Halloween Treats!

I had some things that I needed to do this morning but had planned that after lunch I was going to make some fun treats to give to the handful of children on our street this evening. There are 8 small kids on the street and they and their parents all know me well. Otherwise, I would never consider baking something for them.

Last year I made them witch cupcakes. This year I had something else that I thought would be fun to give to them when they came trick-or-treating with their parents.

But, to my dismay none of them came. Over the past few years so many of the homes that had kids either moved, grew up or have senior citizens in them that don't open the doors when the kids ring the bell on Halloween. As a result, those families with young children go into subdivisions that have HUGE numbers of children.

So I made these really cute treats that I'd love to share with you. Sadly, the only kids that came to my door were strangers to me, so I couldn't offer them a homemade treat that was unwrapped.

BOO HOO! That's how I felt. Although my halloween snack wasn't difficult to make I was so looking forward to sharing them with my little friends. I guess I'll have to give them to family and friends tomorrow, otherwise my husband and I will end up eating all of them.

Anyway, these little cakes that I made are Halloween Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecakes. You can see in the photo at the top one of the cakes is sliced in half. Inside is an orange halloween oreo that's then covered with a pumpkin cheesecake filling and baked. YUM!

You could do something similar for the holidays with the red icing filled oreos and maybe a peppermint cheesecake or regular cheese cake decorated with a snowman on top, Christmas Tree or other holiday decoration. For today though I did a spider web in celebration of Halloween.

Here's the recipe. They're really quite good.

Halloween Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecakes
Serves 12

Ingredients:

•12 whole Halloween Oreos
•8 ounce pkg. Cream Cheese, softened
•½ cup Granulated Sugar
•½ teaspoon Pure Vanilla
•½ cup Pureed Pumpkin
•1 whole Egg
•¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
•⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg
•2 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
•1 pinch Salt
•½ cups Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F). Spray a 12 muffin tin with non-stick spray. I used the butter variety. Place 1 Oreo in the bottom of each muffin tin. Set aside.

In large bowl, whip cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Stir in vanilla, pumpkin, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and salt until combined. Scrape sides of bowl and whip mixture until completely smooth. Spoon mixture evenly over Oreos.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until cheesecakes have set. Remove from oven to cool.

Once cheesecakes are cool enough to handle, remove from muffin tin. Microwave chocolate chips approximately 1 1/2 minutes stirring after 1 minute, then for another 30 seconds until smooth and completely melted. Spoon chocolate into a piping bag with a small round tip.

Pipe melted chocolate in concentric circles on top of cheesecakes. Drag the end of a toothpick through the chocolate to create the look of a spider web, starting in the center and dragging outward. Repeat with remaining cheesecakes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Simple to make and fun to eat!

Halloween Breakfast Pancakes

This year Halloween falls on a Sunday. Yippee! The perfect day to whip up some dressed up pumpkin pancakes for breakfast or of course you could just go to IHOP.

However if you'd rather spend a quiet morning at home, IHOP has decided to share these tips for making the perfect pumpkin pancakes.

•The batter - Start with your favorite pancake batter recipe and simply add canned pumpkin pie mix.

•Water temperature - When preparing dry pancake mix, it is essential that the water is chilled to less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Use ice to bring the temperature of the water down.

•Lumps are good - Do not over mix the pancake batter. Small lumps of flour are what make pancakes tall and fluffy.

•Grill temperature - Use a 350-degree grill and make sure there are no hot or cold spots that can affect cooking time.

•Cook time - The appearance is how you judge when a pancake is ready. When dropping the pancake batter, watch for bubbles to form and for the batter to have a dull appearance. This takes approximately 2.5 minutes. After flipping, cook approximately 2 minutes.

•Pancake topping - Top pumpkin pancakes with whipped cream.

IHOP will be serving Pumpkin pancakes through out the month of October.










However, if you're looking for a specific recipe for creating your own spectacular Halloween pancakes here's a recipe you can follow:

Pumpkin Pancakes with Hot Cider Syrup or Spooky Black Cinnamon Syrup
Makes 12 pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions:

1.In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.

2.Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the edges look dry. Turn over and cook until golden brown. Serve immediately with syrup of your choice.

Hot Cider Syrup

1 1/2 c. apple cider
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. corn syrup
2 oz. butter
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Grated rind from 1 lemon
2 apples, peeled, cored & thinly sliced

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine apple cider, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon rind. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Add apples. Heat for several minutes more. Serve over pancakes.



Black Cinnamon Syrup

1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup water
Black food coloring

In a saucepan combine white sugar, brown sugar, all-purpose flour and cinnamon. Stir dry ingredients together. Add vanilla extract and water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until thickened. Add food coloring until you get to the desired shade. Remove from heat until you are ready to use and place in a squirt bottle to decorate.

Decorating ideas with Black Syrup: spider web, spider, witch, bat, cat, pumpkin face, etc.

Note: If you'd like to decorate your pancakes for Halloween with something other than the syrup try IHOPs design. Using some whipped cream decorate a smile for the mouth and add candy corn on top for the teeth.

Use a strawberry for the nose and whipped cream circles for the eyes with a mini oreo set onto each whipped circle. Now who wouldn't love that?

Looking for more fun? Check out these Halloween Pancake Molds.



Have fun!