So...I did it. I spent the evening baking up a storm. WOOT! And everything looks really good.

The evening started early with my famous Donkey Brownies™. Trust me...they're good. And they are my specialty. Tonight, I dressed them up in milk chocolate frosting and Halloween sprinkles.





No recipe. Used a mix for them. But still damn good!


While the brownies were baking, I began working on a new recipe. This was the Witch Hat Cookies. I think they are absolutely adorable.





Recipe:

Ingredients:
32 Hershey's chocolate kisses, unwrapped
1 (11½ ounce) package fudge-striped shortbread cookies (32)
1 (4¼ ounce) container orange decorating icing or red decorating icing

Directions:
1. Attach 1 kiss to chocolate bottom of each cookie, using decorating icing.
2. Pipe decorating icing around base of chocolate

Yeah...they're really that easy! And look how cute they are!


As the brownies came out...the next thing I went to work on were the Peanut Butter Haystack Cookies. These have always been a favorite of mine when my mom would make them for Christmas. I think they are perfect for Halloween.





Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup (6 oz) butterscotch chips
½ cup peanut buter
½ cup salted peanuts
2 cups chow mein noodles

Directions:
Place chips and peanut butter in a 2-quart casserole or bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave at 50% power for 3 to 5 minutes, until most of chips are shiney or soft. Blend well. Stir in peanuts and chow mein noodles with a rubber spatula. Drop by forkfuls onto wax paper. Cool until set.

Yeah...the picture doesn't really do them justice. But trust me...NOM NOM NOM!!


From there, I moved on to a recipe that is supposed to be good for you! Heh. Go figure. Food on Halloween that is good for you. :) I got the recipe from the Hungry Girl cookbook. They are Caramel Pumpkin Pudding Cupcakes. We sampled one...to make sure they were actually edible. They are.





Recipe:

Ingredients:
For Cupcakes
2 cups moist-style yellow cake mix (½ of an 18.25-ounce box)
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
⅓ cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons Splenda no calorie sweetner (granulated)
⅛ teaspoon salt

For Topping
3 cubes (about 1 ounce) chewy caramel
2 teaspoons light vanilla soymilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine all cupcake ingredients in a mixing bowl with ⅓ cup of water. Whip with a whisk or fork for 2 minutes until well blended.

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with baking cups. Evenly spoon batter into muffin cups. Place pan in the oven and cook for about 12 minutes (until cupcakes have puffed up but still appear a little gooey on top).

Once cupcakes are cool enough to handle, arrange them closely on a plate so that the edges are touching.

Place caramel and soymilk in a tall microwave-safe glass or dish (mixture will bubble and rise when heated). Microwave at medium power for 1½ minutes. Stir mixture vigorously until smooth and thoroughly blended. (Return to microwave for 30 seconds at medium heat if caramel has not fully melted.) Immediately drizzle caramel sauce over cupcakes.

Best part...only 108 calories! WOOOOOT!


/>And finally...the one item that I was really excited about. I wanted to create a cake that would be a little unique. Of course, after I came up with the idea, I found similar recipes EVERYWHERE. But...oh well. This, my dear friends...is The Grave Cake.



Start off with a white cake. Bake according to the directions on the box.



Let the parts cool and then remove from pans. Put one part on the bottom and frost with Cool Whip Free (yep...keep this healthy!). Place top part on cake and frost entirely with Cool Whip Free.



Grind up Oreos in the blender. I used Cool Mint Creme for the minty kick as well as the green bits that would look like grass. Take ground up Oreos and apply to the frosted cake.



Then, take Chocolate Mint Milano cookies and decorate with decorating incing like gravestones. I wrote RIP on all of mine. Stick into the cake and pile up some of the extra crushed Oreos in front of them. The results?



Grave Cake! *cue sinister music*

It looks AMAZING!


So, all that remains is to toast the pumpkin seeds that came from the pumpkin that ladystarblade carved tonight. I'm toasting those up in the morning before work.

And our final results minus the seeds:





Which I personally give...



Two thumbs way up!


Happy Halloween! Looking forward to sharing the goodies with everyone at the party!