1. Creepy crawly cake balls

Whether you’re planning a socially-distant spook-fest or are just looking for a Saturday activity to do with the kids, cake balls are always a hit! The best part? You can use our cake ball recipe as a foundation and then customize from there to add in festive accessories fit for every holiday.

If you’re making cake balls for Halloween, add these spooky staples to your shopping list:

• Oreo cookies: Crush them up to act as your base for spider pops, graveyard cake balls, or creepy bat pops.

• Icing: Your artistic vision has no limits so long as you have baking basics such as multi-colored icing and a piping bag!

• Candy corn: Chop up candy corn and roll your iced cake balls in the mixture for a fun and festive pop of color.

2. Hauntingly healthy banana pops

The Halloween and upcoming holiday season seem to be non-stop with activity, often involving our favorite indulgent dinners and desserts. To balance out all of the sugar and snacks while still satiating your sweet tooth, give our homemade banana pops a try! Just blend up a mixture of banana, simple syrup, and water, and you’ll have tasty frozen treats for weeks to come. 

If you’re looking for a little extra sweetness, you can drizzle the banana pops with white, dark, or milk chocolate.

Parent ProTip: For a fun fall twist, use a themed food grade silicone mold to make pumpkin, leaf, ghost, or ghoul-shaped pops!

3. Spooky spider cookies

Whether or not it’s spooky season, there’s really nothing quite as scary as a creepy-crawly spider, except when they’re in cookie form, that is! Spider cookies can take form using just about any basic cookie recipe, though they work best with a sugar cookie mix.

Once you’ve selected your base, all you’ll need is a spider-shaped cookie cutter and some icing to decorate! 

Parenting ProTip: For an even easier version, just make circular cookies and add licorice strands, pretzel sticks, or candy to create your spooky spider legs. 

4. Gory graveyard cake

Hardly a Halloween goes by in our household without a gory graveyard cake making an appearance. This holiday staple is as easy as can be. Just use the cake recipe of your choice — though chocolate typically looks best — crumble Oreo cookies to create your dirt graveyard, then use Milano cookies or rectangular shaped candies to create your own gravestones!

5. Wickedly easy witch cookies

If you’re looking for a baking project the kids can do on their own, or with little help, just set them up with some pre-made cookies (Oreos work best), a few Hershey’s kisses, and some orange and green icing. To form the witch's hat, they’ll just need to spread icing onto the top of the cookie and place the chocolate kiss on top. For extra decorative fun and flavor, give them some fancy Halloween sprinkles and edible decorations to top it all off!

6.  Mysterious mummy pretzels 

Mysterious mummy pretzels are the perfect culmination of savory and sweet, making them a perfect after school treat for the spooksters in your household! What’s even more mysterious? How easy the recipe is!

All you need is: thick pretzel sticks, white melting chocolate, and colored icing. Melt the white chocolate and pipe over a tray of pretzels. Once you start to see your mummy material coming together, use the icing to add eyes and any other decorative elements you wish to take the spook-factor to the next level.

Final notes

Even though it may be starting to spook you out, there are plenty of ways to have fun with the family while quarantined, including quarantine baking projects! Use this guide to help you put a terrifying twist on your favorite baked and no-bake treats.