Halloween Recipes

Guests will howl for this creative and super-festive punch. Create the glowing moon by freezing orange juice and water in a bowl, then release it and float it in a mixture of concord-grape juice, ginger soda, seltzer, and fresh lime juice. Spike grown-up ghouls' glasses with an ounce (or two) of vodka.

This easy-to-make beverage is sure to please any crowd—it's made with brandy, orange and apple slices, orange juice, club soda, and of course red wine. Choose a dry wine such as a red Zinfandel and make sure to chill the sangria before serving for the ultimate sip.

Faced with the usual pile of apple peels after baking a pie, our food editors came up with this clever snack. Toss apple with cinnamon sugar and bake for about two-and-a-half hours until the peels have crisped.

You don't need to be a candymaker to master this easy brittle recipe! Melt together butter, light brown sugar, and honey, cook until they reach a boil, then stir in pumpkin seeds and cool until set. The brittle can be enjoyed by itself or broken over ice cream.

This year, trick out your treats by serving up a platter of these spooky brownies. In this recipe, intense unsweetened cocoa powder and caramel-y brown sugar give them a sophisticated flavor profile, while the playful decorations keep you right on theme.

Beckoning jewel-toned fruits are cleverly frozen into a block of ice using a cake pan, then floated atop a Halloween punch spiked with sake and plum wine. Pomegranate juice gives the drink a very apt blood-red hue.

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.

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

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.

This rich Hungarian beef stew is a labor of love and well worth the effort. Stew beef, such as chuck, becomes super tender when cooked with plenty of red wine, diced tomatoes, vegetables, and herbs for about two hours. Serve alongside buttery noodles tossed with caraway seeds.

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. 

Serve up a little black magic in the form of a cocktail made with vodka that's as dark as night—with a scoop of ghostly-white vanilla ice cream floating on top. It's rich, chocolatey, and absolutely spook-tacular.

Fit for Dracula himself! Sweet homemade grenadine serves as the "blood" in this inspired Halloween cocktail made with vodka, grapefruit juice, and fresh lime juice.

Our riff on the popular finger food devils on horseback swaps out the traditional prunes and bacon for dried figs and prosciutto and ups the ante with goat cheese. Cut into hearts, the no-cook appetizer works equally well for Halloween as it does for Valentine's Day.

This lemony vodka libation, garnished with black ice cubes and a licorice stick, is perfect for your Halloween party. Make the licorice ice cubes by boiling water and anise seeds together, then stir in black food coloring, pour into a mold, and freeze.

Chocolate and pumpkin make a delightfully gooey pair in these creamy pumpkin-swirl brownies. Pure pumpkin purèe and vegetable oil are the secret to creating a very moist bite.

These petite fall treats will charm all but the grumpiest ghouls. Simple sugar cookies are garnished with candy corn pieces for a sweet fall treat.

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.

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.

Would you care for a horror d'oeuvre? These salted flatbreads are cut up into the shape of goblins, which make for the perfect snack at an adult cocktail hour or kids' Halloween party. 

Pure pumpkin purée makes this challah bread pudding super moist and creamy. The mixture gets plenty of warm, spiced flavor from cinnamon, ginger, allspice, dark brown sugar, and bourbon (yes, really!). A dusting of confectioners' sugar brightens the brown hues of baked bread and bourbon-soaked raisins.

As if devil’s food cake weren't already temptation incarnate, we've cranked up the heat with a rich and melty ganache topping and a four-alarm-fire crown. All you need to fake the flames is sugar, water, a candy thermometer, and food coloring. Let the candy cool, and sink the hardened pieces in for a dessert that'll go down in a blaze of glory.

Take a sip of this chilling gin-based bleeding heart martini, which gets its haunting hue from pickled baby red beets. Poke a cocktail skewer through each beet, which creates the effect of dripping blood.