Halloween Treats to Make with Kids!

As we enter the transition period from Autumn to Winter, the weather can be unpredictable at the best of times. With the kids off school for the Midterm Break today, it’s great to have a trick or two up your sleeve to keep them busy - especially on a dull or rainy day.

With Halloween in mind, we’ve put together some recipes from around the web that the kiddos can get involved in making!

Probably one of the easiest recipes to make. Bonus: the main ingredient just so happens to be healthy. It can also be easily doubled, or tripled!

• 4 x Bananas
• 200g white chocolate (any brand works)
• Small packet of chocolate chips
• Lollipop sticks

1. Cut the bananas in half
2. Stick a lollipop stick in the flat end of each banana half
3. Place bananas on a tray lined with parchment paper. Freeze for approximately 2 hours
4. Before removing bananas from freezer, melt white chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds to ensure melted chocolate is smooth and doesn’t burn
5. Dip frozen bananas into white chocolate, using a pastry brush to distribute evenly
6. Place chocolate chips in the shape of a face (2 x eyes and a mouth) on one side of the chocolate covered banana
7. Freeze for an additional 4 hours
8. Carefully remove bananas from parchment

This recipe is a great one for kids to get creative with. We use this delicious cookie recipe from BBC Good Food, but If you don’t fancy baking your own cookies you can just buy some!

For the chocolate chip cookies

• 150g salted butter (room temp)
• 80g soft light brown
• 80g granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 225g plain flour
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 200g plain chocolate chips or chunks

For Spider Decoration

• 200g dark chocolate
• 180g Maltesers
• 50g white chocolate

To make the cookies

1. Cream together butter, brown and granulated sugar until smooth and creamy
2. Beat in vanilla and egg
3. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into mixture and mix using wooden spoon or spatula
4. Stir in chocolate chips
5. Use a teaspoon to scoop out mixture onto parchment lined tray, ensuring to leave enough space between each scoop
6. Bake at 190C for 8 - 10 minutes, checking to make sure cookies don’t brown too much
7. Remove from oven and let cool completely

To Decorate

1. Melt dark chocolate in microwave stirring every 30 seconds to ensure chocolate is smooth and doesn’t burn
2. Place melted chocolate in a sandwich bag, seal and using scissors, snip 1 x corner of the bag (this is a makeshift piping bag!)
3. Stick 2 x Maltesers side by side on top of each cookie, using melted chocolate as glue - this is the body of the spider
4. Using the piping bag, pipe 4 x lines on either side of the spider for legs
5. Melt white chocolate in microwave, and using same sandwich bag method, pipe on 2 x dots for eyes
6. Let the spiders set completely before serving

There’s nothing quite as traditional around Halloween (unless you count Barmbrack!) than toffee apples but their chocolate counterpart has several advantages:

1. Chocolate apples involve less mess.
2. By avoiding hot toffee, they are more kid-friendly to make.

This is a really easy recipe and, like the Frozen Ghosts, has fruit as a main ingredient!

• 6 x apples (a non-sour variety usually works best here like pink lady, royal gala or Braeburn)
• 6 x lollipop sticks or wooden skewers
• 500g milk chocolate
• 2 x tsp of coconut oil
• For decoration; crushed nuts, desiccated coconut, sprinkles, white chocolate

1. Wash apples and dry thoroughly
2. Melt chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth
3. Stick a lollipop stick in the top of each apple
4. Place preferred decorating ingredients in small bowls, white chocolate should be melted and placed in a sandwich bag, with the corner snipped
5. Tilting the bowl of melted chocolate to one side, roll each apple in the melted chocolate until covered, letting any excess chocolate drop back into bowl
6. Dip the bottom of apples in your preferred additional ingredients (sprinkles, nuts, coconut) or pipe white chocolate in sandwich bag over the apples to decorate
7. Place apples on a baking tray lined with parchment and allow to set before serving!

The team at ClongriffinTown.ie want to wish all residents a Happy Halloween, and remind people to stay safe as with fireworks and candles there can be many dangers for both children and adults. It is worth remembering that a lot of shop bought costumes use highly flammable materials.

We would also ask residents to drive with caution on Halloween night as there will be a lot of little monsters running from house to house to trick or treat!

Finally, don’t forget about the Clongriffin Town Halloween Party, taking place this Sunday at 2 pm in Clongriffin Junction. We hope to see you there!