pie

Recipe of the Month: October, Part 3

Halloween Treats

Halloween is my favorite holiday – the crispness in the air (well, not in Tucson, but you know, I can pretend), the costumes and the candy – what’s not to like? But this year, my sister-in-law has a brand-new house to show off, so she’s holding the party for tonight, and I volunteered to make some deserts.

Below are some treats I found on Pinterest, and my versions that I made (click on the image to see the pin I got the ideas from).

First, I made the Ghostbusters Slimed Popcorn. This is a simple recipe, similar to rice crispy treats, that everyone is sure to like. I followed the recipe on the pin to the T, but I have a few additional tips.

  • Use a white popcorn – yellow will throw off the color of the slime
  • Speaking of white popcorn, the best flavors are going to be unsalted, lightly salted or kettle corn. Buttered popcorn will be too salty for the sweet “slime” and throw off the flavor of the treat
  • 2 bags of popcorn makes the perfect amount of corn for the amount of “slime” in this recipe
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Ghostbusters Slimed Popcorn

Next, my husband made these for me, as I was making the other dishes, but these have been a fall favorite of mine for a long time – Mini Pumpkin Pies. These are a great fall and winter party dessert for just about any occasion.

For the filling, I had my husband follow the filling on the back of the Libby’s pumpkin can, and then add a little something extra.

  • 1 dash pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 dash apple pie spice

I know these are combinations of spices already in the directions, but I always feel like my pies come out a little tastier if I add these – I like my pumpkin pie spicy. Additionally, we put the pies into cupcake wrappers – last time we did this we had a little trouble taking the pies out of the tin. This time, they came out clean and perfect!

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Miniature Pumpkin Pies

Finally, I decided to try the Pumpkin Puppy Chow. My mother-in-law makes traditional puppy chow every year for Christmas and New Years, and I love the stuff! I couldn’t resist a chance to try something so easy-sounding as well as something that was based on a recipe I knew I liked so much.

For this, I pretty much followed the recipe, except instead of 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice, I added:

  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 1 tsp apple pie spice
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Again, this is because I prefer my pumpkin very spicy (spiceful?) and I like a variety of spices. I also would have added ginger had I put more thought into it, and not been in a rush. All in all, it turned out very good, and is a great sweet treat to follow a saltier party meal, like pizza or burgers.

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Pumpkin Puppy Chow

 

I hope that everyone gets a chance to try out these recipes and enjoys them – I know I am! With that said, have a happy and safe Halloween!