As kids traipsing door-to-door, we were taught not to mess with unwrapped treats. As adults, we know that those are the best ones of all. These grown-up takes on Halloween candy will have the neighbors knocking on your door.
Snick-or-Treat (above)
You won’t be able to resist a slice of this gooey yet crunchy dessert. Nothing satisfies like a chocolate-caramel-peanut tart. Don’t let hunger happen to you.
For the Chocolate Crust:
1 box (9 ounces) chocolate wafer cookies, finely ground (21/3 cups)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
For the Caramel Sauce:
11/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup creme fraiche
1 cup roasted salted peanuts
For the Peanut Butter Mousse:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
Salt
11/4 cups smooth peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
For the Chocolate Ganache:
7 ounces semisweet chocolate (preferably 56 percent cacao), chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the chocolate crust: Combine cookie crumbs, granulated sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Stir in butter. Press mixture into bottom and 21/2 inches up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Bake until dry and firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool.
2. Make the caramel sauce: Heat granulated sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming, until medium amber, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and carefully add heavy cream (mixture will bubble and steam). Return to heat, and bring to a boil, making sure caramel that seized up when cream was added melts. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in creme fraiche. Refrigerate until cool but still pourable, about 45 minutes. Fold in peanuts.
3. Meanwhile, make the peanut butter mousse: Beat cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add peanut butter and vanilla, and beat until combined. Whisk heavy cream in a separate bowl until medium-stiff peaks form. Fold one-third of the whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream in 2 additions.
4. Assemble the tart: Pour caramel sauce into cooled chocolate crust. Gently spread peanut butter mousse over caramel in an even layer, making sure they don’t blend together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Make the chocolate ganache: Place chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour cream over chocolate, and let stand for 1 minute. Whisk to combine. (Use immediately.)
Remove tart from refrigerator, and pour in ganache to cover surface. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
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Explainably Juicy
Rainbow jelly cubes are sure to please lovers of fruit-flavored chews. These colorful fruit jellies are simple to make and fun to eat. Try one of these flavor combinations: apple juice and apricot preserves; grape juice and jam; pomegranate juice and raspberry preserves; and strawberry-apple juice and strawberry jam.
11/3 cups fruit juice (any flavor) or water
4 packets powdered gelatin (1 ounce total)
21/2 cups sugar
2 cups fruit preserves or jam
1. Place 2/3 cup juice in a small bowl or measuring cup and sprinkle with gelatin. Let sit 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine remaining 2/3 cup juice and 11/2 cups of the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves, 5 minutes. Add preserves and whisk to combine. Return to a boil and cook until thick and syrupy, 2 minutes. Add gelatin mixture and whisk until gelatin dissolves. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into an 8-inch square baking dish. Refrigerate until set, 3 hours (or up to 2 weeks).
2. Place remaining 1 cup sugar in a pie plate or shallow bowl. Cut fruit jelly into 1-inch squares. Toss in sugar to coat just before serving.
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Up Your Cup
There’s no wrong way to eat these easy peanut butter cups — except not to eat them at all.
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped
1. Line two 12-cup mini muffin pans with paper liners; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine white chocolate and peanut butter. Microwave, until almost melted, 1 to 11/2 minutes, stirring halfway through. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, place semisweet chocolate in another microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, stirring once or twice, until almost melted, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Dividing evenly, use a spoon to layer semisweet chocolate and peanut-butter mixture into liners, beginning and ending with chocolate; sprinkle with peanuts. Place muffin pans in freezer until peanut butter cups are firm, about 15 minutes. Bring to room temperature before serving.
See More:24 Easy, Fun Halloween Treats You’ve Never Thought Of
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Twizzle Stick
If you can’t resist a twist, try this taffy, which can be made in peppermint or butter-toffee flavors.
21/2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons liquid glycerin
11/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for fingers
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coffee extract
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside. In a medium nonstick saucepan, combine sugar, 1 cup water, corn syrup, cornstarch, glycerin, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. Without stirring, cook until mixture registers 275 degrees (soft-crack stage) on a candy thermometer, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat; carefully stir in butter and extracts.
2. Pour hot mixture onto prepared baking sheet. Allow edges to cool and set slightly; using a metal spatula coated with cooking spray, fold edges toward the middle (this will help cool taffy). When taffy is cool enough to handle but still quite warm, stretch and pull with lightly buttered fingers, folding the taffy over onto itself before pulling again until just starting to firm up, about 20 minutes.
3. Before taffy cools and hardens too much, pull off ropelike pieces, and using kitchen scissors, make snips along sides. Gently stretch and pull snipped taffy on either end, forming thorny twigs. Snip into 7-inch lengths. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; let cool. Store the taffy twigs in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
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Honest Payday
Mini marshmallows give these salted peanut-caramel bars a satisfying stretch. Melted marshmallows give these nutty bars their elastic texture.
Nonstick cooking spray
21/4 cups coarsely chopped roasted salted peanuts
50 store-bought soft caramel squares, unwrapped (14 ounces)
1 cup mini marshmallows
1. Lightly coat an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides, then lightly coat parchment with spray. Cover paper with 11/4 cups peanuts.
2. In a medium pot, combine 1 tablespoon water, caramels, and marshmallows over medium. Cook, stirring frequently, until caramels and marshmallows melt and mixture is smooth, about 8 minutes. Immediately pour over peanuts, then top with remaining 1 cup peanuts. Let cool until set, about 2 hours, then cut into 16 bars.
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All for One
Any musketeer would come running for these three-layer chocolate mousse cakes. With three shades of chocolate, these cakes are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the sweet tooth.
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Individual Chocolate Mousse
2 ounces solid semisweet chocolate
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place eight 6-ounce (31/2-inch diameter) ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet, and coat with cooking spray; set aside.
2. Stir flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add egg, milk, oil, vanilla, and 1/4 cup water; mix on medium-low speed until smooth and combined, about 3 minutes.
3. Divide batter evenly among prepared ramekins. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Run a knife around sides of cakes; unmold. Cakes can be refrigerated, wrapped in plastic, up to 1 day.
4. Trim each cake to 1 inch high. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut eight 103/4-by-4-inch strips of parchment paper. Wrap a parchment collar around base of each cake, keeping bottom flush with baking sheet. Secure each collar with tape; set aside.
5. Transfer bittersweet-chocolate mousse to a large pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (such as Ateco #808). Pipe a 1-inch layer of mousse into each parchment collar. Refrigerate until mousse is set, about 20 minutes. Repeat with milk chocolate mousse, piping on top of the bittersweet chocolate mousse. Refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
6. Microwave semisweet chocolate until slightly warm but not melted, about 30 seconds. Scrape at a 45-degree angle with a vegetable peeler, forming curls. Before serving cakes, remove parchment collars, and garnish with chocolate curls.
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Peel Deal
Combine two classics — candy corn and dime-store sugar dots — into a treat that will melt in your mouth, not your hand. In the spirit of Dr. Frankenstein, we created a hybrid that combines two classics: candy corn and the old-fashioned dots you used to get at the dime store — perfect for party favors or classroom treats.
1 pound confectioners’ sugar, plus more if needed
5 tablespoons meringue powder (wilton.com)
1/2 cup water, plus more if needed
Yellow and red food coloring
1. Tape template to a baking sheet. Cut two 10-by-13-inch strips of freezer paper, and tape, shiny side down, to template.
2. Beat together sugar, meringue powder, and water with a mixer. Test it with a toothpick on a piece of freezer paper: Icing should form a domed dot that doesn’t spread. If it forms a peak, it’s too thick, so add a little more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time. If it doesn’t hold the dot shape, add a little more sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time.
3. Divide icing equally among 3 bowls. Mix 6 drops yellow food coloring into 1 bowl. Mix red and yellow to create orange in 2nd bowl. Leave icing white in 3rd bowl.
Transfer to 3 resealable plastic bags. Squeeze into corner, close off top tightly with rubber bands, and cut a small opening in a corner of each bag to create a piping bag.
Pipe dots onto templates, alternating colors, in any pattern desired.
4. Let stand, uncovered, until dots are firm and dry enough to be pulled off papers, about 2 days.
See More:35 Beyond Delicious No-Bake Dessert Recipes
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Doughn’t Stop There
We know store-bought hits the spot sometimes, but it’s even better when fashioned into a homemade treat. Use up leftover chocolate candies and candy bars from the kids’ Halloween haul to create these crumbly shortbread bars.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
11/4 teaspoons coarse salt
2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups assorted chocolate candies or roughly chopped candy bars (12 ounces)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and salt on medium-high until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. With mixer on low, add flour in three additions and beat until combined (dough will be crumbly). Press dough evenly into an 8-inch square baking dish. Bake until golden brown and firm, 30 to 35 minutes.
2. Scatter chocolate chips on top of shortbread. Bake until soft, 1 minute. With the back of a spoon, spread chocolate evenly over shortbread. Scatter candies over top. Let cool on a wire rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate briefly to set chocolate, then cut into 16 bars.
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Liq-or-Treat
For a truly adult Halloween, give these sweet and spooky spirits a try. This blood-red Halloween punch will give grown-up guests a reason to celebrate.
1 cup brandy
1 orange (ends cut off), thinly sliced
1 red apple, halved and thinly sliced
2 bottles well-chilled dry red wine, such as Rioja or red Zinfandel
1 cup club soda
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1. In a large pitcher, stir together brandy, orange and apple slices. Let stand 15 minutes. Add wine, club soda, and orange juice. Serve over ice.
More from Martha Stewart:
Homemade DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte
Quick, One-Pot Meal Ideas To Feed the Whole Family
15 Kitchen Shortcuts That Will Change the Way You Cook
One-Pot Skillet Macaroni and Cheese
No-Mess One-Bowl Desserts: 12 Recipes for Lazy Bakers
