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The Halloween season is upon us, which means it’s time to dress up in your most ghoulish outfit and get ready to celebrate! We all love a good themed party, but it can be difficult to know what to cook or bring to everyone’s favourite get together around the communal bubbling cauldron. Fear not! We’ve put together some recipes to make up a super simple char’boo’terie board - sure to spook and amaze. Really impress your friends by putting together the entire board, or choose a couple of your favourite freaky recipes.

Mummy Hot Dogs 

2 flaky puff pastry sheets

3 slices cheese

12 hot dogs 

2 tbsp. melted butter

Dijon mustard & tomato sauce spider web

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 190℃ and line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Separate pastry sheets, pinching together seams as necessary. Cut pastry lengthwise into thin strips. 
2. Cut each slice of cheese into thin strips. 
3. Place a hot dog on top of a strip of cheese, then wrap with pastry to look like bandages. 
4. Place on a prepared baking sheet and brush with melted butter. 
5. Bake until pastry is golden and cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. 
6. Using a toothpick, dot mustard onto each hot dog to create eyes.  
7. Serve with a pot of mustard and tomato sauce. Pipe mustard through a piping bag to decorate.

Mummy Jalapeno Poppers

8-10 jalapeno peppers

225g cream cheese, at room temperature

140g shredded cheese

3/4 tsp. garlic powder

3/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. paprika

pinch ground black pepper

225g of flaky puff pastry

1 large egg

1 tbsp. milk

32 to 40 black olive slices OR Candy eyes

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180℃.
2. Cut each pepper in half lengthwise. Use a small spoon to remove and discard all seeds and membranes.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese, shredded cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, paprika and black pepper until well combined.
4. Fill each jalapeno half with cream cheese mixture.
5. Cut dough into thin strips.
6. Wrap 2 to 3 strips of dough around each jalapeno half, being sure to leave a space near the top for the eyes. Place wrapped jalapenos, cut side up, on a prepared baking pan.
7. In a small bowl, whisk egg and milk until smooth. Use a small pastry brush to lightly brush poppers with egg wash.
8. Transfer to the oven and bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.
9. Allow the poppers to cool for 5 minutes, then place two eyeballs/olive slices on each popper. Serve warm.

Apple Monsters

2 green apples, quartered

2 tbsp. peanut butter

Sunflower seeds

3 strawberries

1–2 googly eyes per apple bite

Directions 

1. Slice apple and strawberries and assemble.

Slime Popcorn

5 cups of popcorn (2 bags of microwave popcorn about 8 cups)

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

200g marshmallow

3 drops of green food colouring

Pack of candy eyeballs

Directions

1. Microwave/cook popcorn.
2. Remove all of the kernels from the cooked popcorn. Melt butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Spray a wooden spoon or spatula with cooking, spray the marshmallows (the spray will keep the marshmallows and popcorn from sticking to the spoon). Stir until marshmallows are melted. 
3. Add a few drops of food colouring to the pot and stir until colour is evenly distributed. Add popcorn and candy and combine until evenly coated.
4. Serve or, wrap each ball with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Best if eaten within 2 days. For stringy effect, eat hot.

Spider Web Guacamole 

4 avocados

3 diced tomatoes (fresh or canned))

1 onion

1 tbsp. lime juice

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup cilantro

1/4 cup sour cream for decoration

Directions

1. Prepare avocados. First, select ripe avocados that are easy to squeeze.Remove the pits and scoop the avocado into a medium-sized bowl. Mash with a spoon.
2. Ingredients. Add diced tomatoes, diced onions, lime juice, salt and fresh cilantro into a bowl with avocados and mix.
3. Add remaining diced tomatoes on the edges of the guacamole dip.
4. Using a piping bag, decorate the top with sour cream spiderwebs. If you don’t have a piping bag, simply put the sour cream in a plastic bag and cut a hole in it to make your own DIY piping bag.

Pumpkin Hummus

400g canned chickpeas

200g roasted pumpkin

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. tahini

2 tbsp. lemon juice

3 cloves garlic

Directions 

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Add a dash of water if the hummus is too thick, and adjust seasonings to your preference.
2. Once it's ready, spread in a bowl or in pumpkin shell and garnish with olive oil, pumpkin seeds, etc

Deviled Eggs

12 hard boiled eggs, unpeeled

6 drops blue food colour

6 tbsp. Mayonnaise

3 drops green food colour

2 tsp. yellow mustard

2 tsp. white vinegar

Salt to taste

Directions 

1. Mix water and blue food color in a large bowl.
2. Crack the shells of the hard boiled eggs gently with a spoon. Do not remove the shell.
3. Put the cracked eggs in the water and food coloring mixture and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (for best effect refrigerate overnight)
4. Remove eggs from the refrigerator, peel carefully, and cut eggs in half lengthwise.
5. Scoop out the egg yolks and transfer to a bowl.
6. Set the whites aside.
7. Mash the yolks with the mayonnaise, green food coloring, mustard, and vinegar and pipe the yolk mixture into the egg whites.

Mummy Baked Brie

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

1 wheel of brie

1 large egg

1 tbsp. milk

2 sliced black olives

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180℃. On a floured work surface, unroll puff pastry and cut into strips. Wrap strips around brie like a mummy.
2. Whisk together egg and milk and brush over pastry. Transfer brie to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
3. Bake until brie is warmed through and gooey and puff pastry is deeply golden, 20 minutes.
4. For eyes, place two mini pepperonis into two sliced olives. Serve with crackers.

Vampire Cookies

1 box premade Chocolate Chip cookies

1 can vanilla frosting

red food colouring

1 bag mini marshmallows

1 bag slivered almonds

Directions

1. Cut premade cookies in half.
2. Add a few drops of red food colouring into vanilla frosting and stir until smooth. Spread a thin layer of red frosting onto each cookie half.
3. Place mini marshmallows around the round edges of half of the halves. Place the remaining halves on top, then stick a slivered almond on each side to create fangs.

Antipasto Eyeballs

16 small mozzarella/bocconcini

8 slices prosciutto

8 pimento stuffed green olives, cut in half

1 basil plant

Directions

1. Prep your ingredients by cutting the olives in half and cutting each slice of prosciutto in half lengthwise.
2. Drain the mozzarella/bocconcini balls and use a small paring knife to cut out a small piece of the cheese at the top. (Just enough to fit the olive into).
3. Carefully wrap the slice of prosciutto around the mozzarella ball (cut side up) then carefully fold back the top of the prosciutto to secure it.
4. Place ½ an olive into the centre of each ball.
5. Finish off with a drizzle of good quality olive oil, balsamic glaze and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. You can also place each eye on basil leaf before serving if desired.

Chocolate Pretzel Spider Webs

340g white chocolate chips

450g bag pretzel sticks

1 black decorating icing tube

1 bag M&Ms Halloween colours

2-4 tsp. coconut oil

Directions 

1. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper. Lay out as many pretzel sticks as you would like in your web (at least 8). Form a circle with them with the bottom end of each pretzel touching in the centre. Repeat this for as many webs as you would like to make.
2. Place 1 cup white chocolate chips in a bowl and add 2-4 teaspoons of coconut oil. Microwave for 20-30 seconds. Mix and repeat this process until fully melted with a smooth texture. (Will probably take 2-3 times) Fill your piping bag with the melted chocolate.
3. Drizzle the melted chocolate in a circular motion to form the web, placing extra in the centre to hold the pretzel ends together. Place m&ms where desired and use black decorator icing to draw on the legs. 
4. Place in the fridge to set up for 2-4 hours.