16 Easy Halloween Treats and Desserts
Need a few easy Halloween treats for the class party, the trunk-or-treat table or just a pan to nibble on while you hand out candy at the door? Here are 16 of our favorite Halloween desserts, from big candy-stuffed cookies and ghostly meringues to candy apples with a glassy red shell that cracks when you bite in.
Plenty of these are simple enough to hand the spoon to the kids, like the two-ingredient Pay Day candy mix and butterscotch haystacks, and several can be made a day or two ahead so you aren’t baking at the last minute. If you’re planning a little mischief for the neighbors, our You’ve Been Booed tradition pairs nicely with a plate of anything on this list.
Easy Halloween Cookies
Cookies are the easiest Halloween dessert to share because they travel in a zip-top bag and nobody needs a fork. This batch runs from a 25-minute candy corn cookie to a slow weekend gingerbread project with the kids.
1Big, Chewy Halloween Candy Cookies
Good to know: This is the one to bake after trick-or-treating, since 1 ½ cups of chopped leftover candy goes right into the dough. You’ll get 8 big bakery-style cookies in about 35 minutes.
2White Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies
Good to know: They’re ready in about 25 minutes and make 2 dozen, which is handy when you need enough for a whole classroom.
3Ghost Meringue Cookies
Good to know: Most of the time is hands-off while the little ghosts dry in the oven, and a splash of almond extract gives them extra flavor.
4Monster Cookies
Good to know: Peanut butter and oats make these hearty enough to count as an after-school snack, and orange and brown candy-coated chocolates make them look right at home on a Halloween platter.
5Gingerbread Trick-or-Treaters
Good to know: These take about 4 hours from start to finish, so save them for a slow afternoon when little hands can help decorate the costumes.
Spooky Cakes, Pies and Pastries
When you need something for a crowd, a pan dessert or a puff pastry shortcut goes a long way, and none of these call for fancy decorating skills.
6Candy Corn Poke Cake
Good to know: A white cake mix soaks up orange and lemon gelatin to make the candy corn colors, so most of the work is waiting while it chills.
7Jack-o-Lantern Apple Pie
Good to know: Refrigerated puff pastry and a can of apple pie filling keep this showstopper to about 23 minutes.
8Pumpkin Oatmeal Cream Pies
Good to know: Real pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice go into the soft cookies, and you’ll have 10 cream pies in about 30 minutes.
9Caramel Apple Pinwheels
Good to know: Puff pastry rolls up around a cinnamon apple and pecan filling, then gets a drizzle of caramel icing, all in about 30 minutes.
Candy Apples and Caramel Apples
An apple on a stick feels like a fall festival in your own kitchen, and both of these work with small to medium apples so they’re easy for kids to hold.
10Homemade Cinnamon Candy Apples
Good to know: Cinnamon Red Hots melt right into the candy coating for that classic red shell, and the recipe makes 8 apples.
11Chocolate Caramel Apples
Good to know: A bag of Kraft caramels and some chocolate chips keep these simple, and everybody can roll their apple in their own toppings like M&M’s or sprinkles.
No-Bake Halloween Candy and Snack Mixes
These are the ones to hand off to little helpers, since most of them come down to melting, stirring and spooning onto a pan.
12Halloween Bark with Frozen Yogurt
Good to know: Honey-sweetened Greek yogurt is spread out, topped with candy corn and sprinkles and frozen, so plan on about 2 hours before you break it into pieces.
13Butterscotch Haystacks
Good to know: You only need butterscotch chips, a spoonful of shortening and chow mein noodles. Spooned into little piles, they look like haystacks or spider nests.
14Pay Day Candy Mix
Good to know: It’s just candy corn and your favorite peanuts stirred together, and it tastes like a Pay Day bar. Little ones can make the whole thing themselves.
15Sweet and Salty Fall Snack Mix
Good to know: Chex and pretzels bake in a buttery brown sugar coating before the candy corn and Reese’s Pieces get tossed in, and you’ll have 6 cups in about 30 minutes.
16Homemade Caramel Corn
Good to know: The caramel is made from scratch with honey, butter and brown sugar, and it coats a big batch of freshly popped popcorn.
Tips for an Easy Halloween Treat Table
- Bake the cookies and stir up the snack mixes a day or two early, then the day of the party you’re only setting out platters.
- Pick one cookie, one pan dessert and one candy or snack mix so there’s something for the chocolate lovers, the fruit lovers and the salty snackers.
- Scoop the fall snack mix or caramel corn into clear treat bags tied with orange ribbon for class parties and party favors.
- Keep the frozen yogurt bark in the freezer until right before serving, since it softens quickly at room temperature.
Halloween Treats FAQs
What Halloween treats can I make ahead?
The cookies, snack mixes, caramel corn and Pay Day candy mix all hold up for a few days in an airtight container, so you can get them done early in the week. The frozen yogurt bark can wait in the freezer until you’re ready to serve it.
What are the easiest Halloween treats for kids to make?
The Pay Day candy mix only needs a bowl and a spoon, and butterscotch haystacks are just melted chips stirred into chow mein noodles. Kids also love decorating gingerbread trick-or-treaters or picking their own toppings for chocolate caramel apples.
What can I make with leftover Halloween candy?
Chop it up and fold it into big chewy Halloween candy cookies, which use 1 ½ cups of candy per batch. Leftover candy corn is also good stirred into the Pay Day candy mix.