Craft Jr. » halloween treats

Make Caramel Apples

Wendy Piersall — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:47:11 +0000

My kids have been bugging me to make caramel apples this year, so this last weekend I bit the bullet and did it. I thought it would be a big, drawn out mess and time suck. Turns out making caramel apples is easy as can be and quite satisfying. Plus they look so pretty when they are done!!!

Related Pages: Applesauce Recipes, Healthy Halloween Treats, Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

Caramel Apples

Now, if you are looking for homemade caramel, Subtle Nuances has a tasty looking recipe. But the caramels you can buy in the store have a relatively natural ingredient list. So in the interest of making these fast, I just used those.

So… this is technically not a recipe, but more “instructions”. Because if you have time to make your own homemade candies, you must be a much better time manager than I.

Caramel Apples Ingredients

Store bought caramel candies (like Kraft)

Apples (we used Gala and Honeycrisp – which were perfect!)

Popsicle sticks

Sprinkles and toppings of your choice: mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, candy sprinkles, crushed ginger snaps, mini M&Ms, gummy worms, etc.

Making Caramel Apples

Make some space in your fridge for a tray of apples – they will need to go in there asap, or the caramel will droop all over the place.

Melt the caramels in a small pan – this way the candy will be deeper and easier to dip the apples into.

Wash and completely dry your apples. Stick popsicle sticks into the tops, and place them on a tray covered with waxed paper. The finished apples still stick to this a lot, so you may want to butter the paper or spray with cooking spray.

Washed and Dried Apples Ready for Caramel

Once the caramel is melted, start dipping the apples!

Tilt the pan a bit to get the tops of the apples covered.

Dipping Caramel Apples

The lift it up and let the excess candy drip off back into the pan.

Dripping off Excess Caramel

Scrape off the excess on the bottom and place it onto your waxed paper tray. Be sure to leave plenty of room between the apples – they are a little like velcro and love to stick to each other.

Scraping Off Excess Caramel

Get a few done and get them into the fridge to cool the caramel more quickly. They need to be in there for at least 10 minutes so they are not sticky to the touch.

To dip the caramel apples in sprinkles, it’s easiest to set up a few bowls with different tasty tidbits in them.

Dipping Caramel Apples in Sprinkles

Then simply dip away!

I have to say that the ugliest and hardest to eat apples were the ones dipped in crushed ginger snaps – but OMG they were soooo good!

Keep an eye on your finished apples – they tend to disappear when you aren’t looking.

Yummy Caramel Apples with Chocolate Chips

More Fun Kids Recipes Great for Fall Cooking

Homemade Taffy

Root Beer Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies

Adorable Owl S’mores

Healthy Halloween Treats

Wendy Piersall — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:40:43 +0000

My Halloween party food post is getting some serious traffic lately, so I decided to put together another round up of great Halloween recipes! This time we’re all about the healthy foods, so check out these awesome healthy Halloween treats from around the web. For more healthy fun kids recipes, try our healthy birds nests, homemade applesauce recipe, or this great collection of Halloween Rice Krispie treats!

Have lots more Halloween fun with our printable Halloween masks, pumpkin carving patterns, printable Halloween games, and Halloween coloring pages!

Halloween Treats and Halloween Party Food Recipes

Wendy Piersall — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:25:19 +0000

A few years ago, we threw a Halloween party for my daughter’s birthday party. I’m not normally a great party hostess, but this one was probably the best party I have ever thrown! We had all sorts of Halloween themed party food, and I spent 5 hours (I kid you not) making this haunted gingerbread house for her.

I’ve collected 16 awesome-looking (and much, much easier!) Halloween treats and party food recipes below. I have put together similarly large collections of Halloween Rice Krispie Treat recipes and healthy Halloween treats, too!

Be sure to check out our Halloween handprint crafts and Halloween paper bag crafts, too!

Halloween Party Favors

Spooky Halloween Party Favor Kit
Price: $4.99
The Spooky Halloween favor kit for one guest includes: (1) Halloween Pumpkin Container, (1) Plastic Bat (comes in black or glow in the dark white, our choice please), (1) Beaded Necklace w/Trick or Treat Medallion, (1) Pumpkin Squeeze Ball, (1) Rubber Band Bracelet, (1) Bounce Ball.

Halloween Celebrations

Halloween Celebrations: Everything you need for a fabulous Halloween party shown in 120 photographs–recipes, costumes, decorations and games for the whole family
Price: $9.99
Pages: 64, Edition: illustrated edition, Paperback, Southwater

Halloween Parties

Halloween Parties: How to Throw Spook-Tacular Soirees and Frighteningly Festive Entertainments
Price: $14.95
Pages: 80, Paperback, Harry N. Abrams

Halloween How To

A Halloween How-To: Costumes, Parties, Decorations, and Destinations
Price: $16.15
Pages: 272, Edition: illustrated edition, Paperback, Pelican Publishing Company

Printable Halloween Treat Bags

Wendy Piersall — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:28:49 +0000

You might remember these treat bags from our Circus party printables. Today I redid them with a Halloween theme as Halloween treat bags!

This year I vow to send kick-butt treat bags to school with my kids for Halloween. Most years I am lucky if I remember to send them with a bag of candy! This year I think I am going to make some mini books for them with these printable Halloween masks, Halloween coloring pages, and Halloween word puzzles and word searches.

Directions for assembly are on the blank version of this favor bag template.

Printable Halloween Treat Bag

Halloween Treat Bags to Print

Cute Halloween Treat Bag

Vintage Halloween Treat Bag

Monster Halloween Treat Bag

Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

Wendy Piersall — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:10:50 +0000

Rice Krispie treats are the ultimate medium for creative cooking! The consistency is pretty much perfect for sculpting whatever you want out of it, and even I wouldn’t have thought of some of these absolutely fantastic Halloween Rice Krispie treat ideas!

I hate writing posts like this. They just make me hungry. ^_^

Skulls and Frankenstein Skulls and Frankenstein Rice Krispie Treats	Large Pumpkin Large Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treat	Caramel Candy Corn Caramel Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats	Treat Pops Halloween Rice Krispie Treat Pops
Ghosts Rice Krispie Treat Ghosts	Frankenstein Frankenstein Rice Krispie Treats	Monster Faces Rice Krispie Treat Monster Faces	Black Cat Black Cat Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats
Cookie Cutter Pumpkins Cookie Cutter Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats	Halloween Snake Halloween Snake Rice Krispie Treats	Jack o' Lantern Chocolate Jack o’ Lantern Rice Krispie Treats	Candy Corn Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats

Check out all of our Rice Krispie treat recipes, and you might also like our Halloween coloring pages or Halloween printable masks!


Healthy Halloween Skeleton Sandwiches	Pumpkin Fruit Cup Treats	Caramel Apple Pizza	Whole Wheat Bat Cookies Recipe

Watermelon Brains Halloween Fruit Treat	Jack O Lantern Fruit Kebabs	Veggie Skeleton Halloween Snacks	Devilish Deviled Egg Monsters

Monsters on a Stick	Tombstone Halloween Party Sandwiches	Monster Eyes Meatball Sandwich	Pumpkin Seed Popcorn Ball Treats

Salty Bone Breadsticks	Spooky Spider Bread Rolls	Pumpkin Pancake Recipe	Strawberry Ghosts Halloween Treats


Chocolate Witch Hats Easy Halloween Cookies	Eyeball Cookie Recipe	Ritz Cracker Spider Snacks	Halloween Cat Cookies

Witch Hats Halloween Snack	Halloween Hot Dog Mummies	Healthy Halloween Apple Treats	Halloween Egg Critters

Witch’s Broom Breadsticks	Healthy Halloween Banana Centipedes	Bloody Punch Recipe	Ghostly Hand Halloween Punch

Spider Web Pizza	Frankenstein Tamale Pie	Monster Mouths Halloween Party Recipe	Candy Corn Pizza for Kids