40 Halloween recipes

We have some great Halloween baking recipes for kids, from skeleton gingerbread men to ghost cupcakes and an indulgent mummy cake.

Make one of our Halloween desserts, including tarte tatin, bourbon butterscotch toffee apples and caipirinha jelly.

We also have Halloween party food ideas and cocktails for adults, such as our bewitching blackberry whisky, blood orange cocktail and electrifying purple rain.

Keep your drink topped up with our Halloween cocktail recipes and Halloween mocktail recipes, then serve up more treats with our Halloween baking recipes.

Easy Halloween recipes

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• Halloween baking ideas
• Halloween cocktails and mocktails
• Halloween snacks
• Halloween dinners
• Halloween desserts

Easy Halloween recipes

Halloween baking ideas

Halloween cake

This spooky halloween bake is perfect for the whole family. Position the eyes right and it'll seem as if this possessed portion of cake is following you around the room.

If you wanted to mix things up a little bit, then the decorations would also work on our salted maple brownies.

Halloween cupcakes

These spooktacular black velvet ghostly cupcakes are so terrifyingly tasty that not even the most high strung of paranormal investigators would argue about keeping them around...

Check out more Halloween baking ideas here.

Halloween cookies

Bake these fun cookies for Halloween fun. Get the whole family involved with decorating, the kids will love them!

Skeleton gingerbread men

Check out our skeleton gingerbread men. This simple gingerbread biscuit recipe easily makes 30 spooky skeletons, and they’re the ideal Halloween treat for the kids to enjoy.

Halloween blondies

This spooky, spidery, shareable Halloween treat – flecked with white chocolate chunks and decorated with melted marshmallows – is just the trick.

Chocolate and burnt butterscotch layer cake

Party guests will swoon over the sight of this deliciously indulgent, grown-up chocolate and burnt butterscotch cake.

Pumpkin cake

Dotted with nuts and flavoured with maple syrup, this easy pumpkin cake (made with real pumpkin) is finished with a zesty soft cheese topping.

Halloween drinks

Blackberry whisky

Bewitch your dinner guests with a round of this berry-infused whisky. The subtle spiciness of blackberries is a perfect match for whisky. For more recipes, check out our Halloween cocktails.

Grasshopper cocktail

Minty crème de menthe gives this retro party cocktail a ghoulish green hue, making it an appropriate Halloween themed tipple.

Purple rain

This electrifying cocktail – combining blue curaçao with grenadine to create the unusual purple colour – makes a simple but eye-catching drink to serve at your Halloween get-together.

Blue lagoon

Shake up a round of this eye-catching vodka cocktail – blue curacao gives it a retro and acidic-looking edge.

Grenadine

Make a bottle of homemade blood-red grenadine using sharp pomegranate juice and floral orange blossom water. Top up your glass of grenadine with sparkling water and ice for a fruity mocktail in a flash.

Blood orange Campari cocktail

Campari is an Italian herbal liquor most famous for its bitter taste, beautiful red colour, and the role it plays in the classic negroni. This, combined with a slice of blood orange, adds a Halloween-appropriate tinge to this refreshing apéritif.

Espresso martini

The ultimate coffee cocktail, this recipe blends fresh espresso, vodka and coffee liqueur for a sweet, velvety drink that still packs a punch.

Halloween party food ideas

Devilled eggs

Devilled eggs are a retro party nibble that have recently become trendy. The base stays the same, but you can add different toppings depending on what you fancy.

Fried aubergine sticks with sumac and honey

Served pipping hot, these easy werewolf claws (aubergine sticks) are designed to impress your housemates and family as a quick Halloween starter, or as part of a serve-yourself spooky table spread. With a minty yogurt dip, this Mediterranean-inspired recipe with sumac and za'atar just needs a drizzle of honey to finish it off.

Cheese straws

These cheesey wiggly worms (cheese straws) are easy to make – use ready-made puff pastry and they'll be on the table in just over half an hour. Serve them up with a range of dips and they're sure to be gone in no time.

Quail eggs with dukkah

These dragon's eggs (quail's eggs) are often served as a street snack in Egypt with a little paper cone of dukkah spice blend for dipping. Serve with pickled chillies (available in Middle Eastern shops and some supermarkets), olives and flatbread as a relaxed nibble with drinks.

Corn ribs

These gnarly, curled 'devil's claws' are the perfect finger food (pardon the pun) for a Halloween party. Salted kombu and paprika seasoning gives them a wonderfully umami, smoky flavour whilst chilli provides a kick. Serve with a generous squeeze of lime juice.

Bacon-wrapped dates with quince marmalade

Make your Halloween canapés a bit of fun. This bacon-wrapped eyeballs (aka dates) with quince marmalade makes for a great and ghoulish snack. They look really impressive but are actually very easy to make.

Halloween dinners

Spaghetti and three-cheese pie

Everyone will love this worm-riddled pie – a crisp, crunchy crust with an oozing, melting middle. The perfect way to entertain the kids on Halloween.

Wild boar sausage toad in the hole

This is a simple twist on a classic – swapping out everyday pork bangers for something a little more adventurous for a devilishly delightful Halloween dinner.

Pumpkin risotto

This hearty, warming risotto sees chunks of pumpkin roasted with mace and garlic until golden and caramelised, before being stirred through silky risotto and finished with crispy sage

Melting-middle baked onions

These vegetarian, melting-middle baked onions look like brains, plus they're really easy to make. Use cheddar, or mix with gruyère for a richer filling.

Beef shin macaroni and cheese

An amputated shin (beef shin) is cooked in red wine and stock until meltingly tender, then macaroni and cheese is added and baked until golden and bubbly. This gruesome but epic slow-cooked dish comes from the legendary London haunted steak house, Hawksmoor.

Pumpkin soup

Serve this creamy pumpkin soup in big mugs with fingers of melty blue cheese and sage toasties for dipping. It's perfect for a comforting Halloween starter.

Bibo’s tagliarini nero with squid, chilli, tomato and garlic

As it's Halloween, it's only right to make your pasta as black as night with this spicy seafood dish.

Melting cheese and onion pie

Cut into this crispy puff pastry case to unveil a bubbling caudron of cheese and melting onions within. Perfect for warming up before you embark on an evening of trick-or-treating.

Pici cacio e pepe

Nothing says Halloween food like a plate of worms, made even better with butter and cheese... This classic Tuscan pasta recipe for pici cacio e pepe comes from Borough Market's Padella.

Halloween desserts

Toffee apples

A classic Halloween staples, these candy-coated treats are moreishly crunchy, chewy, sweet and tart. We've dipped ours in chopped nuts and sesame seeds, but you could customise with sprinkles, cinnamon sugar or chocolate drops.

Caipirinha jelly

Buy some plastic spiders to suspend in this alcoholic jelly and you've got yourself an eerie green dessert filled with creepy critters. For an authentic caipirinha flavour, use cachaca, a clear Brazilian spirit made from sugarcane. If you can’t get your hands on any, try white rum instead.

Roasted plums with balsamic blueberries

Serve these bloody plums in just 20 minutes for a gory-looking dessert idea to serve at Halloween.

Chocolate fondant fancies

Swap the stripy chocolate icing for the words RIP and you've got rich chocolate cake squares, topped with an indulgent truffle and smothered in double chocolate icing in the shape of caskets – the perfect gothic garnish for Halloween.

Spiced banana tarte tatin

This deliciously spiced banana tarte tatin recipe comes from the Cinnamon Club. It's easy to make and, without much effort, can look super spooky in the right context. Boost the cinnamony, sweet flavours by serving slices with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream.

Gingerbread bundt cake

Guinness and dark chocolate give this bundt cake its eye-catching coal black hue, perfect for Halloween. It’s best to make this in advance, then leave un-iced in an airtight box overnight or for a couple of days; glaze it an hour-or-so before serving. That way the flavours of the cake all get a chance to develop.

Churros with hot chocolate sauce

Rename these Spanish churros as 'dead man's fingers' for a sweet treat which stays on theme... If you fancy making something even more goulishly good to go with these, our salted caramel chocolate pots would also sweeten up those doughy digits quite nicely.

Pumpkin pie

Make our easy pumpkin pie with maple cream for a luxurious Halloween pud. This rich and creamy pud uses shop-bought pastry, making it simple yet impressive. Also try our vegan pumpkin pie for a dairy-free, egg-free version.

Bourbon butterscotch toffee apples

These glistening bourbon butterscotch toffee apples look so enticing, guests won't be able to resist biting into one of these boozy, sweet treats. If you're making these for kids, leave out the alcohol and swap the sticks for something child-friendly.

Black grape and wine sorbet

This sinfully sophisticated recipe is ideal for All Hallows' Eve. Instead of the sparkling shiraz, you could use a full-bodied red wine or a light, fruity rosé.

Black and white Oreo cheesecake

This striking black and white cheesecake is a spooky twist on your traditional cheesecake, replacing the usual digestive base with Oreos and adding white chocolate to the filling.