5 mins read

What We Think: Spooky Snacks

Every Halloween party needs snacks. With the holiday just around the corner, the Verve Team teamed up with Wake Up Vermillion to find some tricks and treats to make any Halloween party extra spooky. To see the full baking process, as well as tips to make your treats, visit the Wake Up Vermillion YouTube Page.

Graveyard Brownie Bites – Sara Cappiello

Verve editor Sara Cappiello tried out BuzzFeed Tasty’s recipe for Graveyard Brownie Bites. Sara Cappiello| The Volante

The graveyard brownie bites recipe was discovered on BuzzFeed Tasty, one of my favorite places to find and watch cooking videos. These stood out to me because they seemed fairly easy, something I usually look for as I am slightly challenged when it comes to cooking.

To start, I whipped up some boxed brownies. After letting them cool, I cut them into squares then scooped them from the pan and rolled them into balls. This was the fun and easiest part, as I later found out.

Next, I dipped the brownie balls in melted chocolate and let them chill out in the freezer. I intended the decoration to be a graham cracker tombstone with “R.I.P.” written in chocolate. I struggled writing in chocolate, so I used a toothpick to tediously write “R.I.P.” on approximately six graham crackers before I gave up. R.I.P. to my patience.

I stamped M&M’s on top of the rest of my brownie bites for a pop of color. You can also use candy eyeballs, gummy worms or sprinkles to decorate your brownie bites. 

My finished product resembled a brownie truffle, which was rich, chocolatey and very spooky. R.I.P. to my diet.

Mummy dogs & dip – Lauren Soulek 

Verve Team member Lauren Soulek tried out chili cheese dip with mummy dog dippers. Lauren Soulek | The Volante

I scoured the world of Pinterest for thirty minutes and stumbled upon a pigs-in-a-blanket chili cheese dippers recipe from a website called South Your Mouth. The dip looked amazing and I’ve seen quite a few Pinterest pins about making pigs-in-a-blanket but wrapping them like mummies.

You start off by making the dip. Mix together the chili, cream cheese, shredded cheese and spices in a saucepan over some heat. Pour the dip into a pie plate or any round pan. To make the mummy dogs, use cocktail weiners or hot dogs. I chose hot dogs and cut them in half. Then take crescent roll dough and start wrapping! I thought of Bob Ross and his happy trees while making my mummies. Maybe some had a lot of wrapping and some didn’t. 

Line the mummy dogs around the edge of the pan. Dump more cheese in the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. The only issue with this recipe was the dough on the dogs came out slightly gooey. I’m not too good at knowing when things are fully done, so cook them until consistent with your preference. 

Sidenote: this recipe is great for gameday, too. 

Pumpkin Muffins – Cecilia Gillen

Wake Up Vermillion’s Cecilia Gillen whipped up pumpkin muffins with a recipe she found on Buzzfeed Tasty. Cecilia Gillen | The Volante

I challenged myself to find a recipe with few ingredients, and I found just that on Tasty. The recipe was for a pumpkin loaf, but I read some comments saying it was better in muffin form, so that’s what I did.

This recipe is almost too easy. You mix boxed spice cake mix, three eggs, 14 ounces (or a can) of pumpkin puree and half a stick of butter (if you want to be unhealthy) in one big bowl. Plop the mix in a muffin pan, bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes, let cool and then frost with cream cheese frosting.

You could be fancy and make your own frosting, but I don’t have a Kitchen Aid mixer, so I thought it’d be more difficult than what it’s worth. The only problem I had was no one told me you need to spray muffin liners so the muffins don’t stick. I thought that was the whole point of muffin liners. So yeah, make sure you do that.

Regardless, these muffins are great for breakfast, dessert or a snack for whenever. The ingredients only cost $5 and it makes a big batch, so it’s totally worth it.

Overall, these three spooky snacks were not only delicious but also easy to make. Our favorite was probably Lauren’s mummy dogs & dip, which we demolished within minutes of her taking it out of the oven.

For more recipes, watch Cooking with Cecilia on WUV’s Youtube channel for a behind-the-scenes look of these treats.