Jill Can Cook: Halloween Themed Treats!

I was invited to a very small family party on Halloween. There would only be a few of us, but I didn't want to show up empty handed. Plus, my husband, Joe, would be working on Halloween and in case he wanted treats to share with his coworkers, I got to baking.

Before I started this blog, I almost always baked from box mixes. I'm not proud of that, but that's what was easiest. So, now I have a pantry full of cake/cookie/brownie mixes, sprinkles, and frosting that need to get baked up before they expire.

I had about 4 brownie mixes on the shelf so those were an obvious choice. I also had this great big box of cookie cutters that my father-in-law gave to me. Funny story, I was planning on buying these for myself, I was just waiting until closer to the time I actually needed them. Then one day, Joe's dad called him up and said, "I won a raffle and you guys can have..." and he listed off a few items, this being one of them! Score!!

 

 

So, OK, cookies and brownies... I'm not going to regale you guys with any kind of recipe or directions. You're not dumb. They're box mixes, for goodness' sake.

I grabbed everything I'd need and took a picture of it anyway. I wanted this to seem like a real post, ya know?!

I hadn't made sugar cookies for a while, at least since last Christmas, possibly the Christmas before, so it's almost like I have no experience whatsoever. I did remember one thing from the last time I made them though....

Go heavy on the flour! Everything sticks to everything otherwise!

I pulled out some wax paper and floured that bad boy to the max! Everything was going along swimmingly until I went to get the cut gingerbread men off the wax paper. I don't think I used enough flour and I think I rolled them too thin. So, after meticulously rolling and cutting them once, I had to do it all over again. This post is already filled with so much fail..

Finally.. That was an easy save and soon I was back on track!

But not before I made this ridiculous mess of my counter!!

I don't know how I was able to make such a huge mess. Usually, I'm really clean when I cook. Must be all that dang flour!! I even got a bit of flour on my camera when I went to take this picture, even though I washed my hands before touching it! I'm just *that* good, I guess.

Out of the oven and cooled off enough to decorate.

I don't know how people can do this professionally. Half my "gingerbread" (not for the flavor, just the shape) men had broken legs, stumpy arms, or tumors growing out of their heads. Some of them were more browned than others. I'm sure if I put more effort into cookie making or did it more often, I'd get more uniform looking little dudes, but I'm in no rush. I have a few years before I'll start having to show up at my kid's schools with snacks for their classes or bake sales!! Ha

Anyway, these were going to be decorated for Halloween, so the disfigurement of the cookie men would probably just add to their creepiness. How's that for "looking on the bright side of things!?"

I didn't even try to find the 5 best looking guys for this pic. I just grabbed the first 5 closest to me.

This guy doesn't look too bad so he gets a close up!

I made them into skeletons. I'm so lazy that I just took the store bought frosting and put it in the microwave for a few seconds so it would be soft enough to squeeze through my special frosting decorating bottle. It worked well but I must have some disease that causes my hand to shake vigorously only when I'm trying to squeeze frosting in a straight line. Maybe I'll just donate these cookies to the blind or if I *have* to bring them to my family party, I'll just make sure to shut the lights off before I take them out.

(I'm only being dramatic. I don't think they came out that badly, but they're not quite what I was hoping for.)

So, onto the brownies. These came out much worse, if you could imagine.

I decided to stop taking picture after taking one of the ingredients. Oh well, nothing interesting happened anyway.

While looking for stuff to make, I found like 30,000 Halloween themed muffin liners. I obviously enjoy purchasing them more than cooking with them. Brownies in muffin cups would work, right? I know, I know, you lose out on those fabulous corner pieces, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

So, I mixed all the ingredients in a bowl, then filled the muffin cups up with the batter. I realized then that they didn't look very Halloweeny from the top angle. I remembered that I had some orange sprinkles and threw some on top of each brownie cup.

I know better than to put the sprinkles on right away. They melt if they're in the oven too long. But I do it anyway because I think if I don't do it right now, I will forget. I tell myself that it won't screw it up this time. Everything will be OK. Then I kick myself when I end up with mushy, unappetizing sprinkles on the top of my food. Argh.

I should've just left well enough alone.

They don't look like they came out of a dumpster or anything, but they could've come out better. Maybe I'll have "Don't put sprinkles on your stuff right away" tattooed on my arm like that hottie in "Memento" that suffers from short term memory loss.

The spinkles had little bats in them.

OK, this picture lifts my spirits a little. I can at least take a semi-appetizing picture of my ugly brownies. I am also trying to remind myself that no matter how weird they look, they're brownies, from a box mix, so there's no way that they don't taste delicious.

 

Me and my mom wearing our festive t-shirts!

So, I sent Joe to work with half the goodies and I took the other half over to my mom's for her Halloween/Trick or Treating party.

Brownies and cookies for everyone!

My kids were too young to know that this food looked weird, so they gladly ate it!

My lovely niece, Jazmyn.

After my kids didn't die of food poisoning, everyone else deemed my food "safe to eat."

My mom is obviously not wearing her glasses.

Jazmyn even shared one of the last cookies with her Grandma, my mom.

A good time was had by all. A few of the older people, myself included, took some of the younger people trick or treating around the neighborhood. When we got back to my mom's, we dumped out our candy and passed it around to everyone. I'm surprised my kids went to bed that night considering all the sugar they had!!

Happy Halloween, Everyone!!!