Apple Smiles and Zombie Heads

I don't "do" Halloween, but I know many others who do, and since I love cooking with my kids and also doing crafts with them, I decided to post something for the season, starring my main assistant chef, Megan.

Here are two very easy and very cute Halloween treats you can make with your younger children for a Halloween party or just to enjoy. Older kids will enjoy making them also, but these two are particularly great for the younger kids, and snacking on them after is always fun. They also didn't break the bank to make, which is always one of my goals.

So let’s get to it!

First, the Apple Smiles. You’ll need apples, peanut butter, and mini marshmallows. The first two steps are for the adult or older child: quarter the apple and cut out the seeds. Slice each quarter into fourths.

To make the smiles, spread peanut butter on two slices of apple. Fix 5 mini marshmallows onto one slice, standing up, not lying down. Place another peanut buttered apple slice on top. Easy, right? And so much fun to make!

Here’s my lovely assistant, my daughter Megan, who has Down syndrome, making Apple Smiles with me. At first she was laying the marshmallows on their sides, but then I showed her how to make them stand up. You can see how happy she was afterwards to show off what we made.

Now for the Zombie Heads. You’ll need a bag of white Candy Melts (Wilton), food coloring, white yogurt covered pretzels, and decorations. We used pearl gems, Halloween M&Ms, and those tiny colored ball sprinkles. Use whatever you have on hand.

Melt about 25 or so of the Candy Melts in a double boiler or in the microwave. Then place about 2-3 tablespoons worth in a small bowl and add food coloring. We did the different colors one at a time because if we did them all at once, they would harden and have to be melted again. So here you see the blue we used first.

With a butter knife, spread a little of the colored mixture into the top two wells of the pretzel. These are the eyes, with the bottom being the gaping mouth.

Add decorations in the middle of the colored eyes, to be the eyeballs. Press them down slightly to hold them there.

Here is my lovely assistant Megan again, making Zombie Heads with me. And showing off the finished product. She really was happy, but the photo with her smiling real big was blurry! ;-)

So there you go, two easy treats to make together for a time of  fun and making memories with your children. I hope you enjoy making them as much as Megan and I did.