For Halloween we get to play with our food, creating creepy concoctions to fit the holiday's theme. This week's recipes offer black-cat chocolate cookies and cheese straws shaped like knobby witch's fingers. Cupcakes are so popular these days that I have two: pumpkin shapes that are suitable throughout the fall — including Thanksgiving — and bloodshot eyeballs made with the help of some candies and red food coloring.
Finally, I've added a tasty fall recipe for baked apples sure to appeal to kids of all ages.
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Black Cat Cookies
Makes 3 dozen
3½ cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
1 16-ounce container chocolate frosting
Black food coloring
Assorted decorations, such as black string licorice, black jelly beans, chocolate wafer cookies, miniature candy-coated chocolate pieces and gumdrops
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Set aside. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Add chocolate; mix well.
2. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out rounds with 2½-inch round cookie cutter. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
4. Tint frosting black with ½ teaspoon black food coloring. Spread onto cooled cookies. To decorate cookies to resemble cat faces, use miniature candy-coated chocolate pieces for the eyes, jelly beans for the nose, gumdrops for the mouth, string licorice for the whiskers and cut-up chocolate wafers for the ears.
Note: For easier measurement, ¼ teaspoon food coloring equals 20 to 25 drops.
Adapted from McCormick
Vanilla Cinnamon Apples
Makes 4 servings
4 baking apples
3 tablespoons butter
¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon Madagascar bourbon pure vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon brandy (or apple juice), optional
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup walnuts
Pinch of salt
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat the bottom of a shallow baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cut a thin slice from the bottom of each apple so it will stand upright. Scoop out the core of each apple from the top down with the small end of a melon ball cutter, making sure not to core all the way through the apple.
2. Combine the butter, brown sugar and vanilla paste in a medium saucepan and cook over low heat until the butter is melted, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and stir in the cinnamon, allspice, brandy, raisins, walnuts and salt. Fill the apples with equal amounts of the filling using a teaspoon. Place the apples in the prepared baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until caramelized and fork tender.
Adapted from Nielsen-Massey Vanillas
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