Halloween Treats & Desserts

Staff Picks

Candy Apples

Candy apples are a classic fall dessert that family and friends are sure to love. Use your apple-picking haul to make the ultimate Halloween treat, complete with a sticky-sweet caramel coating.

Crispy Chocolate-Marshmallow Treats

Bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder give a classic cereal bar a devilish twist. With only five ingredients and 10 minutes of prep work, who could resist baking one of these batty bars?

Apple-Walnut Bundt Cake

There is fall flavor in every bite of this seasonal bundt. An apple-cider glaze and caramelized apples in the batter set this spice cake apart.

Chocolate Cupcakes

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This recipe is the gold standard when it comes to classic cupcakes. We frosted these with Easy White Icing, but you could use our Chocolate Glaze for an even richer dessert.

"Broken Glass" Cupcakes

The recipe for the "glass" is essentially one for caramel. The trick is to cook it for a shorter amount of time than usual so it stays clear.

Darkest Chocolate Crepe Cake

The decorative nuts are dipped in caramelized sugar and hung in bat fashion—upside down—so the sugar streams and hardens into the best candy on the block.

No tricks, only treats here! This classic kid-friendly snack is made with just four ingredients—popcorn, melted buttered, marshmallows, and light brown sugar. Feel free to mix in additional sweet ingredients such as dried fruit, toffee bits, or chopped chocolate to these popcorn balls.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream-Cheese Filling

Tender pumpkin-spiced cookies are filled with tangy cream cheese frosting for a delightful autumnal dessert. Kids and adults alike will love this recipe, which comes from Matt Lewis' Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.

No-Bake Spiderweb Cheesecake

Innocents are snared easily by a ganache spiderweb. Spun by a gumdrop spider with limber licorice-string legs, the web is draped over a dangerously addictive and creamy no-bake cheesecake. Candy Spiders make a creepy garnish.

Peanut Butter Tart

The classic combination of peanut butter and milk chocolate in this no-bake dessert evokes a favorite candy, but its delicate texture will make your guests feel like sophisticated trick-or-treaters.

Fudgy Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

For the ultimate chocolate lover, make this rich, dense chocolate cake with an equally intense, chocolatey frosting.

Cherry Sheet Cake

We used frozen cherries to make a fruit-studded cake that's sweet as can be. Serve it on its own as an afternoon snack or with whipped cream for dessert.

Inspiration and Ideas

29 Perfect Recipes to Serve at Your Halloween Party

Surprise guests with these sweet treats, savory snacks, and scary cocktails.

Spooky Recipes for Halloween Brownies, Blondies, and Bars

No tricks, only treats here! These Halloween brownie recipes are scary good.

Truly Frightening Yet Totally Delicious Halloween Cookie Recipes

23 Halloween Treat Bags and Favors Made to Delight

Our Halloween Cupcake Recipes Will Give You Chills

Halloween Cake Recipes That Are Terrifyingly Delicious

Popcorn on the Cob

Celebrate harvest season with "ears" of candied popcorn, reminiscent of Indian corn. Unbleached parchment paper from your pantry is all you need for the pretty presentation.

All Halloween Treats & Desserts

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Pumpkin's not just for pies. Mix up these cupcakes with canned pumpkin and lots of spice, then top them with tangy cream cheese frosting and the cutest mini marzipan pumpkins.

Caramel-Almond Popcorn

Alexis Stewart's caramel-almond popcorn is an easy snack to make and, as she can attest, "people love it." Homemade caramel sauce is infused with almond and vanilla extracts, which is then poured over popcorn and toasted almonds.

Pumpkin Bars

In between bars and a crowd-friendly sheet cake is this autumnal dessert. Moist and tender pumpkin spice cake is lavished with cream cheese frosting for bars that are simply irresistible.

Glazed Chocolate Cake

This is an elegant and rich-tasting cake, but it is actually simple to prepare. Delicate curls of semisweet chocolate dress up the whipped cream for the ultimate garnish.

Chocolate-Candy Icebox Bars

Who doesn't buy extra Halloween candy? This year, use some in these festive icebox bars and throw a party.

Invisible Pops

Practice your magic with these invisible Halloween lollipops. Bring corn syrup, granulated sugar, and water to a boil, then pour into three-inch circles. Press assorted candies such as licorice whips, pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds), and candy corn into each individal confection.

Maple-Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

Maple and oatmeal are a satisfying pair, especially when enriched with brown sugar and shredded coconut.

Ginger Pumpkin Bread

Make this moist quick bread all autumn long. The ginger and pumpkin flavors blend together nicely in this sweet dessert bread.

Marzipan Pumpkin Petits Fours

Mini pumpkin cakes are covered with a layer of spiced cream-cheese frosting and fondant for these sweet little pastries.

Bloody Brain

Turn classic cocktail shrimp into a gruesome Halloween hors d'oeuvre that will terrify and delight party-goers. Arrange shrimp in a deep bowl, pour a gelatin-based cocktail sauce over the shrimp, and chill until set.

Raven's-Nest Cake

Seeking a Halloween party dessert? Look no further than this moist buttermilk-chocolate cake frosted with vanilla buttercream. Revelers will rave about the decadent cake topper, which is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's infamous bird. To fashion the nest, pipe melted chocolate into a bowl of chilled vodka in overlapping rings—it will instantly harden—and then feather it with toasted cake crumbles (aka "dirt") and shiny candies.

Sweet Bones

Spook Halloween party guests with these light, airy confections made of meringue. All you need to make these bloody bites are egg whites and sugar, which are whipped into stiff peaks and piped into the shape of bones.

Chewy Caramel Popcorn and Pretzel Bars

This salty-sweet treat is one that both kids and adults alike will love. Plain popcorn and coarsely chopped salted pretzels are mixed together with a rich caramel and marshmallow sauce. It's an ooey-gooey, absoultely irresistible bite.

Wine-Poached Pears

Bosc pears are excellent for poaching in this wine-poached pear recipe. They're crisp and firm even when quite ripe, and make for a delicious dessert.

Milk Caramel

Making homemade caramel couldn't be easier with this recipe. Simmer a can of condensed milk until it's reduced by half and turned to a golden brown hue. The result is a rich, caramelized cream similar to dulce de leche. Use this recipe to make our Pumpkin-Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Caramel Apples

Traditional caramel-covered treats are made even better with the toppings suggested by our food editors. A sprinkling of sea salt enhances the buttery flavor of caramel apples. For a prettier presentation, use apple-tree cuttings as sticks.

White-Chocolate Caramel Corn with Cashews

Caramel corn, a perennial Halloween favorite, gets an upgrade with the addition of chopped cashews and drizzled white chocolate. It can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week so you can enjoy it for the days leading up to October 31.

Chocolate-Pumpkin Tart

Chocolate complements the sweetness of pumpkin in this sophisticated alternative to pumpkin pie. A rich layer of melted chocolate is poured on top of the baked chocolate crust for a bonus creamy layer. Top with a light-as-air pumpkin filling and bake until set.

Movie Theater Bark

Who can resist velvety chocolate—bittersweet, milk, or white—topped with nuts, candy, or dried fruit? Try our other bark variations, or experiment with your own favorite flavors.

Black Cherry Filling

Only four ingredients are used to make the rich filling for our Haunted Black Forest Layer Cake—frozen black cherries, sugar, kirsch, and cornstarch. It comes together in just 10 minutes and can be made up to two days in advance.

Pumpkin-Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches

Homemade pumpkin ice cream plus homemade gingerbread cookies equals delicious Halloween party snacks. The pairing works wonderfully thanks to pumpkin's natural affinity for spices, such as ginger.

Cinnamon Dumplings With Apple-Cider Syrup

This dessert is as sweetly comforting as pulling on a sweater on the first chilly fall day. It features cinnamon dumplings that are generously drizzled with warm, golden apple-cider syrup. They're easy to make: Just drop dough into a simmering sugar-cider mixture. These are best served warm with a cool dollop of creme fraiche.

Haunted-House Cake

This haunted house's towering cookie facade, candy details, and golden caramel windows are guaranteed to become the stuff of legend—that is, should anyone who ventures near live to tell the tale. A winding nougat staircase leads up the chocolate buttercream grounds to the entrance, where a construction-paper caretaker hovers just inside, waiting for the next unsuspecting visitor.

Snake Cake with Venom Glaze

Something tasty this way comes: a ganache-covered cheesecake. Stenciled with a green design, a coiled serpent augurs a dessert hour full of surprises. Beneath this coating lurks a chocolate cheesecake and chocolate crust. Maybe good witches do exist after all.

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