3 Spooky Halloween dip recipes

Eyeball hummus dip

• 2 large tubs of your favorite store-bought hummus
• Cured green pimento olives
• Black pitted Kalamata olives

1. Slice about 10 green and 10 black olives into thin round pieces (keeping them thin is important for the ones that will suction onto the side of the dish, if they’re too big and heavy, they’ll fall down).
2. Place olive circles (in eye pairs) suctioned to the inside of the 8 x 5-inch glass serving dish as shown.
3. Carefully spoon the hummus into the serving dish, taking care not to mess up the eyes on the side.
4. Place additional olive eyes on top. Serve with tortilla chips, pita bread, carrots and/or crackers.

Hot dog puff-pastry fingers with simple queso dip and finger lick’in blood sauce

• 1 sheet puff pastry dough, thawed, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (for dusting surface)
• 1 hot dog, uncooked, cut in half vertically and then into a bunch of fingernail shapes
• 1 egg, lightly beaten (plus 1 tablespoon water) for egg wash
• 1 jar of your favorite store-bought queso cheese dip, warmed
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup of your favorite hot sauce
• 1 clear (or red) culinary squirt bottle (if desired)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or spray well with cooking spray).
2. Sprinkle flour onto a clean, flat surface. Lay out puff pastry sheet and lightly press down on it to flatten just a bit.
3. Using a knife or pizza slicer, slice pastry into 6 long strips, then 4 across, so you’re left with 24 small rectangle pastry pieces.
4. Now, place a hot dog fingernail near the top of each piece of pastry. Using your (real) fingers, form dough lightly up around the nail and press down on the hot dog piece to secure it to the dough.
5. Form the skin part of the dough by lightly pressing in on each side to resemble a finger shape.
6. Place all hot dog puff pastry fingers on the prepared cookie sheet and brush lightly with egg wash.
7. Place in the oven and cook, 6-10 minutes, or until pastry is a light golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven and lightly press down again on the hot dog nails. (This step, simply sinks the hot dog piece, a bit more into the dough.)
9. Serve hot dog fingers with warmed queso dip (for a cheese finger dog taste) and/or a bottle of ketchup mixed with hot sauce (for a zingy classic ketchup taste) labeled FINGER LICK’IN BLOOD SAUCE.

Individual chocolate mousse graveyard dips

• 2 boxes store-bought dark chocolate mousse dip mix, prepared to package directions
• 1/4 cup unsalted peanuts, pulsed or crushed into sand-like pieces
• 1 bag (or two) of Pepperidge Farm Milano dark chocolate cookies
• 1 small tube black gel icing with thin tip

1. Fill small clear plastic cups with some prepared chocolate mousse.
2. Using tube of gel icing, write RIP on each cookie.
3. Place cookies into the mousse like tombstones.
4. Sprinkle around the base of the cookies with the crushed peanuts. Serve with additional cookies on the side.