Halloween party food: Tray-passed desserts

Throwing a Halloween party? If you are looking for some festive food ideas, try these yummy pumpkin pie bites, candy corn spoons and other passed desserts.

We consulted caterer and event planner Andrea Correale of Elegant Affairs, who provided us with a variety of Halloween recipes.

Pumpkin pie bites

Premade pie crusts make these Halloween desserts a breeze.

Makes 24 pies

Ingredients:

• 2 refrigerated ready-to-roll pie crusts
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (mix cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice)
• Pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter
• 1/2 cup chocolate morsels
• Vegetable oil
• Resealable plastic bags

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use cookie cutter to cut 12 pumpkin shapes from each pie crust. You will need to roll the dough thinner than it comes out of the box.
2. Press dough shapes into a 24 cup mini muffin tray. (Make 12 at a time, alternating cups to make sure pie crusts don’t overlap each other.)
3. Apply egg whites from one egg to the top edges of each pie. Mix cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until thoroughly combined.
4. Spoon mixture into each pumpkin-shaped pie crust.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove pies to cool and repeat with second pie crust. Place the muffin tray in the freezer to cool it quickly for reuse.
6. Keep refrigerated.

Decorations:

You can add whipped cream to the top of the mini pies or decorate them with a chocolate happy face instead.

1. To decorate, melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave on medium.
2. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted. Add a little vegetable oil to make the chocolate more fluid.
3. Transfer to a resealable plastic bag and cut the corner off. Drizzle or draw faces on pies.

Black and orange spook cups

Ingredients:

• 1 quart cold milk, divided
• 1 package (4 serving size) Jell-O chocolate fudge flavor instant pudding mix
• 10 glasses or plastic cups (7 ounce size)
• 1 package (4 serving size) Jell-O vanilla flavor instant pudding mix
• Red food coloring
• Yellow food coloring
• 10 Oreo cookies, crushed
• 1/4 cup Halloween sprinkles

Directions:

1. Add two cups of the milk and the dry chocolate pudding mix to a large bowl.
2. Beat with a whisk for two to three minutes. Spoon evenly into glasses, filling each half full.
3. In a separate bowl, mix remaining two cups of milk and the dry vanilla pudding mix.
4. Beat with a whisk for two to three minutes. Stir in drops of food coloring until pudding is the desired shade of orange.
5. Spoon evenly over chocolate pudding layers and top with crushed cookies.
6. Chill for at least an hour or until ready to serve. Top with sprinkles.

Candy corn spoons

If you are in a rush and want something that looks good and tastes good, grab some spoons! These candy corn spoons are perfect for a last-minute get-together or if you run out of desserts and your Halloween guests are craving something more.

With these tray-passed desserts, you can simply add a little bit of yogurt or pudding, a mandarin orange and a bit of drained crushed pineapple onto each spoon for a easy, sweet Halloween treat.

Spooky screwdriver

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces orange juice
• 4 ounces black vodka

Directions:

1. Pour in orange juice. Gently layer black vodka over juice. Serve.

Black cherry ghoul

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 ounces black vodka
• 1/2 ounce blackberry brandy or Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur or cherry juice
• Berries or cherries for garnish

Directions:

1. Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Pour over ice and serve.

More Halloween recipes

DIY pumpkin keg and harvest sangria recipe
Top 10 scary snacks for Halloween parties
Halloween candy cookies

Images courtesy of Andrea Correale, Elegant Affairs