Trick or TREAT?

Pepper Young

Staying in tonight but wanting a fun filled evening? Never to worry, we’ve got you. Here’s a list of bakes to try out this halloween

The ‘ber’ months are here, and as the nights get colder, our homes get cosier. My favourite way to cosy up during the darker nights is with a tasty treat that’s freshly baked, and to settle in with a spooky movie, or a Halloween episode of Modern Family. Whether you’re planning to eat a whole tray of ghost brownies whilst wrapped in a fluffy blanket, or you’re trying to wow your friends with a spooky bake at a Halloween party, here are some of my favourite October bakes!

Spook-ifying shop bought treats!

Brownies-

Pepper Young

·      Brownies

·      Around 100g of white chocolate (cooking chocolate will melt best)

1.    Chop or break the chocolate into small pieces.

2.    Melt the chocolate:

a)    Microwave: Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 20 second bursts, stirring each time to stop any lumps forming.

b)    Bain-marie: Half fill a medium saucepan with water and place over a medium heat to bring to a very gentle simmer. Place a heatproof bowl on top of the pan so that it fits snugly but doesn’t touch the water. Add chocolate to the bowl, then leave to melt for 4-5 mins, stirring regularly.

3.    Once melted, transfer it to a small piping bag or a zip-lock bag with a small corner snipped off.

4.    Pipe the chocolate onto your brownie in any design you like.

To draw a spiderweb: Using a toothpick or a fine-tipped tool, gently drag lines from the centre of the brownies to the edges. Then, create a spider-web effect by connecting the lines with a wave-like line.

Marshmallow Ghost Cookies

Pepper Young

·      Any cookies or biscuits

·      Big marshmallows

·      Icing sugar

·      Black icing gel

1.    For this easy treat, start by placing a marshmallow on top of each one of your cookies.

2.    Make icing by putting the icing sugar through a sieve to get rid of lumps then mixing with water until it forms a good consistency where it is dripping off your spoon but not really runny.

3.    Drizzle icing over the marshmallows to make a ghost effect and then put them aside to set

4.    Once the icing has set, use black icing to make little ghost faces

Fall Favourites

One Bowl Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Pepper Young

FOR THE MUFFINS

·      368g pumpkin puree (Make sure it is puree and not pumpkin pie mix. I found it in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose)

·      100g granulated sugar

·      100g brown sugar

·      219g plain flour

·      119 ml vegetable oil

·      59 ml milk

·      2 eggs

·      2 tsp vanilla extract

·      1 tsp baking soda

·      1/2 tsp baking powder

·      2 tsp ground cinnamon

·      1 tsp ground ginger

·      1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

·      1/2 tsp salt

FOR THE STREUSEL

·      57g melted butter

·      63g plain flour

·      100g light brown sugar

·      1/2 tsp salt

·      1 tsp maple syrup

FOR THE GLAZE (OPTIONAL)

·      60g icing powder

·      2 tbsp milk

·      splash of vanilla extract

·      pinch of salt

1.    Preheat oven to 190°C (or 180°C in a fan oven) and line your muffin tin with cases.

2.    In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, sugars, vegetable oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix well.

3.    Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt. Stir until well combined

4.    Scoop batter into prepared muffin tins (Should make about 12), filling just over ⅔ of the way. Set aside.

5.    To make the streusel, combine all streusel ingredients in a bowl (you can just use the same bowl as you made the muffins in). Stir together until the mixture resembles wet sand (You might need to add more four). Sprinkle the streusel over the muffin batter.

6.    Bake for 15-17 minutes depending on the size of your muffins or until you can insert a knife into them, and it comes out clean.

7.    While the muffins cool, make the glaze. Combine all the ingredients into a small bowl and mix. Drizzle the glaze over the muffins and serve!

For the full recipe and notes see Broma Bakery Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Pepper Young

FOR THE PANCAKES (makes around 4)

·      135g plain flour

·      1 tsp baking powder

·      ½ tsp salt

·      2 tbsp caster sugar

·      130 ml milk

·      1 large egg, lightly beaten

·      1 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly), and extra for cooking

FOR THE CINNAMON SWIRL

·      70g light brown sugar

·      4 tbsp melted butter

·      ½ tbsp ground cinnamon

FOR THE ICING (OPTIONAL)

·      200g icing sugar

·      Splashes of milk until you reach the icing consistency you like

·      Splash of vanilla extract

1.    Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk and egg, followed by the melted butter

2.    Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

3.    For the swirl mixture, melt the butter and mix in the other ingredients, adding more or less cinnamon to taste. Put the mixture into a piping bag, squeeze bottle, or sandwich bag with a hole cut at the edge.

4.    Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and grease with a knob of butter. Pour or ladle the batter into small circles in the pan and then pipe the cinnamon sugar mix into a swirl around each pancake.

5.    Wait for about 3 minutes until the pancake begins to bubble then flip it over and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Make sure not to add too much swirl mix or else it will crystalise and make the pancake burn.

6.    Combine the icing ingredients and pour over the pancakes or serve with maple syrup.

Halloween Bakes

Witches Fingers

Pepper Young

·      227g butter

·      130g icing sugar

·      1 large egg

·      1 tsp almond extract (optional)

·      1 tsp vanilla extract

·      200g flour

·      1 tsp baking powder

·      1 tsp salt

·      Handful of almonds

·      Strawberry/raspberry jam or red icing gel

1.       Place butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and beat together with a whisk or electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add flour, baking powder, and salt, continually beating until combined. Put dough in the fridge for 25 minutes.

2.       Preheat oven to 165°C and prepare baking sheets with greaseproof/baking paper.

3.       Remove dough in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping tsp at a time onto a piece of greaseproof paper. Use the paper to roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped biscuit. Press one almond into one end of each biscuit to give the appearance of a long fingernail. Squeeze biscuit near the tip and again near the centre of each to give the impression of knuckles.

4.       Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets and then bake for around 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly golden in colour.

5.       Remove the cookies from the oven and place on a wire rack. Remove each almond from the cookies and then allow them to cool.

6.       Once cool, fill the dent from the almond with jam or red icing gel and then replace the almond, allowing the red to ooze out around the ‘nail’. You can also put a small line of the jam or gel at the bottom of the finger to look more like blood.

Written by Pepper Young

Edited by Isabel Butler