Tag Archives: M&Ms

October 20, 2010 · 8:41 AM

Sweet, Spooky Treats for Halloween!

Mummy Pretzels and Edible Eyeballs - So sweet, it's scary!

I seem to be on a mission to celebrate Halloween this year using every version of chocolate known to man. Don’t ask me why. I really can’t explain it. I just know that I’ve somehow been bitten hard by the Halloween bug, and I’m having a great time with it. This week, I decided to try my hand at bloodshot eyeballs and pretzel mummies for the grandkids – Jonah Bear & Lilly Bug. All it took was two bags of pretzels (rounds & rods), one pound of white melting chocolate, one bag of dark chocolate M&Ms, and two small tubes of Wilton decorating gel (red & black). I can’t take creative credit for either of these ideas. They came from two different blogs I follow. The bloodshot eyeballs came from a recipe posted on the Tasty Kitchen page of The Pioneer Woman website. I substituted dark chocolate M&M candies for the iris of the eyes and used the Wilton decorating gel for bloodshot streaks and pupils. This was a really fun project. It was submitted by “soufflebombay” as Edible Eyeballs. Here’s the link to the original recipe so you can see how she did it: http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/edible-eyeballs/ and here’s a picture of how mine turned out. Some are bloodshot and some aren’t, but they’re all delicious!

I spy with my edible eye...something yummy!

The second round was the pretzel mummies. These were super easy and turned out really cute. This idea came from Alice and her Savory Sweet Life blog at http://savorysweetlife.com/ Her faces came out much cuter than mine, but I like the horizontal stripes I added to look like mummy wrappings. This is another really creative but easy treat to make. And I love how they look when you stand them all up in a container. They’re almost too cute to eat. Nahh!

Mummy, may I please have another pretzel?

This whole chocolate Halloween obsession started a few weeks ago with brownie spiders. I had friends over for dinner and made these for dessert. They were fun to make, and were delectibly delicious! Best of all, they were super easy and made with my favorite boxed brownie – the Ghirardelli dark chocolate mix.

No tricks, just treats...best spider you'll ever eat!

Mmmmm…best spider I’ve ever eaten. Okay, it’s the only spider I’ve ever eaten, but who’s counting? They’re also a fun hands-on art/food project if you have children or grandkids. I posted a complete “how-to” on the brownie spiders earlier. You can find them in my Food & Recipes tab.

There’s something about salty pretzels covered in chocolate that draws me in. I’m such a sucker for that combination. And the brownie spiders with ice cream and toppings satisfy a chocolate craving like nothing else. I’m wondering now what I might tackle next. Chocolate drizzled sea salt caramel apples? Oooo…maybe! A vampire themed raspberry & chocolate Godiva martini? Hmm…could be. Right now I’m just hoping I have the strength not to eat all of these treats before we see the kids. That would be bad. Very, very bad. Right?

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September 28, 2010 · 11:21 AM

Just in time for Halloween: Eeeeeeeeek! Brownie Spiders!

If you’re looking for something clever but deceptively easy for Halloween this year, try brownie spiders. Yes, I know…it’s a little early for Halloween, but I want to give you plenty of time to think about making these. Brownie spiders are fun to make, even more fun to serve and eat, and they’re sure to be a hit with both adults and children. For parties, everyone can make and decorate their own fudgy friend. They’ll be the best spiders you’ve ever eaten!

Brownie Spiders - Creepy, Crawly Fun!

To make 10 spiders, you will need:
Two boxes of brownie mix (and all ingredients for the mix)
1 small package of regular M&M candies
1 tube of black Wilton Black Sparkle decorating gel
Ice cream & toppings, for serving

To Make the Spiders:
Mix up the brownies according to package directions. Pour into a lightly greased 13”x9” baking pan lined with waxed paper. Bake as directed, until the brownies are completely set. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely. Using the waxed paper liner, remove the brownies from the pan and move them to a large cutting board. Use a biscuit cutter or an empty metal can to cut out circular brownies for the spider bodies. Using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, scoop and shape spider heads by rolling smaller brownies into balls using your hands. Press two M&Ms into each spider head to make the eyes. Using the sparkle gel, draw one quick dot onto each eye to make pupils. You can have some fun here – make some looking down, some looking up, some cross-eyed.

To Decorate the Plates:
Using the Wilton black sparkle gel, draw concentric circles on each plate, then go back and draw straight lines across the plate from side to side and diagonal lines across each corner (see photo). It works best to work slowly and hold the gel tube just above the plate so it doesn’t touch. Once the webs are complete, place a spider in the middle of the plate.

To Serve:
Using an ice cream scoop, place a rounded scoop of ice cream (any flavor you like) onto each spider’s back. If you’re feeling really creative, try the following for topping themes:

The Plain Garden Spider – ice cream with no toppings
The Brown Recluse – ice cream with hot fudge sauce on top
The Black Widow – ice cream with blackberry sauce on top
The Tarantula – ice cream with everything under the sun on top
The Itsy Bitsy Tipsy Spider – ice cream with a shot of Kahlua (for adults only!)

The best kind of spider - chocolate!

I know, I know….I have too much time on my hands. But they’re cute, don’t you think? And the sparkle gel really looks great when it catches the light. And they taste great. My personal favorite is the Black Widow with blackberry sauce. So good! Would you rather have homemade Booberry sauce? Hee, hee…sorry. Enjoy, everyone. And happy early Halloween!

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