How to turn Halloween into a fun-filled cooking adventure with your kids

Halloween isn’t just for dressing up and trick-or-treating–it’s the perfect excuse to whip up some magic in the kitchen with your little monsters! I’ve always believed that getting kids involved in cooking is one of the best ways to build their confidence, creativity, and love of food. And Halloween? Well, it’s the ultimate opportunity to turn everyday recipes into frightfully fun foodie adventures.

Little hands, big help

No matter their age, kids love getting stuck in, and Halloween is a brilliant time to turn them into your mini sous-chefs. From mixing and rolling to sprinkling and decorating, there are lots of fun (and safe) jobs for little hands to do. Whether you’re baking spooky spider cupcakes, making monster burgers, or transforming fruit into googly-eyed ghosts, cooking together is a great way to make magical memories. 

Foodie Fun for mini artists

Why not unleash your child’s inner Picasso in the kitchen? Encourage them to make food art with healthy ingredients – think frightening faces on porridge using chopped fruit or decorating monster faces on pizzas with chopped veggies.

Edible eyes = instant spooky makeover

One of my Halloween must-haves? A stash of edible eyes! They instantly “spookify” everyday foods – pop them on pancakes, fruit slices, or even sandwich wraps to make snack time a scream. It’s a simple trick that seriously ups the fun factor.

Skip the pumpkin, carve a pepper!

If you’re looking for a twist on traditional pumpkin carving, try carving faces into bell peppers instead. Fill them with spaghetti Bolognese or tomatoey noodles and let the “brains” spill out – a fun (and secretly nutritious) way to serve dinner this Halloween!

Keep It Simple (and quick!)

Toddlers and young children have short attention spans, so stick to quick, easy recipes with tasty results. Classic cupcakes and cookies are always a hit, but you can also try some healthier ideas:

  • Turn homemade energy balls into bats with edible eyes and biscuit wings!
  • Add mozzarella ‘eyeballs’ to wiggly worm spaghetti for a themed supper
  • Mash avocado and yoghurt to make a green ‘monster dip’ for pitta and veggie sticks
  • Serve up spooky sandwiches – let kids cut out shapes using Halloween cookie cutters 

Give them the “cooking power hour”

Make mealtimes exciting by letting your child help choose the menu. Scroll through the Halloween recipe collection on my app and choose a fun recipe to cook-up together. If a dish looks good to them, they’re much more likely to want to try it. And by involving them in the planning process, they’ll feel more empowered and excited to help in the kitchen.

ANNABEL KAFRMEL’S MINI SPOOKY PIZZAS

image - Motherly

Get them hands-on this Halloween with making their own ghoulishly good D.I.Y. Pizzas – frightfully fun to decorate and even tastier to eat.

This recipe is great for all ages – task your kitchen helpers to with measuring ingredients, kneading, rolling and stamping out the dough then (the best bit) decorating their own mini monster faces, ready to be baked. 

MAKES: 6 PIZZAS 

Ingredients

Pizza Dough 

  • 2 cups strong bread flour
  • 2 tsp dried yeast
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2/3 cup-3/4 cup warm water
  • Pinch of salt

Tomato Sauce

  • 2/3 cup passata 
  • 1 tsp sundried tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped 
  • Dash of sugar

Method 

  1. To make the dough, measure the flour, yeast, oil, water and salt into a mixing bowl. Mix together to form a dough. Tip onto a work surface. Dust with the flour and knead until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl. Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour. 
  2. To make the tomato sauce, mix the passata, tomato puree, basil and sugar together in a bowl. 
  3. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  4. Put the dough back onto the work surface. Divide into 6 balls. Roll out each ball to a circle about 12 cm in diameter. Place on 2 large baking sheets lined with baking paper.
  5. Spread the tomato sauce over the bases. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
  6. Bake in the oven for 15 to 18 minutes until golden and crisp. Decorate your cooked pizzas with the following spooky faces.

ANNABEL’S HALLOWEEN CUPCAKES

image 1 - Motherly

Add a *boo* to your baking this Halloween with these haunting cupcakes. You won’t want to drop a creepy crumb!

MAKES: 12 CUPCAKES

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 3/4 cup baking margarine 
  • 3 eggs 
  • ¾ cup + 1 tbsp fine sugar 
  • 1¼ cups self raising flour
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • ½ tsp baking powder 
  • 2 tbsp milk 

Frosting 

  • ¾ cup + 2 tbsp butter, softened
  • 2 tbsp milk 
  • 2½ cups icing sugar
  • Orange food coloring paste 

Decoration

  • Green M&M’s 
  • Oreo cookies 
  • Black ready to roll fondant 
  • Black and red icing pens 
  • Matchstick chocolates 

Method 

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cupcake cases.
  2. Measure all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat together using an electric whisk until light and fluffy.
  3. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases and bake for 20–25 minutes, until golden and well risen. Leave to cool.
  4. To make the frosting, measure the butter, icing sugar and milk into a bowl. Beat together using an electric whisk until fluffy and pale. Mix in the food colouring.

BAT CUPCAKES

  1. Spread or pipe the orange frosting onto the cupcake and place one Oreo on top.
  2. Roll out some black fondant icing and stamp out a circle using a small cookie cutter. Cut the circle in half to make two semi-circles and stick these to either side of the Oreo for the bat’s wings.
  3. Using the black icing pen, to stick two green M&Ms to the Oreo for the bat’s eyes. Add two black icing dots to the eyes, and use the red icing pen to add a mouth.

CAT CUPCAKES

  1. Spread or pipe the orange frosting onto the cupcake and place one Oreo on top.
  2. Roll out some black fondant icing and cut out two small triangles. Stick these just above the Oreo on either side to make the cat’s ears.
  3. Using the black icing pens, stick two green M&Ms to the Oreo for the cat’s eyes. Draw a line down the M&Ms using the black icing pen, and use the red icing pen to add a mouth.

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

  1. Spread or pipe the orange frosting onto the cupcake 
  2. Roll out some black fondant icing and cut out small triangles. Add the triangles to the cupcakes to make the pumpkin’s eyes and nose.
  3. Use your hands to roll out a long thin piece of fondant and arrange it to make a wiggly mouth. 
  4. Add a few green M&M’s on top for the leaves and insert a short length of matchstick chocolate for the pumpkin’s stalk. 

ANNABEL KARMEL’S KRISPIE MONSTER BARS

Krispie Monster Bars - Motherly

Keep your excitable zombies and witches busy this All Hallows’ Eve helping to prep my Snap, Crackle and Pop Rice Krispie monster bars!

MAKES: APPROX. 12 MONSTER BARS 

Ingredients 

  • 7 tbsp butter butter
  • ⅔ cup golden syrup golden syrup 
  • 3.5 oz white chocolate white chocolate
  • 6 cups Rice Krispies Rice Krispies 
  • 1¼ cups icing sugar icing sugar
  • Orange, green and purple food coloring 
  • Edible eyes
  • White and black ready to roll fondant icing (for the large eyes)

Method

  1. Melt the butter and sugar together in a saucepan. Once runny, remove from the heat and add the white chocolate. Stir until melted. Add the Rice Krispies and stir well. Spoon into a 23cm x23cm square tin lined with baking paper.
  2. Press down firmly (a potato mashed is good for this!). Chill for 2 hours in the fridge until set and slice into approximately 12 rectangular bars.
  3. Put the icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of water into a mixing bowl. Stir until you have a thick icing. Divide the icing into three bowls. Add food colourings to each bowl and then spoon over the bars.
  4. To make the large eyes make small balls of white icing and very small balls of black icing and flatten them then place the black circle on top of the white circle to make the eyes. Arrange the edible eyes on the bars for the small eyes. 

ANNABEL KARMEL’S AVOCADO MONSTER SMASH WRAPS

Looking for a new way to get them eating their greens? Then this recipe is worth a try. Avocado is rich in healthy monounsaturated fats and is a great nutrient dense food. Why not get your little one helping to scoop, mash, spread and sprinkle ingredients onto their own monster smash tortilla wraps!  

image - Motherly

MAKES: 4 WRAPS 

Ingredients 

  • 2 large ripe avocado
  • 4 spring onions, finely chopped 
  • ¼ red chili, diced (optional)
  • Juice ½ lemon or lime 
  • ½ clove garlic, crushed 
  • 4 mini tortilla wraps 
  • 1 large tomato, deseeded and diced 
  • ½ red pepper, sliced 
  • ½ large cucumber, sliced 
  • 1 mini cucumber, sliced 
  • Edible eyes 

Method 

  1. Slice the avocado in half and remove the stone. Mash in a bowl. Add the onions, chilli if using), lemon juice and garlic and mix well. 
  2. Put the tortilla wraps on a board. Spread the avocado over the surface. Decorate with scary Halloween faces using the vegetables; layer the cucumber on top of each other then add to the pizza for the eyes. Add edible eyes for the eyeballs then add pepper and tomatoes for the mouth and eyebrows. 

H – app -y Halloween!
Looking for more recipe inspiration? Annabel’s award-winning Recipes App is home to 1,300+ simple and delicious ideas for the whole family, PLUS new recipes every week! Start your FREE trial today!



source https://www.mother.ly/holidays/halloween/halloween-recipes/

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