Halloween Ideas | Leigh Anne Wilkes | Halloween Recipes

How to Make Candy Eyes

Leigh Anne Wilkes — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Don’t waste money on edible googly eyes you can buy at the store, instead make hundreds candy eyes for pennies. They are the perfect thing to decorate all of your holiday treats.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe!

Halloween-ify your treats! Candy eyes are the easiest way to dress up any food or favorite Halloween treat and Halloween-ify it! Turn an ordinary treat into a Halloween treats with just a couple of edible eyeballs.

Save money! You can buy candy eyes at the craft store but you only get a couple dozen and they can be pricey. With this recipe for white candy eyes you can literally make hundreds of candy eyeballs for what you would pay for one small bag of them at the store.

Handful of ingredients. The eyes are made with royal icing that is easy to make at home and it dries hard and stores for a long time in an air tight container.

Ingredients

Egg Whites or Meringue Powder
Powdered Sugar or Confectioner Sugar
Water
Decorating Tip – Use a number 3 or 4 round tip
Decorating Bag – I use a disposable cake decorating bag
Black Food Coloring

How To Make Edible Googly Candy Eyes

Start by making the Royal Icing.

Beat egg whites large bowl with mixer at high speed until foamy
Gradually add sugar.
Beat at high speed until thickened and desired consistency. (see below for tips)
When using meringue powder, just combine the powder sugar with the meringue powder and mix to combine. Add in water and beat at high speed until thickened and desired consistency.

Tip # 1. The trick with using royal icing is getting it the right consistency, not too thick and not too thin. One trick is to dip a spoon into the icing and let some of the icing fall back into the bowl. You want that icing you just dripped in to disappear into the icing in the bowl within about 10 seconds or so. If it takes longer add a teeny, tiny bit more water. Only a few drops at a time.

Tip # 2. You can also run a knife through the icing and if the indentation made starts to close back in on itself, it is the right consistency. (See video below for tips too)

After making the royal icing, add black food coloring to 1/3 of the batch.

Piping Candy Eyes

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Attach a number 3 or 4 round tip onto a disposable cake decorating bag and fill with white royal icing. You can also just snip the tip of the bag off and not use a decorating tip.
Hold the bag straight up, make dots of icing.

Tips

If your icing is the right consistency the little point that is left will settle back down into the eye. But if it doesn’t, add a few more drops of water to your icing. If the eye spreads too much, your frosting is too thin. Just add a little more of the mix.
And be sure and keep your tip clean by wiping it off often. Royal icing sets up quickly and it will start to harden on the outside of your tip.

The number of eyeballs you will get will depend on how big or small you make them, but you will be able to make hundreds! You can make a fun assortment of candy eyeballs. Any shape from small candy eyes to large candy eye balls.

Next, put the black royal icing in a piping bag with the same size tip. Go back and add the pupil to each eye. Just add a little black, you don’t even really need to squeeze the bag, adding too much will cause it to pile up on top of the eye ball. (In the photo below, I have a bit too much black added and you can see the little pile of black)

Let them sit out to air dry for 12-24 hours to harden up. Larger eyes may require 36 hours. They should be dry to the touch and easily come off the parchment paper. If they stick to the paper they are not dry enough yet.

Pair These With:

Halloween Donuts
Halloween Hot Chocolate
Mummy Dogs
Mummy Meatballs
Cupcakes – add candy eyes to your favorite cupcake to Halloween-ify it!
Mummy Brie

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of food coloring do you use?

Halloween 7 Layer Dip

Leigh Anne Wilkes — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Halloween 7 Layer Dip is a fun holiday twist on a favorite appetizer that is perfect for all your Halloween parties. Seven layers of deliciousness!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

It’s always a hit! This dip is one of my boy’s most requested appetizers and this Halloween spider web version is just too much fun. It has been a repeat guest at our annual Halloweenie Roast for many years! Turning a classic appetizer into a spooky Halloween treat is easy to do with a little sour cream spider web and plastic spider!

It’s quick and easy! It can be assembled in a matter of minutes.

Ingredients

Guacamole. Use store bought or make homemade guacamole using this recipe.
Sour Cream. You can also use plain Greek yogurt.
Taco Seasoning. If you don’t have taco seasoning you can also add salsa into the mayonnaise.
Mayonnaise
Black Olives
Green Onions
Cheddar Cheese
Tomato. You could also replace the tomatoes with pico de gallo.

How to Make Halloween 7 Layer Dip

Spread guacamole over the bottom of a 9in round baking dish.

Mix together sour cream and taco seasoning mix is a medium bowl.
Layer sour cream mixture over top of the guacamole.

Sprinkle shredded cheese around the edge of the dish.
Top cheese with tomato, olives and green onion.

Put some sour cream into a little zip lock baggie and snip off the corner, just a little bit.
Pipe the sour cream into the shape of a spider web.

Add a plastic spider, some tortilla chips and it’s ready to serve.
Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Tips from leigh Anne

Add a layer of refried beans or even black beans if you want to add some protein. I’d recommend adding it first.
A layer of ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning would also add some additional flavor or protein. Add it before the guacamole. Use 1 lb. of meat.
Add some a can of green chiles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why doesn’t this recipe use refried beans?

Halloween Hot Chocolate

Leigh Anne Wilkes — Sat, 12 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Halloween Hot Chocolate is a fun and festive way to enjoy a mug of delicious hot cocoa with a Halloween twist.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe!

Perfect way to warm up! After a chilly night trick or treating, nothing is better than a cup of hot chocolate. Halloween Hot Chocolate is sure to be a total hit at any Halloween party or to warm up those trick or treaters when they come home.

Get creative. The possibilities are pretty endless. Just add in some food coloring (or leave it white), top it with some whipped cream or mini marshmallows and then add on some edible candy eyes, candy corn or a gummy work! See how many different combinations you can cup up or let the kid’s create their own combinations.

Ingredients Needed

Milk. I prefer to use whole milk for the creamiest hot chocolate.
White Chocolate Chips. Use a good quality chocolate for the best taste.
Vanilla Extract
Whipped Cream
Food Coloring
Toppings: Halloween Sprinkles, candy corn, mini marshmallows

How to Make Halloween Hot Chocolate

Pour milk into medium saucepan.
Warm milk on stovetop until bubbles form around the edges. Do not allow it to boil.
Add in chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.

Remove from heat and add vanilla extract and food coloring of choice. Whisk to combine.

Garnish as desired. Those edible googly eyes are the perfect way to top off the whipped cream and so easy to make at home.

Another fun variation is adding orange food coloring, whipped cream, yellow sprinkles and a few candy corn. This one is for all your candy corn lovers.

Add in whatever color of food coloring you want, and create a fun, festive and delicious Halloween hot chocolate!

Tips from leigh Anne

Always heat your milk low and slow, don ‘t let it come to a boil. It is ok to just let small bubbles form around the edge of the pan.
Stir or whisk the milk before pouring it into a mug. The white chocolate will separate out a bit but stirring will recombine.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use milk chocolate or semi sweet chocolate?

Halloween Donuts

Leigh Anne Wilkes — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Create the cutest, easiest Halloween Donuts using store bought donuts, homemade glaze and candy eyes. They are guaranteed to be the hit of your Halloween party.

Why You’ll Love This!

Quick & Easy Halloween Treats! You can either use store bought doughnuts to make these Halloween donuts or you can easily make your own using my Baked Donut recipe.

We made our own donut glaze using the simple recipe below. some sprinkles and candy eyes we created these quick and easy donuts. A few candy eyes can turn anything into a fun Halloween treat.

With donuts from the grocery stores you can create dozens of fun Halloween donuts in minutes!

To make your own candy eyes follow my tutorial here.

Ingredients Needed

Powdered Sugar

Vanilla Extract

Milk or cream

Halloween sprinkles. Use your favorite Halloween sprinkle blend and chocolate sprinkles

Food coloring. Orange, Green, Purple and Black.

Candy Eyes

What Kind of Donuts are the Best to use?

I used unglazed, unfrosted cake donuts (except I did purchase a few chocolate frosted donuts)for my Halloween donuts. You could also use a raised donut if you prefer and pick up a box of glazed donuts at Krispy Kreme.

If you are going to glaze your Halloween donuts with colored glaze it is easier to use an unglazed donut as the glaze or frosting that comes on the donut will prevent the glaze you dip into from sticking well. You will need to dip it at least twice. It is totally doable though.

How to Make Halloween Donuts

In a bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract and enough milk to make a nice glazing consistency. Start with 1-2 Tbsp and then add a little bit more at a time until you get the right consistency.

If it too runny, add some additional powdered sugar, if it is too thick, add more milk or cream.

Add desired food coloring. I used four colors in addition to leaving one bowl white. I made green icing , orange icing, purple icing and black icing.

Dip top half of donut into glaze.

Lightly shake donut to get glaze to become an even layer.

Place on a cooling rack and allow excess glaze to drip off. If glaze is too thin, you may need to dip it a second time.

While the glaze is still wet, add sprinkles or candy eyes. The more googly candy eyes the better!

How to Make Spider donuts

Thicken the white glaze you used to dip the donuts into by adding some additional powdered sugar.
Leave it white or add some black food coloring.
Place the thickened icing (either black or white) into a decorating bag with a small round tip.
Pipe lines around the donut first and then add lines through those web lines.
Make a little spider on the web, add a candy eye or two. Don’t forget his little spider legs!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use candy melts instead of frosting on Halloween donuts?

Pink Popcorn

Leigh Anne Wilkes — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0000

This Pink Popcorn is almost as fun to make as it is to eat! It is super versatile and you can make it any color or flavor you like! It is a childhood classic.

Pink Popcorn is a perfect treat for Valentine’s Day but you can make it year round. Change out your food coloring and extract flavor according to the holiday and your mood. I thought a batch of red and a batch of green mixed together would be fun for Christmas too and how about red, white and blue for the 4th of July! Just imagine the possibilities!!

What is Old Fashioned Pink Popcorn Recipe?

This sweet treat always takes me back to my childhood. It is a crunchy popcorn that is coated with a sweet vanilla flavored coating. Adding in a few drops of food coloring makes for a festive treat. You can even add some sprinkles on top if you like. It tastes a little bit like a birthday cake in popcorn form!

This recipe was given to me by my husband’s Aunt Elaine and she called it Mother Goose Popcorn, not sure why but it’s a cute name. We call it pink popcorn because I usually make it pink.

Ingredients Needed

Popcorn. I use unsalted, unbuttered popped corn. I make mine in the air popper or you can do it on the stove top. You can use microwave popcorn but it will change the flavor because of the butter and salt. Be sure and remove all the popcorn kernels after popping. No one likes to bite into one of those! Place your popcorn in a large bowl.
Sugar. Granulated Sugar. This recipe does not use corn syrup
Butter. I use salted butter.
Vanilla Extract. You could use any favorite flavoring extract you like. Coconut would be yummy!
Pink or Red Food Coloring. I use pink food coloring but you can use any color you want.

How to Make Colored Popcorn

On the stove top, over medium heat, combine sugar, water, butter, food coloring and your flavoring into a sauce pan.
Bring mixture to a boil. There is no candy thermometer needed.

Pour the mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat.
Spread the popcorn out in a single layer on some parchment paper or a baking sheet and let it dry. The popcorn is then ready to enjoy.

Tips from Leigh Anne

Use different colors of food coloring for different occasions or holidays. Or if you prefer, you can totally leave the food coloring out. It will still taste delicious.
I love to package it up in little cellophane bags tied with a ribbon and share with friends and neighbors.

Halloween Ideas | Leigh Anne Wilkes | Halloween Recipes

How to Make Candy Eyes

Why You’ll Love This Recipe!

Ingredients

How To Make Edible Googly Candy Eyes

Tips

Pair These With:

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of food coloring do you use?

Halloween 7 Layer Dip

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Ingredients

How to Make Halloween 7 Layer Dip

Tips from leigh Anne

Frequently Asked Questions

Why doesn’t this recipe use refried beans?

Halloween Hot Chocolate

Why You’ll Love This Recipe!

Ingredients Needed

How to Make Halloween Hot Chocolate

Tips from leigh Anne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use milk chocolate or semi sweet chocolate?

Halloween Donuts

Why You’ll Love This!

Ingredients Needed

What Kind of Donuts are the Best to use?

How to Make Halloween Donuts

How to Make Spider donuts

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use candy melts instead of frosting on Halloween donuts?

Pink Popcorn

What is Old Fashioned Pink Popcorn Recipe?

Ingredients Needed

How to Make Colored Popcorn

Tips from Leigh Anne

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will colored popcorn last?