As October commences spooky snacks and fall festive treats are becoming more popular, so here are some recipes to get you into the spirit of the season.

• Ghost S’mores Dip

• • 1 bag ghost marshmallow or 4 packages ghost Peeps
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • Graham crackers
  • Mini chocolate chips (for ghosts eyes)
  • 9 inch baking pan
    • Preheat oven to 450°F
    • Pour semi-sweet chocolate chips on the bottom of the pan, then the heavy cream over it, and finally place the ghosts on top with mini chocolate chips as the eyes and mouth
    • Bake 8-10 minutes or until marshmallows are golden brown

• Chocolate Caramel Filled Apples

• • 1 apples
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons hot fudge topping
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons caramel apple dip
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons chopped pecans (can be substituted with any nut or none)
    • Cut apple in half and using either a melon baller or spoon carve out the middle leaving the apple at least ¼ inch thick
    • Use a spoon to fill the apple halves with the hot fudge topping
    • Fill a decorating bag with the caramel apple dip or use a spoon to drizzle caramel over the fudge
    • Sprinkle chopped pecans and place into the fudge mixture then drizzle more caramel over the top of the apple to finish

• Pumpkin Coffee Cake

• For the streusel:

• • • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
    • ¾ cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
    • ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
    • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
    • 6 Tbsp salted butter, melted
      • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, walnuts, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in the melted butter. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 day.

• For the Pumpkin Cake:

• • • Baking spray with flour, for the pan
    • 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree (NOT pie mix)
    • ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
    • ½ cup vegetable oil
    • ½ cup sour cream
    • ½ cup granulated sugar
    • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
    • 2 large eggs
    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • ¾ tsp baking soda
    • ½ tsp kosher salt
      • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 13-by-9-inch with baking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Spray the parchment paper again with cooking spray.
      • In a large bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, vegetable oil, sour cream, granulated sugar, vanilla, and eggs until fully combined. Then add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring until well combined.
      • Pour batter into pan, smooth the top, remove streusel from the fridge and break into dime-sized pieces with your hands. Sprinkle evenly over batter.
      • Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with FEW moist crumbs (40-45 minutes). Let cool completely in the pan.

• For the Cream Cheese Drizzle:

• • • 2 oz cream cheese, cubed
    • ¾ cups powdered sugar
    • ¼ Tbsp vanilla extract
      • In a medium heatproof bowl, microwave the cream cheese until very soft (10-15 seconds). Wisk in powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of water.

• All together:

• • • Use parchment overhang to lift the coffee cake out of the pan. Drizzle cream cheese over the cake.
    • Let sit for 15 minutes

• Homemade Applesauce

• • 6 Ib. apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 slices
  • 1 cup apple juice or apple cider
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ½ cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon, more or less to taste
  • Optional ingredients: Nutmeg, maple syrup, allspice, butter, to taste
    • Combine all ingredients into large pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally (25 minutes)
    • Carefully puree in a food processor or blender until smooth (don’t fill all the way; split up into two portions if needed)
    • Store in fridge and serve by itself

• Black Cat Halloween Rice Krispie Treats
  • 3 Tbsp Butter
  • 6 cups crispy rice cereal
  • 1 – 10 oz bag Marshmallows
  • 1 – 12 oz bag Dark or Milk chocolate chips
  • 1 bag candy corn pumpkins
  • Yellow icing
  • Cat cookie cutter
  • Shallow baking sheet
    • In a bowl mix the marshmallows and butter either in the microwave or on the stove. Stir frequently.
    • Add cereal and mix well
    • Fully press the mixture into a well greased pan about ½ inch thick if possible. Let firm for 2 hours.
    • Cut candy corn pumpkins in half
    • Melt chocolate chips over the stove or in the microwave.
    • While chocolate is melting place treats in freezer for 5 minutes
    • Remove treats from the freezer and use the Cat cookie cutter to cut out the shapes.
    • Dip the cat treats into the melted chocolate and place 1 piece of the half pumpkin candy corn pieces at the cats legs before the chocolate hardens
    • Let firm until chocolate is hardened and use the yellow icing as the eyes.