Serve these mouth-watering treats courtesy of Sandra Lee, host of Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee.
Crunchy Doughnut Eyeballs
20 glazed doughnut holes (recommended: Entenmann's)
1 cup premier white morsels (recommended: Nestlé)
2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening (recommended: Crisco)
20 Life Savers Gummies®
20 mini candy-coated milk chocolate candies (recommended: M&M’s Minis)
2 drops red food coloring
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or wax paper and set aside. Melt chocolate morsels with vegetable shortening in a stainless steel bowl by setting bowl over a pan of simmering water and stirring until smooth.
Cut two 1/8-inch-slices from opposite sides of each donut hole. Then drop the donut holes into the chocolate, one at a time.
Using a fork, coat the donut hole in chocolate. Lift and gently shake to remove excess chocolate, and place on prepared cookie sheet, cut side down. Repeat with remaining donut holes. Reserve unused chocolate.
Set the jellied candies on the tops of the donut holes. Refrigerate until set.
Place a small dab of melted chocolate (Reheat if necessary) on the chocolate candies and stick them onto the jellied candies. Refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix 2 drops of food coloring with 2 teaspoons melted chocolate. Using a toothpick, draw "veins" on the eyeballs. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Creepy Cookie Cake
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) container whipped topping (recommended: Cool Whip)
1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate sandwich cookies plus 10 whole cookies (recommended: Oreo)
1 (9-inch) chocolate pie crust
Combine softened cream cheese and sugar in mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until creamy. Add sour cream and vanilla, beat until well combined. Stir in cool whip and crushed cookies. Spoon mixture into pie crust using a rubber spatula to spread evenly. Refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours before serving.
To decorate: Using a fine sifter, heavily sprinkle cocoa powder over the cake to make it look like dirt in a graveyard.
To make tombstone cookies, scrape the cream filling out of chocolate cookies. Cut off ends of cookies to make a rectangular shape.
Using royal icing in a piping bag, pipe spooky decorations and words on the tombstone cookies. Examples: BOO, RIP.
Monster Cupcakes
2 cans white frosting
Green food coloring
1 dozen favorite flavor store-bought un-iced cupcakes
Pastry bag or resealable plastic bag
No. 7 round pastry tip
12 green apple gummy rings or green fruit jells
24 brown chocolate coated candies (recommended: M&M’s)
Cashew nuts
In a bowl, mix together the icing with the green food coloring until desired "monster green" is reached. Put the frosting in a pastry bag or resealable plastic bag fitted with pastry tip. Pipe a haphazard squiggle pattern on top of the cupcake until completely covered and slightly mounded.
Put a green gummy ring on top. Create eyes for the monster by putting 2 brown coated candies into the center of the green gummy candy. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.
Use cashew nuts to create horns by inserting them into the frosting behind the eyes with the smaller side facing up. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.
**For more Halloween ideas, tune into Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee on Food Network on Sunday, October 24, at 11:30 am ET.
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