By Ellen Bryant Lloyd, TMoM Team Member

October is synonymous with celebrating Halloween, but did you know it is also National Cookbook Month? This month is the perfect time to take your favorite cookbooks off the shelf or check out the cookbook section in your local library or bookstore with the help of your young ones. Finding great Halloween recipes for kids is an added bonus! Flipping through the pages may take you on a trip down memory lane. It may inspire you to whip up special dishes for family or ghoulish tricks and treats.. Cookbooks are also a great resource for emerging readers to practice reading, sequencing and putting their creativity to good work.

Here are some fun Halloween-themed cookbooks with highlighted recipes to add to a spooky menu for Halloween week, as well as other great cookbooks for young and mature chefs worth reviewing and possibly adding to your collection.

Cookbooks with a Halloween theme

Eerie Elegance Eats: A Halloween Cookbook of Creepy Cuisine by Britta Peterson
Tricky Treats: Halloween Delights for appetizers, Snacks, Dinner, and Dessert! by Vincent Amiel
Ghoulish Goodies: Creature Feature Cupcakes, Monster Eyeballs, Bat Wings, Funny Bones, Witches’ Knuckles, and Much More! by Sharon Bowers
Halloween Recipes Cookbook: Quick and Easy Halloween Recipes by Adelisa Garibovic
Halloween Dinner Recipes

Halloween Dishes

Chicken Potpie with Crawling Hands

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Crawling Hands –
1 large egg yolk
Wilton Red Icing Color
1 package frozen puff pastry
Wilton hand-shaped cookie cutter
Chicken Potpie –
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
2 packages frozen mixed vegetables
3 cups shredded roasted or rotisserie chicken
1 tablespoon garlic salt
Pepper to taste

Instructions

To make Crawling Hands: heat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk egg yolks and 2 drops red icing color in a small cup until blended; set aside.
Roll out one sheet of puff pastry dough on a lightly floured surface. Using cutter, cut out 6 hands. Placed on prepared baking sheet. Using a small paintbrush, paint egg yolk onto tips of fingers to resemble fingernails.
Bake pastry 15 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining sheet of puff pastry dough.
To make chicken potpie: melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour; cook, whisking, until bubbling. Gradually whisk in chicken broth. Stir over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a rapid boil and thickens. Stir in remaining ingredients. Return to a simmer; cook for 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Pour mixture into serving bowls and garnish with Crawling Hands.

Notes

Betty Crocker Halloween Cookbook by Betty Crocker

Crusty Mummy Fingers

Print Recipe

Ingredients

– 2 pounds sweet potatoes peeled (about 2 large potatoes)
– 2 tablespoons water
2 egg whites
1 cup Italian style dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
Cooking spray

Instructions

– Heat oven to 450 degrees. Spray 2 large cookie sheets with cooking spray.
Cut potatoes into 4×1/2-inch strips. In shallow dish, mix water and egg whites with wire whisk or fork. In another shallow dish, mix bread crumbs, cheese, salt, black pepper and red pepper. Working in batches, dip sweet potatoes into egg white mixture, roll in bread crumb mixture. Place potatoes in single layer on cookie sheets. Spray potatoes with cooking spray about 10 seconds.
Bake 18-20 minutes, turning after 10 minutes, until crisp.

Notes

Halloween Recipes by Hannie P. Scott

Fizzy Blood Smoothie

Print Recipe

Ingredients

– 1 cup Sprite
– 1 1/2 cups lemonade
– 1 cup frozen raspberries
– 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
– 1 cup raspberry sherbet

Instructions

– Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth
– Pour into glasses and serve

Candy Corn Poke Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients

– 1 box white cake mix plus the ingredients the mix calls for
– 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
– Yellow and orange food coloring
– 16 ounce tub of whipped cream thawed
– Candy corn

Instructions

Mix the cake according to the box directions, then evenly divide the cake. Pour mix into two separate bowls
Using the food coloring, dye one bowl of batter yellow and one orange
Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with nonstick spray and spread the yellow cake batter across the bottom
Cover and put the dish in the freezer for 30 minutes
Remove the dish from the freezer and gently pour the orange batter over the yellow and carefully spread it evenly
Bake the cake according to the package directions or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. It may take a few extra minutes since the cake batter was slightly frozen.
Remove the cake from the oven and poke holes all over it with the end of a wooden spoon
Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly into the holes and all over the cake
Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least two hours
Before serving the cake, evenly spread the whipped cream over it
Top the whipped cream with candy corns

cookbooks for young & mature chefs

The Big, Fun Kids Cookbook by editors of Food Network magazine
Super Good Baking for Kids by Duff Goldman
Super Simple Cooking for Kids: Lean to Cook with 50 Fun and Easy Recipes for Breakfast, Snacks, Dinner, and More! by Jodi Danen RDN
Good Housekeeping Kids Cook!: 100+ Super-Easy, Delicious Recipes
My First Cookbook: Fun recipes to cook together… with as much mixing, rolling, scrunching and squishing as possible! by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
Omari McQueen’s Best Bites Cook Book by Omari McQueen
How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman
Once Upon a Chef, the Cookbook: 100 Tested, Perfected and Family-Approved Recipes by Jennifer Segal

Enjoy some fun time in the kitchen while brewing up fun Halloween treats with your little goblins! Happy Halloween!

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