10 Terrifying Recipes To Make This Halloween

Perhaps, a favourite time of year for children, Halloween provides little ones with plenty of activities to do and treats in store. But, Halloween's not only for kids. It's also a celebration that every age can get involved in and showcase their playful side... Whatever that may be! Whether your ideal version of Halloween is one spent watching a horror film indoors, creating a themed night for grandchildren, or simply staying in and relaxing with friends, we’ve selected 10 recipes that are perfect for all ages and will suit any treats (or tricks) that you have planned!

1. Wiggly Worm Cupcakes

Children, and the young at heart, will love these creepy-crawly chocolate cupcakes from our McCarthy Stone Retirement Living Plus development chef, Tony. They are perfect for a Halloween trick and treat. The decorating is the fun part – get inventive with the chocolate biscuit ‘soil’, adding any revoltingly realistic insect sweets you can find. Gummy worms are particularly effective!

Read the recipe.

2. Zombie Pasta

This isn’t a recipe for the faint-hearted. Perfect for kids who love all things gory and gruesome, this Zombie pasta gets creative with sausages and creates ‘zombie’ fingers in your dinner. Paired with an eerie green linguine, this is a meal that is equally delicious as it is terrifying!

Read the recipe.

3. Halloween Hummus

Instead of throwing away the lovely pumpkin flesh when carving your pumpkin, whip up this quick and easy recipe instead! 

What you’ll need:

• 1 small pumpkin (around 500g)
• Olive oil, for roasting
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• Juice from ½ lemon
• 2 tbsp tahini paste
• 400g can chickpeas, drained

What to do:

1. Cut off the top of the pumpkin and remove the seeds.
2. Once you’ve removed your pumpkin seeds, scoop out the flesh from the bottom and the lid.
3. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan.
4. Cut the pumpkin flesh into pieces and place in a roasting tin with 1-2 tablespoons of oil.
5. Season, then bake for 45 minutes until very tender.
6. Remove your roasting tin from the oven and leave to cool.
7. Tip: The roasted pumpkin and any remaining juices into a food processor.
8. Add the tahini paste, chickpeas and lemon juice.
9. Season with salt and blend until it becomes a creamy paste.
10. If it seems too thick, add a little more oil until it becomes your desired consistency.

This recipe is easy enough for any cooking level to do. When ready, simply serve with a delicious bagel and optional toasted chickpeas. Or, for the more adventurous, you can pop it into a prepared pumpkin skin and serve with bread sticks, carrot sticks or ghoulish-themed crudites.

4. Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagna 

Mary Berry shows us how to make a delicious dish that will give you another crafty use for leftover pumpkin. This pumpkin and spinach lasagne is a perfect winter-warmer treat and is packed full of vitamins and nourishment. The recipe actually calls for ‘Butternut Squash’ rather than pumpkin, but both can be used to achieve the same result!

Read the recipe.

5.Spooky Gravestone Brownies

With a ‘secret’ ingredient of blood red beetroot these spooktacular chocolate creations from our McCarthy Stone Retirement Living Plus development chef, Tony, make a terribly tasty Halloween treat – and are practically one of your five a day! 

Read the recipe.

6. The Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is a Halloween classic that can be eaten throughout Autumn. Best served with lashings of cream or soft vanilla ice cream, it has lovely warming flavours from nutmeg and ginger, as well as a comforting sweetness. We adore a slice of pumpkin pie with a hot mug of tea after a brisk walk outside!

Read the recipe.

7. Toffee Apples

Toffee apples are a quick, easy and delicious treat that can be made from leftover bobbing apples from Halloween. Crisp apple varieties with a hint of tartness will add extra bite to your toffee apple and they’re perfect to make with grandchildren too.

What you’ll need:

• 550 g (11⁄4lb) sugar
• 300 mL (10fl oz) water
• 6 eating apples

What to do:

1. Gently heat 550g (11⁄4lb) sugar and 300ml (10fl oz) water in a heavy-based pan until sugar dissolves.
2. Meanwhile, spear six eating apples with a stick or fork. Once the sugar has dissolved completely - otherwise it will crystallise - turn up the heat and let the mixture boil until it turns a caramel colour. Take off heat and immediately dip the pan in cold water to stop the caramel cooking further.
3. Quickly dip each apple into the caramel to coat, then place on non-stick baking parchment to cool.

8.Pumpkin, chilli, spinach and feta parcels

These delicious little triangular parcels are perfect for a Halloween party – perhaps dipped into some blood sauce (sriracha!)? If you want them to be really terrifying, up the amount of chilli! This recipe is from McCarthy Stone Retirement Living Plus development chef, Chris.

Read the recipe.

9: Baileys Freakshake

Trick or treating, decorating and creating costumes deserves a treat! And with this delicious Baileys based milkshake, you can indulge your sweet tooth. Salted pretzels add a salty tang or decorate with whipped cream, strawberry sauce and spooky sprinkles. For a non-alcoholic version, the Baileys can be replaced with chocolate milk. To make: simply pour 50g Baileys, 50g coffee and 150g milk into a blender with 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream, whizz, pour into tumblers, decorate and serve.

10: Parkin Cake

This sticky, spicy, gingery cake is traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night, but tastes far too good to only eat once a year – it’s also perfect for autumnal picnics and Halloween parties. The recipe is another one from our wonderful Retirement Living Plus development chef, Tony.  

Read the recipe.