap until both colors spread a little. Repeat with orange and then start again with black and repeat all colors, ending with black (because you have more batter in that color).

Tie Dye Method1

Place cakes in a 350F degree oven and bake according to package (mine took about 25 min).
Remove from oven, tip out of pan, and cool completely on a cake rack.
Trim the top of each layer so that it is flat.
Make 2 boxes of pudding according to package, and use green food color to tint it a slimy shade of green.
Make frosting by placing the butter (at room temp), powdered sugar and vanilla into a large bowl and beating it on high until light and fluffy.
Divide frosting into 3 bowls- one bowl for the purple should have about 3/4 of the frosting, the other two should have the rest split in two for orange and green. Use food color gels to color these.

Assembly of the cake:

Place purple icing in a large zip-top bag fitted with a large round (2A) Wilton decorating tip. Pipe icing around the top of a layer to form a “wall” to hold the pudding slime on the cake.
Spoon 1/2 of the green slime pudding on top of the cake, and spread it to the frosting edges.

Gently place a cake layer on top of the pudding and repeat the process once more, ending with the top layer of cake.
Frost the entire cake in purple and then, using a round (2A) Wilton tip, pipe round dots all over the top of the cake in the 3 colors.
Finish with a sprinkle of eyeballs and bones- or any other fun Halloween candy.
Enjoy!

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My thoughts: YUM!!! This cake is so good with that white chocolate pudding as a filling. Goodness. You could make this recipe easier by doing either one element or the other (make a purple cake with slime- or make a tie-dye cake with regular filling). Also- you will have a little left-over black batter. I went a little heavier on the black layers to make up the difference, but still had a little left. I really hope you get a chance to try this recipe! Enjoy!! ~r

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Other fun Halloween recipes to try:(click on photo to open recipe)

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Posted in Cakes, Seasonal dessert and tagged fun halloween treat, green slime cake, Green slime dessert, Halloween, Halloween cake, Halloween dessert, halloween layer cake, halloween party, layer cake, slimy dessert, tie-dye cake, toxic slime cake. Bookmark the permalink.

A bowl of eyeball cookies!

Posted on October 15, 2016 by Ruthanne

These delicious little cookies are the perfect creepy treat for October!

Ah…these were fun to make and really fun to share! They definitely gave kids a pause. I heard one little girl say, “Mom- I’m a little scared of those cookies because they are looking at me!”

Love it.

Ok- so these don’t involve baking. You could certainly bake cookies and decorate them this way- but if you are like me and you needed a recipe at 10pm the night before- Nilla Wafers and Ritz crackers will do just fine (and taste GREAT!)

Here is how we put them together (and there is no printable recipe- because there isn’t really a recipe for these- just a technique!)

INGREDIENTS:

Nilla Wafers (and some mini-Nilla wafers, if you’ve got them!)
Ritz crackers
Wilton Candy melts in green, blue, white and black
Candy eyes (although these aren’t technically necessary, since you have the white and black candy melts).

DIRECTIONS:

Melt candy melts, one color at a time, in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until melted and smooth.
Spoon into a zip-top bag and cut a corner off. (Or use a squeeze bottle fitted with a decorating tip if you have one)
Use green to outline the edges of the Ritz crackers and then fill in. Use white to outline and fill in the tops of the Nilla wafers.

Draw eyes of different sizes on the Ritz crackers, using a toothpick to make the tiny pupils in black (use candy eyes if you have them, for one size) I even added some little green blotches on these just to make them more weird.
Use blue and black candy melts to make eyes on the Nilla Wafers.

Let these harden and then serve them up in a fun bowl- or maybe put them in little cello bags and tie them with ribbon!
Enjoy!

My thoughts: Aren’t they fun? You don’t have to be fussy about making them perfect- the crazier the better! Those Ritz crackers are especially yummy with the sweet candy on top. Yum. Enjoy these quick and easy treats!!! ~r

Other creepy recipes for your October: click on a photo to see the recipe.

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged cookies, crackers, dessert, easy fall dessert, eyeball cookies, eyeballs, fall, funny, Halloween, Halloween dessert, nilla wafers, October, recipe, ritz crackers, sweets. Bookmark the permalink.

Hairy Monster Oreo Pops

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Ruthanne

These fuzzy Oreo monsters aren’t TOO scary- and they taste delicious!

Oh Oreo Pops… I love you! So many possibilities and so little time! Aren’t these so cute? They remind me of the little pom-poms with eyes that we used to put on the tops of pencils. Yes..pencils…back in the olden days when we used paper 😉

In any case- these are perfect for Halloween and even for just fun fuzzies at kids parties! The only requirement??? You need to like coconut! I know that eliminates a few of you out there…but believe me- if you like coconut, you will LOVE these! Coconut plus Oreos?? Bam!

Here’s how we made these fun little guys: (printable recipe available here)

INGREDIENTS: (for about 24 cookies)

One package of Double Stuff Oreos
Wilton’s Candy Melts– you need about a bag and 1/2- so if you do all three colors you need 1/2 bag of each.
Candy eyes
About 3 cups of shredded, sweetened coconut
Food coloring in desired shades
About 24 lollipop sticks

DIRECTIONS: (if you’ve never made Oreo Pops, check out our tutorial here)

Place coconut in small zip-top bags and add food coloring in desired shades. Zip bag shut and shake and squeeze until coconut is completely colored. Set aside.
Twist apart all of your Oreos.
Melt your candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
Dip the end of a lollipop stick into the melts, spread a little on the top of the white filling of the Oreo and then press the stick into the white filling.
Place the top of the Oreo back on so that the stick is in the middle with the filling.
Do this for all the Oreos, and set them on a large plate or cookie sheet to FREEZE for about 10 minutes.
Hold a chilled pop by the stick, and spoon candy melts (in desired color) over the top, bottom and sides of the Oreo.
Tap stick against the side of the bowl to get extra melts off, and gently pull the bottom of the Oreo along the edge of the bowl, scraping off excess melts.

Set Oreo on parchment paper to harden- but before it hardens, sprinkle a generous amount of coconut on the top of the candy melts, and gently press it up against the sides.
When all Oreos of a given color are dipped and covered, take the remaining candy melts and use a dab on the back of each candy eye-ball to “glue” these on top of the coconut. I used a toothpick to add this dab of candy melt to the eyeball.
Continue until you have all colors finished. Allow Oreo pops to completely harden (a couple of hours). You can freeze them to speed up this process.
The BEST way to serve these is to wrap them in cello bags and tie them with a ribbon. This keeps all that coconut in place (and not all over the other colors of coconut!)

My thoughts: These are quick, but a little messy to put together, They are adorable and delicious though– so well worth the effort in my opinion!!! I liked them even better after a couple of days- when the coconut gets a little firmer in texture from sitting out and it’s less oily. These will keep for at least a week (maybe longer?) when wrapped up in cello bags. I do hope you get a chance to try them! Enjoy!! ~r

We specialize in making kids smile here at Easybaked. Here are a few more ideas: (click on photo to see recipe)

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Posted in Candy, Cookies, Kids recipes, Uncategorized and tagged coconut, coconut dessert, coconut oreos, dessert, fuzzy monster dessert, Halloween, Halloween dessert, Halloween Oreo Pop, Halloween party idea, Halloween recipe, kids party Oreo pop, monster dessert, Monster Oreo Pop, Oreo dessert, Oreo pop, Oreos. Bookmark the permalink.

Spiderweb Brownie Tart

Posted on October 1, 2016 by Ruthanne

Fun stripes of color make this tart a beautiful addition to your fall table. Rich dark chocolate and creamy mint filling make it a delicious one!

Isn’t this fun? I love the October colors and the mint filling, but this could be made with any flavoring and in any combination of colors. Plus….it is EASY- I promise! The only special equipment you need is a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom- and if you don’t have that, you can make these in a regular 9×9 brownie pan. They aren’t quite as pretty- but still very fun!

This is my mom’s famous brownie recipe. If you’ve been following us on Easybaked for very long, you know that I use this recipe ALL THE TIME. I just rearrange it into different ideas. You also know that we lost my mom almost two years ago very suddenly to cancer. Every time I re-make her recipe into something new, it makes me smile. She would have loved this idea, and I wish she were here to try it!

The original recipe for these is here. The brownie is baked in a large jellyroll pan (like a Texas sheet cake) and then covered in mint and chocolate glaze. That recipe was WAY too large to use in a tart pan, so I reduced it to 1/3 of it’s size for this idea. I had to google crazy things like “what is 1/3 of 2 cups”- only to realize that 1/3 of one cup times 2 is…..(wait for it)….. 2/3 of a cup. Sigh. Math is not my strong suit. 🙂

I really hope you enjoy making, serving and (of course!) eating this fun little tart, dear friends!

Here is how we made it: (printable recipe is here)

INGREDIENTS:

Brownie:

1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons of dark cocoa powder (try to use dark- it makes it easier to color the brownie black)
Pinch of salt
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup milk
Food coloring gel in black

Mint filling: (this makes a little more than you need- but makes certain you have enough of each color)

5 cups powdered sugar
8 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons mint extract
Food coloring gel in orange, green and purple

Chocolate glaze/spiderweb:

1 cup of dark chocolate chips (again, use dark so it is easier to color black)
6 tablespoon of butter
Food coloring gel in black
About 1/4 cup of Wilton’s candy melts in each color: orange, green and purple

DIRECTIONS:

NOTE: Throughout this recipe, be careful when moving the tart pan, as holding it from the bottom will cause the edges to slide off. I usually keep tarts on a cookie sheet when I bake and decorate them- I took this one off (very carefully!) so I could photograph the process for you.

Brownie:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream butter and sugar together.
Beat in eggs, cocoa, vanilla and salt.
Add flour and milk (alternating them and mixing well in between)
Add black food coloring gel until batter is a dark almost-black color.
Spread evenly in 9 in tart pan that has been set on a cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool completely.

Mint filling:

Melt butter and add to powdered sugar.
Add extract.
Mix well, using water to bring it to a thick but spreadable consistency.
Divide filling into three bowls and mix in gel food coloring until you get a desired shade of green, orange and purple.
As soon as color is mixed in, spoon each filling color into a small and sturdy (use freezer, not sandwich) zip-top bag. Push all the air out and seal tightly. As this filling is exposed to air it begins to harden up- so sealing these up right away prevents this. If you are slow, you can always add a little more water to get it back to the right consistency.
Set aside until brownie has cooled.
Cut a corner off each bag, and squeeze filling out into a circle at the center. Alternating colors, add rings around this until the entire top of the brownie is covered with filling.

Once the top is covered, set a piece of parchment paper or wax paper on top and gently press the filling down so that it goes all the way to the edges. You might need to push it into some of the fluted edge. Try to make it nice and flat. The glaze will cover all the ridges, but you want to be sure that the edges are pushed down enough that the glaze has room to get to the edge of the pan without overflowing.

Chocolate glaze:

Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until completely melted and smooth.
Add black gel food coloring until glaze is a dark almost-black (I added quite a bit and never got it completely black- but close!)
BEFORE pouring glaze onto tart: melt each color of candy melts and place each in individual zip-top bags (so they are ready as soon as glaze is poured)
Pour glaze over top of mint filling, using a spoon or knife to push out to all the edges.
Before glaze hardens, cut a small corner on each bag of melted Wilton’s candy melts and pipe circles (like a target shape) in alternating colors on top of the melted glaze.
Use a toothpick or skewer to draw lines through the glaze, starting at the center and drawing lines out to the edge.
Add (if desired) black Sixlets at each point around the edge.
Chill until top layer of glaze is hardened. Do not remove outer ring of tart pan until this has completely hardened. Then, push up on the bottom firmly, until the edges slide out of pan. This takes a little patience- I refrigerated my tart overnight and then let it sit out for about 30 minutes before I was able to push the bottom up and remove that outer ring. If you have a hard time, push up in different spots along the edge, loosening all the edges 1st, before pushing the whole thing out.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: I wish you could have seen my face when I cut into this and pulled out that first piece. So many recipe ideas work great in my head but are a flop in the kitchen. This one was not a flop! It worked perfectly- and I love that striped layer SO much! I really hope you give this one a try, and enjoy it as much as I did! As always, when I post this brownie recipe… this one’s for you mom! *heart*

We have LOADS of fun October dessert ideas here on Easybaked! Here are a few of them: (click on photo to see recipe)

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Posted in Brownies, Tarts and tagged brownie, brownie tart, chocolate, chocolate glaze, colorful dessert, fun dessert ideas, Halloween dessert, halloween party ideas, Halloween recipe idea, kids halloween ideas, kids recipe, mint, mint brownies, mint tart, October dessert, October recipe ideas, spider dessert, spider recipe, tart. Bookmark the permalink.

Creepy Broken Glass Cupcakes!

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Ruthanne

These delicious Red Velvet cupcakes with smooth cream cheese icing are topped with all the makings of a horror movie (or, according to my friend Ricky, a Stephen King novel!). These are just in time for your creepy October festivities!!

[and if you aren’t a fan of the decorations, they are an amazing cupcake all by themselves!]

Ok. These were really fun to make. I’d seen SO many examples of these online– this is not an original idea. However, I made it my goal to create these in the easiest possible way, with the fewest steps and NO candy thermometers! Not original, but EASY!!!

Note: I did a cake mix fix by swapping out the water and oil for milk and butter and adding one extra egg. It was SO good! (Thanks for the idea Rex!) Heavy and moist cupcakes with exceptional flavor. I highly recommend it, but you can certainly make the mix as directed for these cupcakes.

Here’s how they are made: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

The cupcakes:

One boxed Red Velvet cake mix
Milk (in the same amount as the water required by the mix)
Eggs (in the same amount as required by the mix PLUS one extra egg)
Butter (twice the amount of oil required by mix- for example if the box calls for 1/2 cup of oil you would use 1 cup of butter). Measure and then melt before adding to mix.

The icing:

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup of butter (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup white chocolate chips (melted)

The glass candy:

1 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of light corn syrup
1 teaspoon of clear flavoring (I used raspberry)

The edible blood:

1 (14 oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk
Red gel food coloring
Black gel food coloring
1 teaspoon of clear flavoring (I used raspberry)

DIRECTIONS:

I recommend making the decorations 1st (the glass and “blood”) and keeping them until just before your party to decorate with. They will both keep for several days, so you can make them ahead of time.

Candy Glass:

Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper and spray the wax paper liberally with non-stick spray.
Place granulated sugar and corn syrup into a microwave safe bowl and mix them together.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap.
Microwave on high for 3 minutes.
Remove from Microwave and CAREFULLY remove plastic wrap (beware of hot steam!)
Stir well and re-cover with fresh plastic wrap.
Microwave on high for another 3 minutes, but watch mixture after about 2 minutes. Because microwaves vary, you need to watch it to make sure it doesn’t start to turn color. If you cook it too long it will be an amber color instead of the nice clear glass you want. My microwave was perfect at 2 and 1/2 minutes.
CAREFULLY remove from microwave and CAREFULLY remove plastic wrap.
This is soooo hot and sticky– using caution to not touch any of the hot candy, pour it out over the greased wax paper and allow it to sit and harden completely (at least a couple of hours)

When candy glass is hard, tap a knife tip into glass to break it into sharp pieces.
Carefully (the pieces are actually sharp!) push pieces up off of wax paper and onto a plate.
Candy glass can be kept in a zip top bag or an air tight container for about a week. Moisture (including the moisture from the frosting on the cupcakes) will eventually start to break the glass down.

Edible Blood:

Place sweetened condensed milk into a small bowl and mix in red food color gel and flavoring until you get a brilliant red color. Add a TINY bit of black (use a toothpick- black goes a long way!).
Mix and adjust until you get a nice dark red color.
Spoon “blood” into a zip-top bag and seal TIGHTLY. Keep refrigerated until use.

Cupcakes:

Make cake mix according to box (swapping in cake mix “fix” ingredients if desired)
Divide equally into 24 cupcake liners in cupcake tins.
Bake at 350F degrees according to times on box.
Remove cupcakes from oven and cool completely.

Frosting:

On medium speed, beat together cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt until creamy.
Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.
Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between, until smooth.
Add melted white chocolate to icing and beat on low until completely combined.
Place in a zip-top bag fitted with a decorating tip and pipe frosting on top of cooled cupcakes.

Decorating:

Put parchment paper on a counter to protect it from all that red food coloring.
[or- use a large platter or tray that you will serve the cupcakes on- blood splatter and all!]
Place frosted cupcakes on protected surface and press 2 to3 pieces of glass into the top of each.
Clip the corner on the bag of edible blood and drizzle over the top of the glass and the cupcakes, allowing it to drip down the sides of both.
Serve the same day after decorating.
Use care transporting and serve with plates and forks, or you will all have red fingers!!

My thoughts: These are such yummy cupcakes all by themselves. But the decorating was SO much fun! My friend Amber helped and we both were a little in awe of how realistic they looked…and how yummy they tasted! I wasn’t sure how the sweetened condensed milk would taste on the cupcakes, but I added a little raspberry flavor and oh my…so good!

Setting up for photos was fun too…splattering fake blood everywhere and letting it drip off my cupcake stand was interesting…not my typical cupcake photo shoot!

I really hope you get a chance to try these– even if you just go for the yummy cupcake recipe minus the drama!

I will leave you with a little insiders look at my picture-taking experience:

So fun!!!