It only takes a few minutes to whip up some fun in the kitchen!

Find the 1/2 hour of time it takes to make some fun treats with your kids in the kitchen this week. When it comes time for Halloween and decorations, you know you can’t go with out the perfect little spooky Halloween treat, too! Here are a few options for you to try out with your kids.

Monster Mayhem Cupcakes

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Line muffin cups with cupcake papers.
  3. Mix cake batter according to package directions and fill prepared muffin cups no more than two-thirds full.
  4. Bake cupcakes for 18 – 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for five minutes before removing from pans to cool completely on wire racks.
  5. Add green food coloring to the frosting, a few drops at a time and mix well.
  6. Frost the cupcakes.
  7. Decorate as wished to create monster faces. Yields two dozen

Candy Corn Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of butter, softened
2 1/4 cup of flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
orange and yellow food coloring

Directions

  1. Cream sugar and butter together.
  2. Add the egg and vanilla and stir into the sugar mix.
  3. Add flour and mix well.
  4. Roll into three balls.
  5. Add orange coloring to one of the balls and yellow to the other. Do not add food coloring to the third ball.
  6. Chill dough. Then roll balls flat together so that the white ball is the bottom, the orange ball is in the middle and the yellow ball is the top.
  7. With a knife cut the dough into three-inch triangles. (If dough is still too sticky, add a little more flour).
  8. Bake 15 min at 350 degrees.

Submitted by a reader from childrensrecipes.com.



Mini Monster Pizzas



Ingredients


2 ounce can sliced mushrooms (drained)
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup pepperoni (cut each pepperoni into smaller pieces)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped onion (optional)
3 tablespoons chopped black olives
6 English muffins (cut in half)



Directions

  1. Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
  2. Spread on top of each muffin half.
  3. Bake at 450 degrees until cheese bubbles — about eight minutes.

Autumn Haystacks



Ingredients

1 (12 ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter
10 large marshmallows
Orange food color paste or food coloring (small amount or a few drops
)
1 1/2 cups chow mein noodles (in the Oriental section of the market)
1 cup Spanish peanuts (optional)
½ cup candy corn

Directions

  1. Melt chocolate morsels and butter in the top of a double boiler or in the microwave — 15 seconds at a time.
  2. Stir in marshmallows and orange food color paste or food coloring. Stir until marshmallows are almost melted.
  3. Next stir in noodles, peanut and candy corn. Drop by spoonsful onto wax paper. Chill several  hours.

Mini Harvest Popcorn Balls

Ingredients
10 cups popped corn
1 (1-lb.) bag miniature colored marshmallows
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 cup diced dried fruit (papaya, mango or peaches)
1 cup butterscotch chips
Orange food coloring

Directions

  1. Place the popcorn, fruit and butterscotch chips in large bowl and mix well. Put aside.
  2. Next heat marshmallows and butter in a large saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth, stirring constantly. You can also do this in the microwave heating a few seconds at a time.
  3. Stir in several drops of orange food coloring. Pour the marshmallow mix over popcorn mix in bowl, tossing to coat evenly. Cool five minutes.
  4. Grease your hands and form into 3-inch balls. Share with a friend.

Yield: About 16 balls