15 Creepy Cool Halloween Party Recipes
Part of the spread… spell-book brownies, prosciutto cheese hand, death by chocolate cupcakes, salted caramel macarons, monster matcha shortbread cookies, & roasted pumpkin seeds.
I love Halloween. If you’ve followed me on social media for a bit, it’s no secret. I also love a good party, so Halloween feels like a good excuse to pull out all the stops.
Making a sacrificial offering….to my party guests ;) Photo by Anna Grove Photography
At our very first Halloween Party I focused mostly on sweets—I mistake I made only once. Since most of our guests were indulging in alcohol, I realized I needed more savory items as well. There’s lots of room for creepy fun with savory items, but it also helps absorb a bit of the alcohol.
Many of these recipes are not my own, but I am collecting them here to get them all in one place. Links/Credit will always be given to the original poster.
Although some of these recipes may err on the side of “cute”, I generally think the creepier the better, so if you’re looking for lots of “cute” you’re in the wrong place.
CLICK THE TITLES BELOW FOR LINKS DIRECTLY TO THE RECIPE!!!
1.) Death by Chocolate Cupcakes with Milano Cookie Headstone
^click for recipe
Death by Chocolate cupcake
Heck, if you screw ‘em up, you can always dump them into small ramekins and serve them as more of a “dirt cup” like I had to do this last year! #epicfail
This last year my cupcakes didn’t set properly and kind of collapsed onto themselves. Instead of throwing a fit and putting them directly in the trash (which I considered, at first) I just “plated” them in these glass ramekins instead.
2.) Brain Cake
^click for recipe
The brain cake I made from How To Cake It’s Brain Cake Tutorial.
3.) Spellbook Brownies
^click for recipe
(Impress all your guy friends and call them Necronomicon brownies instead…)
My own version of the Brownie Spellbooks by Half-Baked Harvest; Photo by Anna Grove Photography
4.) Rhubarb Eyeball Pies
^click for recipe
Photo (and recipe) from Not Quite Nigella
5.) Monster Matcha Shortbread Cookies
^click for recipe
I’m obsessed with Matcha. What better way to be festive than to make Frankensteins with these cute cookie cutters I found on Etsy?! With this dough that’s naturally green, it’s perfect! (disclaimer I can’t find the exact cookie cutter I have on Etsy anymore. I bought it four years ago…)
My own Matcha Shortbread Cookies using Use Real Butter’s recipe
6.) Proscuitto Cheese Hand
^click for directions
Perfectly gory and always a crowd pleaser. Leave a knife sticking in it. It’ll help them serve it anyway. I normally use goat cheese for the molded hand.
My own Proscuitto Cheese hand using inspo from Castellon’s Kitchen.
7.) Vampire Killer Garlic Dip
^click for recipe
Obsessed with garlic? Me too. This one always goes fast.
My own Vampire Garlic Dip using recipe from Tasty Kitchen
8.) Creepy Macarons
Go ham with flavors! I love a good fall flavor. Try Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Cinnamon, or Salted Caramel . Keep the shells plain (or add a little white food coloring! ) and decorate it with a realistic spider or a swipe (or splatter!) of blood red!
My own version of Salted Caramel Macarons from The Tough Cookie; Photo by Anna Grove Photography.
More salted caramel macarons actually, but with decorating inspo from The Tasty Bite
If you’re inexperienced at making macarons they can be quite tricky. My favorite shell recipe is actually here and then I’ll experiment with other people’s filling ideas. If you’re not into baking like I am, you could also buy some from your favorite local bakery or Trader Joe’s and decorate them yourself. Most of the local bakeries around me offer something festive around holidays like Halloween so you may be able to just buy some already done!
9.) Aged Cheese Witches Fingers
^click for recipe
They’re like creepy cheez-its. What’s not to love?
My own Aged Cheese Witches’ Fingers using Bitchin’ Kitchen’s recipe; Photo by Anna Grove Photography.
10.) Bloody Bat Wings
^click for recipe
Creepy but awesome. The best part is pumping the wings full of the “blood sauce” with the syringe (or eating them, take your pick)
My own bloody bat wings using recipe by Thrillist
11.) Skullzones
^click for recipe
So many options for these! I like making mine using this GF dough recipe, but you could use store-bought pizza dough to make it quicker/easier. You’ll need this cakelet pan from Nordicware. It’s a little pricey, but you could make all kinds of other treats with it from your favorite cupcake and muffin recipes to burrito skulls and chocolate lava skull cakes!
My skullzones using an adapted recipe from food.com
12.) Deviled Eyes in Garlicky Black Bean Spoons
^click for recipe
Photo (and recipe) by Momdot.com
13.) Flesh Eating Virus Jello Vaccines
My own Cherry Amaretto flavored Flesh Eating Virus Vaccines (my own recipe below); Photo by Anna Grove Photography.
These always go fast. People get “vaccinated” pretty much at the door. Dissolve 1 pkg Black Cherry Jell-O with 1 C hot water (allow to cool 10-20 minutes so you don’t evaporate any alochol) and combine with 1/2 C Amaretto and 1/2 C Unflavored Vodka. (I normally triple or quadruple this recipe for 40). Fill real (needle-less) syringes with it and chill several hours. Serve on a pan reminiscent of a medical tray. I always get my syringes on Amazon. Some liquor stores will sell syringes made for jello shots but they end up costing way more and don’t have all the fill lines which I think add a special touch.
14.) Cheese Graveyard
Who knew by simply removing a few strategic corners on a wedge of Brie you’d have a perfect casket shape! (I like to prop mine up with one of those corners) Go with a round of Smoked Gouda and take advantage of the natural curves for grave stones. This year I went ham and round things out with a gangrenous Blue Cheese and fill in with all the trimmings. Including other accoutrements with a creepy vibe like Medjool Dates (which I think look eerily like Cockroaches) and stuffed olives (eyeballs, anyone?) These cute chips from Trader Joe’s shaped like ghosts definitely fit the bill, cheddar crosses, fresh figs and black grapes, chocolate covered almonds, dried apricots to fit the orange theme, cured meats, and this gorgeous chocolate pumpkin from a local chocolatiere (filled with eyeball gumballs) made the perfect centerpiece!
My own cheese graveyard.
15.) Zombie Punch with Lychee Eyeballs
1 Cup Light Rum
1 Cup Dark Rum
1 Cup Grapefruit Juice
¾ Cup Lime Juice
½ Cup Cinnamon Syrup
1.5 oz Grenadine
12 Dashes Herbstura
my own Lychee eyeball garnishes.
The classic cocktail on a larger scale. Serves 4-8. Scale accordingly. Garnish with canned Lychees stuffed with a blueberry and skewered with a fancy toothpick!
Other beverages…
I also like to offer wine! Some delicious red with sinister names/labels that are great choices include
Apothic Inferno, PoiZin, and The Prisoner
My husband usually gets a keg of beer (or sometimes even brews his own!)
And I always like to have some festive non-alcoholic options, also! World Market usually delivers—
something like this alcohol-free “Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer” fits the bill! Or keep it simple and have some good old-fashioned Apple cider handy!
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you’ve tried any of these dishes/beverages in the comments below!
