October - Festive Halloween Treats

This was our first recipe group meeting and it went great! We had lots of fun eating and talking and having a great time out of the house with no kids! Here is the list of recipes from the October Festive Halloween Treats:Kelly McNeil:

Strawberry Ghosts Recipe
Ingredients:
-Fresh Strawberries
-8 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped
-1 teaspoon shortening
-1/8 teaspoon almond extract
-1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Wash strawberries and gently pat with paper towels until completely dry. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt white chocolate and shortening at 50% power; stir until smooth. Stir in extract.

Dip each strawberry in choocolate mixture; place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet, allowing excess chocolate to form the ghost's tails. Immediately press chocolate chips into coating for eyes.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt remaining chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Dip a toothpick into melted chocolate and draw a mouth on each face. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen.


Elizabeth Cramer:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients:
-1 box spice cake mix
-1 sm. (15oz.) can pumpkin
-1 bag chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake about 17 minutes.

Laura Nielson

Pumpkin Spice Crispy Treats
Ingredients:
-1/4 cup Butter
-1 bag (10 oz.) Jet-Puffed Pumpkin Spice Mallows
-6 cup Rice Crispies
-1 cup candy corn

Directions:
Melt butter and marshmallows, add rice crispies. Lightly greats 9 x 13 pan and place mixture into pan, pressing down. Use cookie cutter for halloween shape. Use candy corn (or other Halloween candy) to decorate.

Whitney Coppin
Oreo Truffles
Ingredients:
-1 (16 oz) package OREO chocolate sandwich cookies, divided
-1 (8 oz) package philadelphia cream cheese, softened
-2 (8 oz) package Baker's semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

Directions:
Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in food processor, reserve for later use. (Cookies can also be finely crushed in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin.) Crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs; place in medium bowl. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1 inch in diameter.
Dip balls in chocolate; place on wax paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover chocolate can be stored at room temp. for another use.) Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.
Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store leftover truffles, covered, in refrigerator.

Rachel Salley

Spooky Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Ingredients:
-1 (9 oz) box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
-1 (8 oz) package light cream cheese, softened
-1 cup mayonnaise
-1 cup sour cream
-2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced ( I used 2tsp. of minced garlic)
-1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
-1 teaspoon hot sauce
-2 teaspoon parsley
-1/4 teaspoon black pepper
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 (15 oz) jar artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
-1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a clean dry cloth to squeeze all moisture out of spinach and then roughly chop. Place in a medium bowl. Add the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Place in an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 inch pan and bake for 20 minutes. While it is baking make your bread cutouts using any halloween cookie cutters. Brush bread with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder. Lay bread crumbs on dip and bake another 15-20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Amy Huish

Cheese Dip
Ingredients:
-1 can Rotel tomatoes
-3/4 package velveeta cheese

Directions:
On stovetop on medium heat mix rotel with velveeta cheese. Stir frequently until cheese is melted. Eat with tortilla chips!

Lindsay Blackford

Mummy Mini Pizzas
Ingredients:
-8 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed to room temp.
-1/3 cup pizza sauce
-8 string cheese
-sliced olives

Directions:

Spray counter lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Flatten each roll into a 3-4 inch circle. Place on a sprayed baking sheet. Top each on with about 2 teaspoons pizza sauce. Poke each one several times with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. While pizzas are baking tear 1 string cheese for each pizza into thin strips. Remove pizzas from oven and place 2 olives slices on each for eyes. Layer cheese strips in a random fashion to resemble mummy bandages. Trim any strips that are too long. Return to oven and bake an additional 1-2 mnutes to melt cheese slightly.