OPINION BY MARISSA DEPINO
With only days left until Halloween, caramel apples, candy corn, loads of chocolate and more will start to crowd tables and stomachs. It is a great excuse to keep a bowl of candy around. But if you have an even greater sweet tooth and are searching for fun holiday treats, there is an endless supply of treats that are simple and easy to make.
Looking for something salty, yet sweet for this season? Then try making spooky Rolo sandwiches. For this, keep on hand a supply of square shaped pretzels and Rolos. On a cookie sheet, make an open-faced sandwich by placing the pretzels on the cookie sheet. Place a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Put the open-faced sandwiches into the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes at approximately 250 degrees or until the Rolo starts to melt. When it is ready, take it out and with a second square-shaped pretzel, finish the sandwiches. Then, throw them into the fridge to cool. When they are cooled, dive in and enjoy.
If salty and sweet isn’t your taste, perhaps super sweet is. It’s time to spice up your favorite treats and prepare them for the Halloween season by turning your favorite cupcake recipe into a spectacularly decorated treat. Decorate it by turning the top of it into a spider web, witch hat or just dye it orange.
To turn your cupcake into a spindly spider web, frost your cupcake with a normal coat of frosting. Next, choose a Halloween color, like black or orange, and create a web. Starting in the middle, create strokes of frosting from the center to each edge. Make the lines relatively thin, and continue it in a circle. Using the same color frosting, create a spiral shape from the center to the outskirts of the cupcake. It should resemble a basic spider web by now.
But what is a web without a spider? To surprise your friends ,take a plastic spider ring and place it in the center of the cupcakes to make the cupcake pop.
While spiders are spooky and all, witches are truly scary, so why not embellish your cupcakes with a witch’s hat? For this, you’ll need to acquire large peanut butter cups, Hershey kisses and frosting. Again, begin with a blank slate and frost the cupcake. Before the frosting dries, make sure to put the peanut butter cups on top of the cupcakes. Then, add a glob of frosting onto the center of each of the peanut butter cups. Place the Hershey kisses in the center of the peanut butter cups. For more detail, try creating a ribbon for the hat by adding frosting where the Hershey kiss connects to the peanut butter cup.
If either of these decorations seem like too much work, just create a classic orange frosting by using food dye to bring a little bit of Halloween color into the food.
What are you waiting for? It’s time to dive into these great Halloween treats.
