Halloween

254 recipes found

Cutout Sugar Cookies
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Cutout Sugar Cookies

This recipe is adapted from a 1981 Mimi Sheraton recipe for Murbeteig, a pie and sugar-cookie dough from Germany. This buttery cookie isn’t too sweet, which makes it an excellent canvas for sugary holiday adornments, like Royal Icing. The dough warms quickly because of the high butter content, so work fast to roll, cut out and transfer the dough to the baking sheets to get the best results.

1h 30m2 1/2 dozen 3-inch cutout cookies
Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts
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Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts

These fuss-free (no electric mixer needed!) pumpkin doughnuts are flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg, classic spices we associate with fall. But they’re also loaded with pumpkin pureé, which makes them moist and flavorful and gives them their orangey hue. They’re finished with a simple — and forgiving — vanilla glaze that sets beautifully. If your glaze is too thick to dip, just add a little more milk. If your glaze is too thin and runs off the doughnut, add a little more confectioners’ sugar.

40m12 doughnuts
Monster Cookies
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Monster Cookies

Studded with colored candies (delicious if they are peanut-filled, too), these treats are an amazing way to end a grown-up supper, and a very useful way to keep a roomful of boisterous children happy.

45m12 3 1/2- to 4-inch cookies
Chocolate Whiskey Cake
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Chocolate Whiskey Cake

This recipe came to The Times from Marti Buckley Kilpatrick, who adapted it from Dol Miles, the pastry chef at Frank Stitt’s Bottega restaurant in Birmingham, Ala. Ms. Kilpatrick describes the cake as an ugly frog of a confection, but promises that anyone willing to bet a kiss on its excellence would be amply rewarded. The interplay of coffee, black pepper and cloves is subtle but powerful, and results in a deeply flavored, moist confection that comes together quickly. It’s just delicious.

1h 25m8 to 10 servings
Millionaire’s Shortbread
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Millionaire’s Shortbread

Plain shortbread, a combination of the most basic ingredients in the baker’s pantry, is an understated sweet, but millionaire’s shortbread is a spectacle. It’s a flashy cookie, topped with swoops of chocolate and chewy caramel made from condensed milk, butter and Lyle’s Golden Syrup. A British confection made from cane sugar, Lyle’s is found near the honey and maple syrup in any well-stocked supermarket, but if you can't find it, corn syrup makes a fine, if slightly less flavorful, substitute.

4h32 bars
Peanut Chicken Wings
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Peanut Chicken Wings

Here's a lively twist on the traditional chicken wing. Just grill or broil the wings until they're cooked through, then toss with a simple sauce of coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, fish sauce and lime juice. Return to the grill or oven until they're crisp. You might never go back to Buffalo.

45m
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
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Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

The not-so-secret secret to roasting fresh pumpkin seeds — and crisping them properly — is making sure they’re really dry. Patting the seeds down with paper towels does a fine job, but drying them out in the oven is even more efficient and effective. Once they’ve toasted slightly, simply dress them with oil and salt, then continue to roast them until lightly golden. Feel free to add spices — say za’atar, or cinnamon and cayenne — in Step 3 with the oil and salt. But take note: Some add-ins, like nutritional yeast or raw sugar, may melt under high heat, so sprinkle them onto the seeds just after roasting.

40m1 cup
Apple Cider and Bourbon Punch
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Apple Cider and Bourbon Punch

Apples and oranges! They’re often presented as exemplars of opposition, as though they have nothing in common. But both fruits make appearances on many Thanksgiving tables, with orange in some cranberry sauces and cornbread stuffings with apple, and they mingle beautifully in a mellow punch that gets its verve from bourbon and its depth from a brown sugar and cinnamon simple syrup. For extra apple flavor, try swapping an apple spirit, such as Applejack or Calvados, in for the bourbon. The leftover simple syrup is great in cocktails -- a festive Old Fashioned, for example -- and also on oatmeal and rice pudding.

15m 14 6-ounce servings
Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
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Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake

This vegan “cheesecake,” which is adapted from “Vegan Pie in the Sky” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, may not fool everyone at the table, but it will definitely satisfy them. Silken tofu, cashews and banana make it extra creamy, while lemon juice and orange zest provide the tang you’d normally get from cream cheese. (Be sure to soak the cashews long enough; you want them to completely disappear into the batter upon blending.) This dessert can be made in a pie dish or a springform pan, but if you make it in a pie dish, keep an eye on the crust as it bakes; tent the cheesecake with foil if the edges are getting too brown.

5h8 servings
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bundt Cake
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Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bundt Cake

This cake version of a peanut butter cup boasts moist devil’s food cake wrapped around a soft, peanut buttery cake core. The peanut butter cake batter will stay nicely centered if you enlist the help of a resealable plastic bag or pastry bag to pipe it into a ring in the middle of the batter, but you don’t need to be so exacting. If that feels too fancy, spooning it in will yield equally delicious results. The cake is nicely sweet on its own, but take it over the top by adding peanut butter and chocolate glazes. Keep the glazes thin so that they’re fluid enough not only to evenly coat the surface and run own the sides of the cake, but also so they combine and marble together to make Instagram-worthy swirls.

2h 30mOne 10-inch cake
Pumpkin Cheesecake In Nut Crust
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Pumpkin Cheesecake In Nut Crust

Some cheesecakes are the culinary equivalent of a punch in the gut: too sweet, too heavy, too filling. This one, first published in The Times in 1984, is delightfully different. It's lightly-sweet, slightly tangy and gently laced with spiced pumpkin flavor. The texture is surprisingly airy. Serve slices with a dollop of whipped cream or créme fraîche. Don't skip the part of the recipe that calls for allowing it to cool in the oven overnight; it promises a crack-free, glossy top.

9h 30m12 to 16 servings
Citrus Layer Cake With Orange and Chocolate Frosting
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Citrus Layer Cake With Orange and Chocolate Frosting

This cake appeared in The Times in 1954 as Halloween Cake, the centerpiece for a children’s party. When you strip away the original instructions for decoration (dyed yellow frosting and a black cat of piped chocolate), you’re left with a luscious citrus cake that works for any occasion, All Hallows’ Eve included.

1h10-12 servings
Peanut Butter Balls
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Peanut Butter Balls

Depending on where you live, these chocolate and peanut-butter confections are known as either peanut butter balls or buckeyes. In the Midwest, they are known as buckeyes because they look like the nut of a buckeye tree, thanks to an exposed circle of peanut butter that's left after they're dipped in chocolate. Be sure to start with a good-quality peanut butter, and don’t skimp on the salt. Those small touches carry a lot of impact.

25mAbout 30 pieces
Savory Roasted Pumpkin Pie
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Savory Roasted Pumpkin Pie

1h 30m6 to 8 slices
Coconut Caramels
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Coconut Caramels

Making your own candy may seem daunting, but time and attention are all you need. This recipe calls for two sugars: granulated, which provides the base for your caramel, and an inverted sugar, corn syrup, which stabilizes and keeps the caramel from crystalizing. The line between soft-chewy and hard candy is a delicate one, so a candy thermometer is recommended for precision. Ginger and cardamom will add a nice zing, but lean into other warm spices, such as cinnamon, black pepper or chili powder, if that’s what you have on hand. A final coat of toasted, finely shredded coconut lends an almost buttery crunch, and prevents the pieces from sticking. Wrap up individually if you have the time: These are made for sharing and can be frozen for up to a month.

1hAbout 72 pieces
Oatmeal Spice Cookies
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Oatmeal Spice Cookies

2h 30m20 large cookies
Gougères With Pancetta and Sage
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Gougères With Pancetta and Sage

What could be better than warm cheese puffs straight out of the oven? How about warm cheese puffs studded with bacon — or in this case, pancetta — and fresh sage? They are salty, brawny and rich; crisp on the outside and soft within. Gougères are best baked just before serving, but if you like you can make the batter ahead, form it into balls, and freeze them, unbaked. Bake while still frozen, adding 5 to 10 minutes onto the baking time.

1hAbout 5 1/2 dozen
Pumpkin Skillet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
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Pumpkin Skillet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Fall in simple skillet cake form, this easy pumpkin cake that can be made in one bowl. The frosting is fluffier and comes together more quickly with the help of an electric mixer, but it can be mixed by hand in a pinch. It's also great without a drop of frosting.

40m8 to 10 servings
Ruby et Violette's Marshmallow Sticks
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Ruby et Violette's Marshmallow Sticks

30m12 sticks
Cranberry Parker House Rolls
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Cranberry Parker House Rolls

Here's a delightful, tangy twist on the fluffy breadbasket staple; cranberry butter is brushed between two layers of dough then baked until golden. They're fun, they're unexpected, they're delicious. (Bonus: they can be made ahead and frozen up to two weeks before.)

1h24 rolls
Peanut Brittle
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Peanut Brittle

Here is a recipe for the easiest candy to make: brittle. The only thing even remotely tricky about it is getting the sugar to the tint of brown you want -- not too light, and definitely not too dark, which can happen in a flash. You can use any nut you want with this, but do add some salt if you use unsalted nuts.

20mAbout 1 pound
Cane Syrup Popcorn Balls
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Cane Syrup Popcorn Balls

Cane syrup, a caramelized, concentrated version of pure cane juice, is one of the basic flavors of southern Louisiana, where about half the sugar cane in the United States is grown. Here, use it to give popcorn balls a deep, buttery caramel taste, perfect for a Halloween treat. Make sure to butter your hands well before shaping the mixture into balls. And if you live outside a region where you can get cane syrup, try Lyle’s Golden Syrup, a British sweetener often found in supermarket baking aisles.

30mAbout 3 dozen balls.
Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Cookies
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Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Cookies

These cakey cookies have crisp edges and fluffy centers almost like muffin tops – which we can all agree is the best part of a muffin. Packed with sweet spices, pumpkin purée and lots of chocolate chips, they are a delightful autumn treat that pair well with a cold glass of milk. Use whichever type of chocolate chips you prefer, in whatever proportion you like, but a combination of milk and bittersweet are especially nice.

30mAbout 2 dozen
Black Pepper and Bourbon Caramel Chews
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Black Pepper and Bourbon Caramel Chews

Soft caramels are not inherently elegant, but these are thanks to a gentle sprinkle of black pepper and a dash of bourbon. The recipe does require a candy thermometer.

40m50 pieces