Easy Halloween Treats Kids Can Make

Looking for a salty and sweet snack for a kids party? This irresistible blend of pretzels, chocolate, and candy is frighteningly good and an easy Halloween food recipe.

Transform ordinary chocolate cupcakes into an easy Halloween treat for kids (or just any cat fan).

To make, follow these steps:

1. Frost each cupcake with chocolate frosting.

2. Pour chocolate sprinkles into a bowl. Lightly press the top of each cupcake into the sprinkles to coat the frosting with sprinkles.

3. Cut a yellow gumdrop in half to use as eyes. Cut short pieces of black shoestring licorice to use as pupils, and press onto the cut side of each gumdrop half. Lightly press each gumdrop half into cupcakes to form eyes.

4. Cut chocolate candy coating disks into triangles to serve as ears. Press two triangles into the frosting from the side.

5. Cut pieces of black shoestring licorice for whiskers. Arrange on top of cupcake as desired. Pipe a dot of chocolate frosting into the center of the whiskers for a nose.

Freaky Frankenstein Family Treats

Give your family a fright with these candy-topped Halloween cookies. For extra spooky fun, have each person create their own likeness.

To make, follow these steps:

1. Cut a variety of shapes from your favorite rolled sugar cookie or shortbread dough (see our recipe below), and bake as directed.

2. Spread a thin layer of green frosting onto the main part of each cookie to form the face.

3. Use brown icing and various candy pieces to add frightening facial features.

4. For the final touch, secure peanut butter cups to the sides of each cookie for Frankenstein flair.

For a classic and easy Halloween treat for kids that skews delightful over frightful, bake a batch of festively decorated sugar cookies.

To make, follow these steps:

1. Use a pumpkin-shape cookie cutter to cut pumpkins from rolled sugar cookie dough that's prepared according to your favorite recipe. Bake as directed.

2. Spread a layer of orange icing on the main portion of the pumpkin.

3. Add your favorite jack-o'-lantern face shapes to the pumpkin cookies using black icing, and cover the stems with green icing.

Melt, dip, and dry are the basic steps to enjoy these delightful marshmallow pops. These Halloween desserts make a pretty centerpiece in addition to being sweet treats.

To make, follow these steps:

1. Place orange-color and yellow-color candy coating disks in separate microwave-safe bowls. Microwave separately on high until melted and smooth, stopping to stir every 30 seconds.

2. Insert straws into bases of large marshmallows. Dip part or all of each marshmallow in candy coating, spooning it over if necessary and letting excess drip off into bowl.

3. If desired, sprinkle with orange and black nonpareils.

4. Lay marshmallows on waxed paper (or insert straws into florists foam to avoid a flat side) to let harden.

5. For two-layer candy corn marshmallows, omit the nonpareils. After the first coating layer has firmed up, dip the marshmallow in a second color of candy coating, keeping the first layer of coating visible. Let stand on waxed paper or in florists foam until coating is firm.

You won't be able to take your eyes off these eerie Halloween peanut butter bites. These Halloween desserts are eye-catching and irresistible at any event, whether served as snacks for a kids party or added to the buffet at your adult get-together.

To make, follow these steps:

1. In a mixing bowl stir together 1/2 cup peanut butter and 3 tablespoons softened butter. Gradually add 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, stirring until combined. Shape into 1-inch balls; place on waxed paper. Let stand until dry (about 20 minutes).

2. Chop 8 ounces vanilla-flavor white candy coating. Place in a heavy saucepan; cook and stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Dip balls, one at a time, into coating. Let excess coating drip off peanut butter balls. Place on waxed paper; let stand until coating is firm.

3. Use a clean small paintbrush and red food coloring to paint veins on the coated peanut butter balls.

4. Pipe small dots of black icing for pupils.

This devilishly delicious chocolate cake is anything but frightening. Pick your favorite jack-o'-lantern faces to adorn the chocolate wafer cookies or gingersnaps, and have your little monster put the festive Halloween cookies all over the cake.

To make, follow these steps:

1. Prepare your favorite chocolate layer cake as directed.

2. Frost the cake with orange icing.

3. Put more of the icing in a cake decorating bag fitted with a No. 1 or No. 2 round tip, and pipe jack-o'-lantern faces on chocolate wafer cookies or gingersnaps.

4. Stand the decorated cookies around the cake, and embed a half-dozen (or as many as you'd like) in the top.

Celebrate autumn with a pumpkin patch-theme treat! Give kids the job of frosting and decorating these Halloween cookies for an ode to a favorite fall tradition.

Boo! These adorable little goblins are made from everyone's favorite snack: chocolate sandwich cookies. Adding candy hats on top makes these Halloween sweets frightfully good.

If you've got a house full of chocolate-lovers, these individual Halloween desserts will be popular with everyone. Kids will love decorating these chocolate mousse cups with edible bones, gummy worms, and headstone cookies!

For quick and spooky, but fun, treats to make, use marshmallows and fondant to form tasty ghouls. Tint the fondant and use candies and pretzels to decorate each ghoul to spooky perfection.

To make, follow these steps:

1. For a tall white ghoul, use clean scissors to snip one end from each of two large marshmallows. Press the cut ends together.

2. Roll fondant to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out a 4-1/2-inch-diameter fondant circle. Shape the fondant over the marshmallow stack.

3. Add eyes and a mouth with decorating gel.

4. To color ghouls, tint fondant with a small amount of food coloring. For the striped version, roll small ropes of different colors of the fondant. Press ropes together and roll out with a rolling pin. Finish as directed above.

5. If desired, use small candies for features, attaching them with decorator frosting.

Editor's Tip: For hair-raising fun, push the fondant through a garlic press.

An easy Halloween treat for kids to help make, this spooky snack mix comes together in a snap! Smiling skulls and white chocolate-covered pretzels are a Halloween treat that adults and kids alike will devour. Perfect for party favors, these individual Halloween snack bags are scary good.

Spiders usually aren't on the guest list. But these tarantulas are made from sweet candies, so the scurrying Halloween goodies will have partygoers squealing with delight, not fright.

To make these easy Halloween treats for kids, follow these steps:

1. Melt candy coating or candy disks and place in a resealable plastic bag; snip off a small corner.

2. Pipe spider legs onto a waxed-paper-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with nonpareils (if desired). Chill legs in the refrigerator until firm.

3. Squeeze small circles of melted coating onto another waxed-paper-lined baking sheet, and insert eight chilled legs into each circle.

4. Add a 1-inch candy truffle on top of each circle for the spider's body.

5. Add small candies or frosting for eyes; chill in refrigerator until firm.

For a delicious and easy Halloween treat for kids, enlist your little ones to help decorate these beastly cupcakes. With swirly eyes and spooky teeth, these monster cupcakes are ghoulishly good!

To make, follow these steps:

1. Pipe frosting high onto prepared cupcakes. Carefully slice chocolate swirl snack cakes in 1/4-inch pieces for the swirly zombie eyes. The chocolate coating on the cakes will crack off easily, so be careful during this step. Or just remove the outer chocolate altogether.

2. Press the eyes onto the frosting faces atop the cupcakes. Cut round gummy candies in half, and press them into the sides of the frosting like ears.

3. Cut black licorice into small pieces and attach as the zombies' noses. Finally, press gum or mints into the frosting to create teeth.

Transform plain peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into ghostly Halloween snacks. To make as a snack for a kids party, use a variety of Halloween-theme cookie cutters like pumpkins, witch hats, and cats to make a festive and tasty sandwich platter.

To make, follow these steps:

1. Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

2. Use a ghost-shape cookie cutter to cut the sandwich into a ghost shape.

3. Press two raisins into bread—use peanut butter if necessary to make them stick—for the ghost's eyes.

Create your own mini laboratory with these Halloween snacks. Gather plenty of add-ons—olives, carrots, sweet pickles, and parsley work great—then let imaginations run wild.

To make, follow these steps:

1. Make a wrap with your choice of fillings. Roll up and secure with a wooden pick.

2. Stuff one end of rolled tortilla with red sweet pepper strips, shredded lettuce, parsley sprigs, and julienned carrots.

3. Attach olives and pepper pieces for the eyes, nose, and mouth with mayonnaise or honey mustard.

4. Cut an apron shape from the cheese and lay atop tortilla.

5. Add pickles or peppers for shoes, and use cheese as a blanket.