Halloween is finally here with all of its candy, costumes, and parties.  If you’re looking to host or attend a fabulous Halloween party, you’ll need to provide some tasty treats aside from the candy staples.  Even if you’re not the best baker, you can use these quick and easy desert ideas to wow your friends and family this Halloween.

One of the simplest, and most impressive, deserts is a sugar cookie decorated to look like a spiderweb.  All you have to do is bake, or buy, a couple dozen round sugar cookies.  Once they cool, lightly coat the cookies in a layer of white frosting.  To create the spiderweb design, pipe three to five (depending on the size of your cookies) thin circles in dark brown frosting.  Then take a toothpick, and starting at the center of the middle circle, etch eight lines around the cookie.  This desert idea can be adapted for cupcakes; simply follow the steps above on a fresh baked cupcake instead.

If you think you’re a more advanced baker and you have more time to prepare your deserts, these Oreo cookie spiders are a great choice.  First, take two Oreo cookies and pull them apart.  Try to keep the icing on one half of the cookie.  Cut a long piece of black licorice, we used Twizlers, into four equal pieces.  Then cut the smaller pieces in half lengthwise.  Arrange the licorice legs on one half of the cookie and cover with the other half.  Finish with two red hots candies for eyes.  This idea can also be adapted for cupcakes; frost a cupcake and arrange the legs directly on the frosted surface.  Then coat the legs with a large dollop of frosting and place the red hot candies into the frosting mound.  For an albino spider effect, use white frosting instead of brown.

If you’re looking for a desert that will be a complete show-stopper, try these ghost cupcakes with an ice cream center.  First, cut a cone shaped hole in the center of the cupcake and fill the hole with your favorite flavor of ice cream.  Then take the piece of the cupcake you just cut out and place it directly on top of the ice cream to make a tower shape.  Fill a large ziploc bag with Cool Whip and cut a one inch hole in the corner of the bag.  Pipe the Cool Whip in a swirl on the cupcake starting where the cupcake meets the ice cream.  Cover all of the tower in Cool Whip and create a tip at the very top.  Add Mini M&M’s for eyes and enjoy!

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