Autumn is finally here, and we all know what that means: that’s right, temperatures have dropped just enough that you can enjoy a cup of tea or hot cocoa without feeling like you’re literally melting inside and outside, you can buy pumpkins and carve faces in them, and yes, it’s the season of the much-beloved Halloween where kids get to dress up and ask for candy, while adults get to dress up, get together and party like there’s no tomorrow.
Halloween parties are all the rage right now, especially given our troubled times when you can’t even be closer than 6 feet from one another, let alone hug or exchange goofy handshakes. And we all know that all parties have a few things in common: dim lights, good music, great people, decorations, and last, but not least, things you can eat, whether we’re talking about snacks or food courses here. Well, Halloween parties are not precisely about stuffing your face, are they? Sure they’re not.
Luckily for you, the Halloween party-goer, there is one type of food that you can just grab, munch, and resume partying without losing your rhythm, and that’s whatever you can call finger food. To clear things up, finger foods are not a single item of food; they describe an entire category of things that are small enough, and cut into individual portions that you can eat straight out of your hand.
Halloween Finger Foods to Try This Year
Now here’s the thing: the rules for creating finger foods are applied loosely enough that anything you can grab from a platter and eat straight from your hand is considered finger food, even though initially the criteria were a little more restrictive. For instance, the finger foods had to be tiny enough that they could be eaten from one bite, and it was a must that you could’ve eaten them without making a mess (e.g., sauces, crumbles, bits).
However, nowadays, finger foods are inclusive enough that even tacos are considered to fit nicely into this category, even though you can’t just fit an entire taco into your mouth (this is not a challenge, got it?), and that biting into one will probably send you into a world of crumbles, taco filling, and pain (back pain from sweeping them from the floor). But it’s all good when the guests are having a great time, and we can all agree that tacos are fantastic.
So, if you’re the lucky one that gets to host the party this Halloween, you should definitely be prepared to wow your guests with your awesome finger food recipes. We’ve got some of the best, easiest, and most creative finger food recipes ready for you and we neatly organized them into this guide, along with pictures, some explanations, and the occasional tips & tricks to help you make sure that your guests will definitely have a blast this Halloween.
1. Spider Web Cupcakes – Halloween Party Appetizers
These spider web cupcakes will definitely be a blast at your next Halloween party if you can pull them right. They’re not exactly food, because we all know that desert has a separate stomach that it goes to (it doesn’t really, but it sure feels like it), but they’ll definitely be something you’ll want to put on a platter and serve to your Halloween-enthusiast friends. You won’t even have to go to great lengths to make them, since they’re basically cupcakes with chocolate frosting that’s specially made to look like a spider’s web.
In order to create the spider web design, you’ll have to use two different types of frosting: one as a background, and one as the actual spider web drawing you’ll be sketching on top of the background. We’ve mainly used black and white chocolate, in either combination (so white background and black spider web, and black background with white spider web), but you can also use different colors if you feel really creative and want to have more variety.
However, you need to make sure that the background and foreground colors are highly contrastive. Otherwise, you’ll end up with chocolate frosted cupcakes with no distinguishable pattern on top of them. Last but not least, you could also get some chocolate spiders and place them on top of the spider web design if you want to. Check out our tutorial above if you want to learn more about making these cupcakes without skipping a beat.
2. Assorted Pumpkin Seeds – Easy Halloween Appetizers
Hey, we told you that the rules of naming finger foods are loosely applied, so don’t act all surprised when you notice that pumpkin seeds made it on this list, alright? Sure, they’re small, and you might make a mess while eating them (if you take them out of their shell, that is), but they’re also quite tasty. Furthermore, we can all agree that you can’t stop at just one or two; once you start cracking them open for that sweet pulp, you already know that you’ll be spending the rest of your evening next to the pumpkin seed bowl.
Now the recipe isn’t exactly complicated, since all you need is the actual seeds and an assortment of other ingredients, depending on which recipe you’re gonna stick with. In our guide above we’ve presented three different ways to prepare pumpkin seeds so that you’ll have a lot of variety, even if the base element (i.e., the seeds) stay the same. The recipes we’ve included there are Savory Cinnamon-Sugar, Original Salt & Pepper, and Old Bay Roasted.
The Savory Cinnamon-Sugar recipe involves soaking the seeds in some melted butter, then mixing them up with a bit of cinnamon and sugar before roasting them. The Original Salt & Pepper is quite self-explanatory, seeing as you’ll have to top the seeds with salt and pepper after soaking them in butter, and then roasting them. For the last recipe (Old Bay Roasted), you’ll need to soak the seeds in melted butter like before, but use Old Bay seasoning on them (or any other seafood seasoning), and then roast them at 300 degrees for 30-45 minutes.
If you’re having a hard time preparing this snack for your guests, we suggest that you take a look at our user-friendly tutorial above. The general idea is that you have to soak seeds for 15-30 minutes, add the dry ingredients to them (salt and pepper, sugar and cinnamon, or Old Bay seasoning) and mix them well before putting them on a tray and roasting them for 30-45 minutes at 300 degrees in your oven. Bon appetit!
3. Marshmallow Monsters – Halloween Finger Food Ideas
If you’re not a big fan of sweets, then this one might not be exactly for you, but come on now, who doesn’t like marshmallows? Yes, we’re all well aware that marshmallows weren’t designed to just eat them as they are like a caveman, and you actually have to hold them above an open fire to make them just a bit crunchy on the outside and soft-squishy on the inside, but for the sake of turning them into monsters so that they fit the Halloween scenario better, this is not exactly possible.
I mean, you could turn them into little monsters and have your guests drive a stick through them and roast them over an open fire if you want to. Excited yet? Although this recipe resembles something you’d usually find at your kid’s Halloween party, there’s nothing to say that adults can’t have it for themselves, too, right? So check out below and see what you’ll need if the thought of turning little marshmallows into tiny monsters sounds good.
First of all, you’ll want some marshmallows, but don’t hold back; go for the jumbo size ones (you’ll thank us later). Now for the toppings, you’ll want some generic candy, chocolate icing, and a packet of sprinkles. You’ll also need piping to apply the icing to the marshmallows, as well as some toothpicks to stick into them and make them more accessible by hand. Last, but not least, if you find our examples to be a little lackluster in the candy variety, feel free to add your own.
Note that certain candy doesn’t play well with fire, so if you plan on cooking the marshmallows over the fire, we suggest picking up those that are not chock full of secondary sweets and treats. Instead, go for the plain ones, or ones that have minimalistic stuff on them such as chocolate frosting. As always, make sure to check the tutorial above if you’re having a hard time making this recipe.
4. Witch Finger Cookies – Halloween Themed Appetizers
Now we’re talking; just take a look at these witch finger cookies and tell me that they don’t look real. These snacks are truly finger food. Now imagine them on a platter in a dim-lit room, or better yet, picture one of your friends gnawing at one of them and you hear the unmistakable crunch. Yes, that pretty much sums up the spirit of Halloween: it’s spooky, it’s fun, and it’s entirely harmless, so if you’re up for that, then these witch finger cookies will be an excellent addition to your overall Halloween aesthetic.
Not to mention the fact that you’ll probably want to pair these realistic witch finger cookies with an equally spooky sauce: red velvet chocolate. We know, some of the things we’ve included in our guide are sweet, and you’re probably one to enjoy savory stuff even more, but don’t fret. You can still have the witch finger cookies, but instead of using sugar and other sweet stuff (vanilla extract and cinnamon, for instance), you could use salt, pepper, chili flakes, and whatever else you’d like to taste in a savory snack. The sauce? What about it? You can simply replace it with tomato sauce or ketchup if you’d like and voila, you have turned things around without even trying too much.
However, if you like the original recipe, we have a hot tip for you: if you want to really spook your guests, you could try adding peanuts, almonds, pistachio, or any other crunchy nut inside the cookies. That way, your guests will have a crunchy surprise upon biting the witch’s finger, which will further add to the overall realism of this finger food. Get it? However, before using nuts in this snack, make sure that none of your guests have any nut allergy, or things could really get ugly.
5. Mini Pumpkin Pies – Buffet Halloween Party Food
Personally, I love autumn, and while it’s not just because pumpkin pies and cinnamon hot cocoa become sort of regular in this time of year, it really helps the case. As you probably know, pumpkins are paramount to Halloween decorations, and the same goes for baking pumpkin-based stuff, such as pies. However, if you’re planning a huge Halloween party, you can’t just throw pumpkin pies on the table; at a party people usually look for small bites, or, in other words, finger food.
Not to worry though; we’ve found a way that you could have your cake and eat it too (sort of literally). Instead of baking an entire, full-sized pumpkin pie, you could just bake several mini pumpkin pies and serve them as finger food. Trust me, your guests will absolutely love them, and not just because pumpkin pie is delicious, but these mini pies will be so convenient to grab and feast upon that they’ll absolutely vanish in seconds, so you may want to bake some extra.
If you don’t know exactly where to start, feel free to check out our tutorial above. We have a hot tip that will turn your mini pumpkin pies into the stars of the evening. Spoiler alert: it involves garbanzo beans. Not only will these beans help you achieve the perfect texture for your pumpkin pie filling, but they’re also a lot healthier than regular filling, and will leave your guests satiated for a longer time.
Don’t forget about sweeteners, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin puree, either! After all, you wouldn’t want your guests to feel like you’re force-feeding them healthy stuff at a Halloween party, would you now? If you go with these mini pumpkin pies this Halloween, we’re absolutely sure that everyone will come asking for seconds and that you’ll run out of them before you can even lay them all out.
6. Pumpkin Dinner Rolls – Halloween Appetizer Ideas
As we’ve already established above, pumpkins are a staple item when it comes to Halloween, so if you’re in charge of snacks and finger foods at this year’s Halloween party, it’s time to up your game and bring these pumpkin dinner rolls to the table. And we mean literally bring them to the table. Your guests (or other party-goers, depends on the situation) will definitely be impressed by your baking skills, as well as your creativity, as it’s no secret that baking something into a shape without messing it up even just a little is no walk in the park.
Although they’re a bit more on the sweet side (check the ingredients list), if you follow our recipe you’ll end up with rather mild dinner rolls, which means that while they can easily be savored by themselves, you can also pair them up with various other types of food. Thus, you could either moisten the dinner rolls, make a blend of spices and sieve them gently over the rolls, or encourage your guests to serve them with some savory stuff at the table, such as gravy, chicken tenders, or whatever else is available at the time being.
As far as the cooking and baking process goes, making these dinner rolls is not exactly complicated, but you need to have at least a bit of experience maneuvering various kitchen tools, and it helps to know your way around an oven if you don’t want to end up with undercooked or burnt dinner rolls. If you’re having a hard time figuring things out, we encourage you to check out the tutorial that we’ve included above; you’ll find not only clear instructions and measurements for ingredients but also a bunch of photos that could help you.
7. Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars – Finger Foods For Halloween Party
If you’ve ever tried a healthy gig at least once, then you probably already heard about granola, granola bars, and everything related to this type of breakfast food. Yes, we’re well aware that most Halloween parties happen at night, and yes, we’re fully aware that granola is something you’d eat at breakfast, but trust us, as an adult you’ll find brinner extremely gratifying. What, you don’t know what brinner is? It’s eating breakfast food (such as pancakes and bacon) at dinner.
Many people aren’t fully on board with the whole brinner experience, but if you and your peers are not afraid to try out new things (gastronomically) this Halloween, then putting together these pumpkin spice granola bars will definitely turn out to be a great idea. All you have to do is follow the recipe above to create the perfect pumpkin spice granola. Now if you do follow that recipe step by step, you’ll end up with a bowl of granola, and the whole purpose of this guide is to give you a bunch of ideas for finger foods.
Therefore, you’ll have to take the granola bowl and somehow turn it into bite-sized bars, which is incredibly easy to achieve by using honey. Yes, honey is a perfect binder for your granola, so you should definitely add it and make sure to shape the cereal into the bars before placing it in the oven. Given that granola is literally made up of a lot of cereal, you might have a hard time making everything stay together, so in order to achieve that you may want to use some oven shapes.
Another great way to achieve the same result would be to make the granola mixture by putting the ingredients together and generally just following our recipe until the part where you stick everything in the oven. While you spread the mixture, make sure to press it down with a spatula into one even layer, and make sure that the layer is thick enough. Put everything in the oven, bake it, and once it’s ready, you can cut the mixture into bars.
8. Pumpkin Mini Layer Cake – Halloween Themed Appetizers
Yes, you’re right, cakes are not exactly finger food, because let’s face it, who can just grab an entire cake and eat it in one bite? Again, this is not a challenge, we’re simply stating facts, and we want to stay on topic, so let us pitch you our point: turn the cake into a miniature version of itself. But wait! There’s more! Now that the cake is so tiny, you can make several of them and place them on a platter, so your guests or other party-goers could simply eat them in one bite and maybe come for seconds.
So, in fact, you will turn this cake into a bunch of Halloween-themed appetizers that your peers will absolutely love! Now here’s the thing: you’ll have to make use of your full range of cooking and baking skills because simply scaling a cake down to cupcake size isn’t exactly possible without losing one or two ingredients. One of the simplest ways to achieve that would be removing one of the layers from the cake, so instead of three, you end up with two.
However, layers aren’t everything about this cake, so if you do plan on turning it into several cupcakes and serve it to your guests as finger food, you’ll have to pay a great deal of attention to the other ingredients, as well. For instance, it’s worth mentioning that nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin puree are essential to capture that familiar taste that always makes you think about autumn or trick-or-treat season.
Furthermore, our recipe used sugar pecan nuts and mascarpone cream, which blend incredibly well with all the ingredients that we’ve used for the cake (in your case, cupcake). We’ve included recipes and ingredient lists for the sugar pecan nuts and mascarpone cream, as well, so if you’re curious about how they’re done or you’re just having a hard time getting the cupcakes done, we suggest you take a look at our guide. It goes without saying that if you’re not comfortable with turning an entire cake into several little cupcake versions of itself, you should skip this one out, lest you want to experiment and potentially waste time and ingredients.
9. Jack-O-Lantern Mini Pumpkin Pies – Buffet Halloween Party Food
This is essentially the same thing as the mini layer cake that we’ve included in our guide: you take the full-size thing (that we’ve included in the guide above), you scale it down until it has a reasonable size to be referred to as finger food, and you make as many as possible until your Halloween party-goers are satisfied. Of course, you’d also want some variety, so don’t just make a truckload of mini pumpkin pies; you do, after all, want your guests to be entertained, right?
Well, considering that jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins are quite important in Halloween culture, you’ll strike a double whammy with this recipe, considering that it has both pumpkin (the filling) and jack-o-lantern motives on top. If you ever made pumpkin pie before, this recipe will come naturally to you; you’ll use approximately the same amount of ingredients as if you’d bake a full pie, but instead of that, you’ll separate the ingredients into several miniature pies.
As for the crust on top, you’ll want to decorate it so that it looks like a jack-o-lantern. Although you could freehand the design if you have a bit of artistic spirit, we recommend investing in a dough cutter shape that resembles a jack-o-lantern. Trust us, it will save you from a lot of hassle, as working with soft dough can be incredibly difficult to achieve without specialized tools.
As usual, if you’re having a hard time with the baking process or can’t seem to figure out the ingredients, we strongly suggest you take a look at the comprehensive tutorial we’ve attached above. Not only does it have carefully explained, simplified steps, but it also features a list of required ingredients, as well as photos that could help you understand the process better and bake the jack-o-lantern pumpkin pie (or, in our case, mini pies) without breaking a sweat.
10. Keto Pumpkin Cheese Muffins – Finger Foods For Halloween Party
If you want to show off to your guests this Halloween, then these keto pumpkin cream cheese muffins will definitely help you demonstrate your awesome cooking and baking skills. Plus, they’re low-carb, so if there’s anyone amongst you that embraced the keto lifestyle, you score double points. Even for your non-keto peers, these muffins will be a blast, seeing as they’re absolutely delicious no matter how you look at them, not to mention that they make excellent finger food.
These muffins are a perfect fit, regardless of how you choose to serve them, whether as breakfast, snacks, or dessert, thanks to the fact that their spices are perfectly balanced. Furthermore, they have a cream cheese filling and they’re incredibly moist. However, as opposed to various other finger foods that are also moist, these pumpkin cheese muffins keep very well in the fridge, so even if you have a bunch of leftovers after your Halloween party (which we guarantee you won’t), you can keep them in a fridge.
As far as the list of ingredients goes, you’ll need some butter, sweetener (not sugar, Stevia is ok), eggs, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, coconut and almond flour, baking powder, salt, cream cheese, as well as pumpkin spice. If you want to create your own Halloween-themed pumpkin spice, you’ll need to blend ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves, and ground allspice.
We’re absolutely confident that you’ll be the talk of the evening if you bring these awesome pumpkin cream cheese muffins to the table, so you shouldn’t worry about whether or not your guests will like them. The only thing you should worry about is whether or not you’ve baked enough, because trust us, they’ll be gone in a matter of moments. To learn how you can bake these delicious finger foods for this Halloween party, check out our guide above.
11. Mozzarella Ham Eyeballs – Halloween Finger Foods
We know that some (most) of the items in our guide are intended for those of you who have a sweet tooth, but the truth is that most party-goers would much rather nibble on something savory such as chips, peanuts, and the such. Thus, if you’re running out of ideas of what to serve this Halloween as finger food, or if all of your ideas revolve around sugary treats, then you’ll definitely love the mozzarella ham eyeballs we’ve prepared for you.
Not only will these treats put a splash of color on your table this Halloween, but they also taste heavenly thanks to the sourness of olives, creaminess of mozzarella, and deliciousness of ham. The best part is that all these three ingredients are not only bundled together but also layered, so you’ll be able to experience an explosion of flavors once you taste them. Given that they’re so tiny, your guests will be able to eat them in one bite. Therefore, you may want to plan ahead so that you won’t be caught off-guard when other party-goers will come asking for more.
As you can see from the example photo we’ve used above, making these delicious treats for your next Halloween party is not exactly a big deal. All you have to do is buy some green olives with pimiento filling (those that have a red filling), hollow out some mozzarella balls, place the green olives red-side-up inside the now-hollow mozzarella balls, then wrap the whole thing in ham, and there you have it. A creepy, yet tasty eyeball-looking finger food that your guests will absolutely die for. Not literally, that wouldn’t look good for you.
If you’re having a hard time wrapping the ham around the mozzarella and making it stay like that, don’t shy away from using toothpicks. Just wrap the ham around the mozzarella ball, make sure that the other side of the ham slice overlaps the first one, then drive a toothpick through the place where they overlap. However, make sure you leave enough toothpick out of the treat so that your guests can spot them without too much effort. Furthermore, make sure to let everyone know that there are toothpicks planted within the finger food eyeballs.
12. Jack-O-Lantern Tortilla Guacamole Platter – Halloween Party Appetizers
Are you looking for finger food easy enough to prepare that requires absolutely no cooking skills (ok, maybe just a smidge) and that you can get ready in just about no time for your next Halloween party? Then you’ve definitely come to the right place, because what we’re about to show you will definitely blow your mind. You’ve surely had tortilla chips and guacamole at least once before in your life, right? Then you definitely remember the first bite you took from a guacamole-covered tortilla chip and how much you probably loved it.
If that’s the case, then you probably understand why having a tortilla chip platter with guacamole as finger food for your next Halloween party is an absolutely brilliant idea. You may think that neither the chips nor the guac have anything to do with Halloween, but just take a look at the guacamole container we’ve used; that’s right, it’s a jack-o-lantern, and trust us when we say that your guests will absolutely love it and will definitely admire your creativity.
For this recipe, you’ll obviously need a pumpkin, but you shouldn’t splurge; make sure to pick a small-sized one that won’t take a lot of space out of the platter you place it on. Furthermore, make sure you clean it well before you carve it so that you won’t have pumpkin flesh or seeds creep their way into your guacamole. On the other hand, we’ve tried the combination (of pumpkin flesh and guac) and we’re definitely impressed.
Although there are some recipes floating around for both tortilla chips and guacamole, you could easily get away with it by simply buying them. However, if possible, we suggest you only buy the chips and make the guacamole by yourself. We discovered that store-bought guacamole isn’t exactly as true to form as it should be, and it always lacks certain ingredients, whether they’re seasoning, lime, or garlic we’re talking about.
13. Bread Straw Cheese Witch Brooms – Easy Halloween Appetizers
Speaking of things you could whip up in a jiffy, these witch brooms made from bread straw, and cheese are perfect if you’re looking for finger food you could serve to your guests this Halloween. They’re not only easy to make, but they’re also delicious, and their shape (broom witch) will definitely be the talk of the evening, as they make excellent decorations, as well. That if you place them accordingly and don’t look out of place, but that’s another story for another time.
If you want to make these adorable bread straw & cheese witch brooms, all you’ll need is a bunch of bread straws (obviously) and cheese. Make sure not to buy swiss cheese (the one with the holes in it), as you’ll have a difficult time cutting it in the required shape without it breaking and falling. You can also buy some green onion and use the leaves to tie the cheese around the bread straws, but you can also use other stuff such as cilantro or dill. However, with those two, you’ll have to be extra careful since they break extremely easily.
You’ll need to slice the cheese relatively thin, but not too thin, and the width of the slices should match the length of the sweeping part of the broom (the straws). Once you have the slice, you should cut several parallel lines on it, so that it looks like a comb (sort of), but don’t go all the way up. After doing so, just separate the mini-strips you just cut and wrap the whole thing around the bread straw, so that it resembles a broom. If you’re stuck, check our example photo above and you’ll figure out the right way to make these delicious finger food snacks.
14. Blood Dipped Zephyr – Finger Foods For Halloween Party
For those of you who never heard of zephyr, it’s an excellent dessert that resembles marshmallows. However, as opposed to marshmallows, zephyr is made from apple puree, which makes it taste wildly different and also gives it a different texture. If you’re not familiar with it, then you probably shouldn’t attempt to recreate this finger food for your guests this Halloween just yet. Maybe try to sample zephyr somewhere, or do it on your own and then have a taste, so that you don’t risk preparing something that’s prone to fail.
This zephyr that we’re pitching to you is incredibly soft and has a remarkable flavor that will definitely have your guests ask for more, so maybe you should plan ahead and make some more, just to be on the safe side. The apple-puree-based center is tasty enough on its own, but this recipe also involves that you’ll cover the zephyr in chocolate, then add some red glaze to it, so that it looks like it’s covered in blood.
I’ve seen something similar with gingerbread that had a strawberry jelly filling, but unfortunately, you can’t add any more filling to the zephyr without making a complete mess. What you can do, however, is use white chocolate instead of regular, so that the contrast between the chocolate (white) and the glaze (red) will be more powerful, especially if you plan on taking these snacks at your next Halloween party. You do plan on keeping the lights dim for your Halloween party, don’t you? Happy Halloween!
15. Bloody Cookies With Pumpkin Chips – Halloween Finger Foods
Sweet, sour, and salty, now that’s a match that doesn’t seem to be made in Heaven at all. At least at first sight it doesn’t. However, we gave it a try and it seems that cookies, ketchup, and pumpkin chips make a remarkable combination, but it’s not exactly for those who are already set in their ways and only pair sweets with sweet stuff, sour with sour stuff, and salty with salty stuff (or beer). Therefore, if you plan on making this and bring it to the table as your choice of finger food, you have to make sure that everyone’s on board.
Or rather yet, seeing as you can’t please everybody with the same thing, let everyone know what they’re getting into if you see them approach the platter (or wherever it is that you’re placing them). So the concept behind this snack is quite simple: you bake some delicious cookies, then top them off with a bit of ketchup, and, before the ketchup has a chance to dry, place a jack-o-lantern-shaped potato chip on top of the ketchup, facing up.
Each bite will feel like an adventure, as you’ll feel sweet, sweet-sour, and salty flavors alternate, and that’s precisely why we don’t recommend you this type of finger food if you’re not the adventurous type. The best part about it is that it’s ridiculously easy to make. Fine, we’ll say it, it actually feels a bit lazy, like the invention of the sandwich, and that goes especially if you decide to also buy the cookies instead of baking them. Bottom line, these snacks could make some excellent finger food and they don’t taste bad at all.
16. Eye Monster Donuts – Kid Food Ideas For Halloween
The eye monster donuts are a blast among the little ones, who seem to be fascinated by the sheer number of eyes seemingly staring at them from the snacks platter. Given that it’s not exactly a secret that kids don’t have half the patience to be seated at a table and sit through several courses of food, these snacks will make great finger food for their next Halloween party. Thus, if you’re in charge of planning it or just want to bring something to the table, these donuts are simply genius.
First, you’ll need to bake some simple American donuts (the ones with the hole in the center), which you’ll later glaze with some chocolate. Make sure you don’t use any crazy-colored chocolate, regular is just fine. We’ll need to have good contrast between the background (the chocolate) and the eyes we’re going to draw. Allow your donuts to cool off and the glazing to dry, and once it’s done, prepare a piping bag along with some white icing.
Now use the piping bag to carefully draw eye whites all over the donuts, but make sure to leave a bit of space between each eyeball. We don’t want to overlap the eyes, now do we? Once you’re done drawing the eye whites out of icing, let them rest for a while and give the icing a chance to dry. Once that’s done, prepare another piping bag, but this time make sure to use regular (dark) chocolate and a smaller nozzle to draw the irises. Don’t shy away from drawing the eyes using different sizes; we assure you that your kid’s next Halloween party will be a blast thanks to these donuts.
17. Cake Ghosts – Easy Halloween Appetizers
I don’t know if you already figured out by glancing at our example photo above, but these adorable cake ghosts are incredibly easy to make, especially considering that the base is actually made from chocolate biscuits. Yes, we know that the title seems a bit misleading, but if you think about it, biscuits are essentially dried cakes. Back to our sheep, if you’re in a time crunch and need to figure out finger food fast, then cake ghosts are definitely one way to go about it.
First of all, you’ll need to source some chocolate biscuits. If you’re comfortable with baking them yourself, then by all means go for it, but the whole point of this is to save you some precious time. Now that you have your chocolate biscuits, all you have to do is make some meringue, so you’ll have to put on your apron and chef hat, after all. Well, I guess that if you truly want to slack off this Halloween, you could buy some ghost-shaped meringue, as I’m sure that you’ll find plenty at your local stores this Halloween.
However, making it by yourself will let you adjust the amount of sugar in the meringue, and considering that the chocolate biscuits will already have quite some sugar in them, you’ll want to keep it as light as possible. Plus, you’ll get that cozy feeling of accomplishment that you didn’t just buy biscuits and ghost meringues and fused them together on a platter in your kitchen. Whatever path you take, we’re positive that these cake ghosts will make excellent finger food for your next Halloween party.
18. Monster Eye Balls – Halloween Finger Food Ideas
These fuzzy little one-eyed monsters are actually delicious and will fit perfectly in your palm, so if you spot them this Halloween, make sure to grab one and munch on it. We’re absolutely sure you won’t regret it. However, if you’re at the other end of things and have to plan a Halloween party, or at least don’t want to attend one empty-handed, then you should definitely give these cute little monsters a go. I mean not eat them, but try and make them.
Although they look quite intricate, we assure you that they’re actually simple to make. All you’ll need is a bag of marshmallows, some Rice Krispies, food coloring, a piping bag with various nozzles, as well as white and dark glazing at the ready. First of all, you’ll need to melt the marshmallow just a bit so that it becomes sticky, then break the Rice Krispies and sprinkle them all over the marshmallows, making sure that they cover each bit.
After this, you’ll have to cover the little eyeless monster balls in food coloring (purple or green works great for this purpose) and give them some time to dry. Once it’s dry, use the piping bag to draw eye whites on all of your little monsters, and once the eye whites dry, do the same thing with dark icing to draw the irises. Once again, leave the irises to dry, and there you go! You just created an army of wildly-colored one-eyed fuzzballs that you and your friends can enjoy as finger food this Halloween. Bon appetit!
19. Graveyard Chocolate Mousse Cups – Halloween Party Appetizers
Yes, we know that they look just like some exotic Jager shots, but you’ll have to trust us on this one, they’re actually chocolate mousse cups, and they’re absolutely crazy delicious. Given that it’s Halloween, it goes without saying that not only your decorations should remind you that spookiness is fair game this time of year, so the graveyard motive should really fit within the decor. However, you’ll want to make sure that they don’t look out of place, so try to place them someplace where they actually fit, instead of an empty kitchen counter.
Notice that the tops on these mousse cups look like they’re actually made of soil, and the best news is that you can create this effect by yourself using various things. If you want the “soil” to be a bit muddy, you could even use chocolate cream or some heavy syrup, but if you want a more texture that looks sort of dry, it’s easier to buy a bunch of chocolate biscuits, turn them into crumbles, and sprinkle the crumbles all over the chocolate mousse cups.
You can decorate these graveyard chocolate mousse cups in a broad variety of ways, all you need is a smidge of creativity. Notice how our example uses a gravestone cookie that spells out the iconic RIP, and that’s suitable considering that gravestones are a staple item for Halloween parties and decorations.
However, you could also place other decorative food items on top of your graveyard chocolate mousse cups, such as candy spiderwebs, spiders, or candy eyeballs. If you want to go with the graveyard aesthetics, you could try to find a candy zombie or skeleton arm and plant it right in the middle of the “graveyard” so as to make it look like it’s reaching out. Your guests will definitely appreciate your creativity.
20. Melon Berry Canapes – Halloween Appetizer Ideas
Hey, just because it’s Halloween and most people self-indulge with drinks, carbs, and fats, it doesn’t mean that everything on your party menu should follow these guidelines. In fact, it’s great to mix & match (healthy stuff with not-so-healthy stuff), so if you want to include fruit and nuts instead of candy, baked goods, and treats that are high in fats or carbs, you could opt for these melon and berry canapes.
These canapes are really easy to make, they make perfect finger food for your Halloween party, and you won’t come off as pretentious at all for serving them to your guests. Although you can use any fruit you want to create these delicious canapes, we’ve found that melon and blackberries are a great match, and we’re positive that most of your guests will agree with us on that. We’re aware that neither blackberries nor melons are exactly symbols of Halloween.
However, in this case, the plating and surrounding decors will be everything. In other words, although the canapes finger food won’t pass as something scary or spooky, you can make up for it by creating a bone-chilling decor around the plates. For instance, you could use fake spider webs, realistic plastic spiders, and various other decorations that could make your guests think twice before reaching for the goodies on the table.
21. Chocolate Cupcake Bats – Halloween Party Food For Kids
If you have a kid, you probably know and understand that they’re simply wired differently, so if you throw a bunch of intricate decorations in the form of finger food their way, they’re simply gonna lose it. So about that… Is your kid about to attend a Halloween party and you want to make the most of it? These chocolate cupcake bats will definitely be the attraction of the evening and you’ll be the awesome parent that made cupcake bats without skipping a beat.
As you can see from the example that we used in the photo above, these cupcake bats aren’t exactly difficult to make, not if you have most of the ingredients lying around. So, these adorable sweets start off as basic chocolate cupcakes. It’s chocolate because bats are usually portrayed as being dark, so strawberry-red cupcakes won’t cut it. After that, you’ll need something for the eyes, and we suggest finding eye-shaped jellies. Trust us, it’s impossible for you not to find those at your local store this time of year.
After attaching the eyes to your tiny cupcake bats, all you need is a set of ears (for each), which you’ll craft out of candy corn, and the wings of the bats, which are actually Oreo biscuits that are cut in halves. Make sure to bake the cupcakes to perfection first, then remove them from the oven, leave them be for a while so that they can cool off, and only apply the rest of the items (jelly eyes, candy corn ears and Oreo wings) to them once they reach room temperature. Otherwise, you risk ruining both the cupcakes and the ingredients you’re trying to attach to them.
22. Zombie Shaped Chocolate Bars – Kid Food Ideas For Halloween
If you want to prepare for a successful trick-or-treat season this Halloween, you’ll have to stock up on candy, but if you’re hosting a Halloween party for your kids, then things are totally different, and you may have to walk the extra mile for things to come out as you expect them. In other words, if you’re expecting company for your kids this Halloween, simply buying a lot of candy and placing it around in your house may not be enough, especially considering that kids get bored easily.
Were you already planning on making various finger foods for your kids this Halloween but you seem to lack some creative ideas? Not to worry, because that’s why we’re here and that’s what this guide is precisely for. Take a look at the zombie-shaped chocolate bars we’ve attached in the example photo above and tell us that those are not brilliant. They look great, you know they’ll taste awesome, and they’re not exactly rocket science to make, so there you have it!
All you need to bring those awesome creatures at your kids’ Halloween party are a bunch of chocolate bars (go for the long and thin ones, not for the chubby ones), some green icing (you can use food coloring to turn regular icing green), and some chocolate to make the caps. Of course, you could also skip the caps, but we found that they add a nice touch to the whole zombie aesthetic, and your kids will definitely love them. Last, but not least, you’ll also need some chocolate to draw faces on the little chocolate-flavored zombies. Happy Halloween!
23. Pretzel Stick Ghosts – Easy Halloween Appetizers
If you don’t have the luxury of spare time this Halloween and you’re looking for places to cut corners for your Halloween party, then these pretzel stick ghosts are definitely a lifesaver for you, seeing as they’ll definitely save you a lot of time making intricate food fingers for your Halloween party guests. They’re easy to make, they don’t require exotic ingredients, and they’ll look nice as long as you’ll place them in an appropriate setting.
Furthermore, the pretzel stick’s salty flavor combined with the white chocolate’s flavor will definitely feel like an adventure to your taste buds, especially if you’re a fan of combining unusual flavors. However, most people aren’t that adventurous, so you might want to let your guests know what you’re up to if you decide to go with this recipe, after all. On the other hand, considering that people generally don’t attend parties so they could stuff their faces, you might get away with it, especially if your guests are already… let’s just say in a certain state.
Alright, so what you’ll need in order to craft these baddies is a packet of pretzel sticks (or more, depending on how many of these you plan to do), and some white chocolate that you’ll have to melt. Melt the white chocolate, then dip the pretzel sticks about ¼ of their length in the chocolate, then pull them out and let them dry. After they’re completely dry, you can draw faces for the ghosts using regular chocolate or food coloring pens.
24. Devil’s Deviled Eggs – Halloween Appetizers
Never got why deviled eggs were given such a vile name, although considering their taste and the fact that you can’t just stop at one it does make a bit of sense, but these eggs are literally devilish. Just look at their design and you won’t have to second guess what you’re about to eat. Indeed, these are deviled eggs, and you’ll enjoy them till the last bite, not to mention that you’ll probably come and ask for seconds, literally moments after they’re all done. Thus, this devilish recipe is certainly fit to be used for your next Halloween party if you want to wow your guests.
We all know that if you attend a Halloween party, you’re not there for the food, and you definitely don’t want to be seated at a table and wait patiently until the hosts serve you several courses of food. No, you’re there to show off your outfit, to dance, to mingle, and let’s face it, you’re there for the booze. So if there’s gonna be any food at the Halloween party you’re about to attend, you’d rather prefer it to be finger food so that you can pick it up, down it in one bite, and keep on rolling.
If you’re the one that hosts the party, you’ll definitely want to make these for your guests, as we guarantee that they’ll absolutely love them. In order to make them, you’ll need the base food (i.e., simple deviled eggs), black olives, and some red peppers. Now chop the olives into tiny pieces so that you can make the eyes and mouths of the devil eggs, and use red peppers to make the horns. You could use chili peppers randomly, so that every once in a while one of your guests receives a spicy surprise, but make sure that nobody will get upset about this beforehand.
25. Frankenstein Rice Krispies – Halloween Finger Food Ideas
If you’re a fan of snacks, you definitely heard about Rice Krispies at least once in your life. Some, if not most of you, already tried it and you’re probably fans of it, so it would make sense that having Rice Krispies as finger food this Halloween would be a great idea, right? While you could definitely go to your local store and stock up on Rice Krispies, making them yourself and adding just a splash of Halloween flavor to them would turn you into the star of the evening, and your Krispies into a huge attraction for all other party-goers.
These homemade Frankenstein-themed Rice Krispies seem a bit child-like, so if goofy is not exactly your cup of tea, then maybe save this recipe for your kids’ next Halloween party instead, right? However, if you don’t really care about the goofy versus spooky Halloween debate, we suggest you go for it. First of all, you’ll need to do the basic treats by using the original Rice Krispies cereal, or some off-brand ones, whichever ones work best for you.
We’re not gonna go into too much detail regarding how to make Rice Krispies treats, but you can probably find a dozen recipes online if you don’t have a preferred one already. Once you’re done making the treats, use food coloring to turn them all green, then dip maybe ⅕ of them into melted chocolate. Once it dries, you can use chocolate and icing to make the eyes and mouth on your Frankenstein-themed Rice Krispie treats. They make perfect finger food for Halloween, they’re easy to make, and your guests will definitely be impressed by your creativity and cooking skills.
26. Green Monster Guac Sandwiches – Halloween Finger Foods
If we’re discussing finger foods, regardless of the occasion, one of the most basic things that’s everybody’s go-to is the common sandwich. However, this isn’t an open invitation for you to raid your fridge, slice some baloney, and whip up some ordinary sandwiches for your guests. It’s Halloween, after all, and we have to keep it classy and not go off-topic. No, this doesn’t mean that you can simply use ketchup to draw scary faces on that slice of baloney. Instead, we’re gonna get a little more creative than that.
First of all, you’ll need some toast, and make sure you have some variety (i.e., have some well-done pieces of toast, but also make some slightly underdone pieces for those with sensitive palates). Now that you’re all prepared in the bread department, take some avocados and scoop them right out of their peel, mash it really well, and spread it on the toast. Now use whatever ingredients you like to make some faces on your avocado toasts.
In the example photo above, black olives, red peppers, and slices of radish or egg whites were used, but you can get creative and use some other stuff that’s lying around in your kitchen, as well. However, you’ll want to make sure that your ingredients mix well with the whole ensemble, so maybe don’t use chocolate or rice pudding, or stuff that would simply ruin the flavor of your treats. Trust us, sandwiches may appear ordinary as a finger food choice, but they’re secretly loved by absolutely everyone, so you won’t receive any complaints about your choice, not even one.
27. Spider Spaghetti Sausages – Buffet Halloween Party Food
I used to love when my mom cooked these ridiculously simple spaghetti sausages when I was a kid. I kept wondering what sort of magic spell does she mumble so that the soft spaghetti just goes into the sausage just like that. I even started to believe that she used toothpicks to poke tiny holes in the sausage and then drive the soft spaghetti through the tiny holes. Needless to say, I wasn’t the brightest kid in the neighborhood. But enough about me, if you’re looking for simple finger food recipes for this Halloween party, then we have the perfect thing for you.
Spiders are commonly known as some sort of eight-legged, eight-eyed boogeyman, which is one of the main reasons why so many people resort to spider-themed decorations to make their houses Halloween-appropriate. Therefore, it would only make sense that your finger food should look like these little crawlers, right? And trust us, spaghetti sausages are one of the easiest types of food that you could turn into make-believe spiders.
First of all, you’ll have to prepare exactly 4 spaghetti sticks for each spider. Take some sausages and cut them into small pieces (check the example photo for reference) and then drive exactly four sticks into each piece of sausage. Once you’ve done that, boil some water in a pot or deep pan, then when it reaches the boiling point, place the spaghetti sausages in it. Once the spaghetti is cooked, you can remove the “spiders” and serve them.
While finger food is generally served cold, you may want to try to serve these spaghetti sausages while they’re hot. Stale, cold spaghetti is not exactly appealing. Sure, you’ll have to synchronize everything just right, but your guests will definitely be impressed by your dedication and creativity. You could also use some insulated casseroles that are specially designed to keep your food warm, but it would be simpler to just time the spaghetti sausages with your guests’ arrival.
28. Burger Monsters – Halloween Finger Food Ideas
Now we’re gonna go on a limb here and state that everyone loves burgers. Yeah, some people don’t eat meat, but even vegans and vegetarians have found a way to enjoy a burger without breaking their beliefs, and if that doesn’t spell that burgers are a great equalizer, then I don’t know what does. Alright so back to our sheep, if you want some delicious finger foods for your party, may we suggest you stick with burgers. Now that doesn’t sound too Halloweeny, so what we’re suggesting is that you turn these burgers into little monsters.
Considering that burgers aren’t exactly finger food, you may want to go with mini burger patties (you can either do them yourself or buy them) and mini burger buns. In fact, everything about your burgers should be bite-sized so that you can truly call them finger food. If your guests are fine with regular-sized burgers that’s also great news, but you may have to spend some extra time cleaning after the party is over, seeing that burgers are not only delicious but also messy at times.
If you want some extra points for your creativity, you may want to use black burger buns, and make sure to use ingredients that give a nice contrast, such as the unmistakable tomato slice and the lettuce. Make sure you check the example photo above for inspiration on how to decorate your monster burger. If you want to keep the whole thing together just drive a sandwich/cocktail toothpick right through the middle. Don’t use the regular, small-sized ones, as you’ll probably have to deal with people biting into them, which can be extremely painful.
29. Tiny Pizza Monsters – Party Appetizers
Having a great Halloween party coming your way and you’re clueless about what you’re gonna bring to the table? Hosting a Halloween party and have no idea about what finger foods you should serve your guests with? If you answered ‘yes’ to either one of these questions, then you need some great finger food ideas STAT, and luckily for you, we’re here to help you. One of the most common types of food you could find at a party is pizza.
The ‘za is another great equalizer, considering that you can’t find a lot of people who will truly admit that they hate pizza, which makes it a very popular choice among party-goers. Since it’s Halloween, we’re gonna put a spin on this recipe and turn it into a pizza monster; how does that sound? But wait, there’s more. Seeing as we’re currently scavenging for only the best ideas for finger foods, your pizza monsters will turn into miniature versions of themselves.
In other words, instead of just ordering a corporate-sized pizza for the whole party this Halloween, you should definitely try baking mini pizzas and add the toppings in such a way that your pizza will start to look like little monsters. For instance, you could use slices of cheese to create a mummy or add some dramatic red sauce splatters to emulate blood. It doesn’t have to be a monster, after all; in fact, if you can turn your mini pizzas into anything even remotely spooky, you’re definitely in the clear.
30. Ghost Eggs – Easy Halloween Appetizers
Eggs are quite versatile when it comes to cooking, seeing as you can cook them in virtually any way possible: boil, fry, toast, whatever you could think of. So it makes total sense that you should use them for your next Halloween party. Now, most people opt for deviled eggs, which are an excellent choice, as we’ve mentioned a few times throughout our article, but there’s nothing wrong with plain boiled eggs as finger food. In fact, eggs are proven to reduce the merciless effects of hangovers, so just do what you want with that information.
Now back to our sheep; you can’t just boil a dozen eggs, peel them and leave them just like that on a table at the Halloween party. What you can do instead is turn them into something a little more Halloween-appropriate, and one of the go-to motives that everyone seems to agree with is ghosts. You can easily turn a hard-boiled egg into a ghost if you’re careful enough not to dig too deep into the yolk.
First of all, you’ll have to boil a bunch of eggs, the number is entirely up to you. Next, you’ll want to peel them, as we guarantee that nobody will touch a seemingly pristine, unbroken egg on a platter (it’s Halloween, pranks are not exactly uncommon). After doing so, grab a knife (a clean, sterile X-Acto knife will work better) and carve some tiny eyes and a mouth on the egg. Make sure you won’t go too deep into the yolk, as that could probably mess up your design.
Once you do that, just line the eggs all up, make sure they stay that way (you could use some individual cupcake molds or whatever you could think of), and place them somewhere where people will notice them. Here’s a hot tip: instead of leaving the eyes hollow, you could place some unground black or red pepper inside the “sockets.” Place some napkins or long toothpicks next to the egg platter for your guests.
31. Spider Deviled Eggs – Halloween Party Appetizers
We told you that deviled eggs are quite a popular choice among almost all party-goers, and Halloween enthusiasts make no exception. In other words, even Halloween party-goers love deviled eggs, especially if they match the overall aesthetic of the party they’re at. And what’s not to love? They’re delicious, bite-sized, and they help you get rid of nasty hangovers. Well, if you’re on the other end of things (you have to plan a party instead of attending it), I bet this recipe is straight up your alley if you’re looking for finger food ideas.
First of all, you’ll have to make some deviled eggs, which is quite simple to achieve. You hard-boil the eggs, shell them, cut them in half, then extract their yolks and mix them with other ingredients, such as mustard or mayonnaise, and put the mixture back in the egg halves. If you’re bold enough, you could even try avocado deviled eggs, which we assure you are absolutely delicious. You just have to mix the yolks with mashed avocado and put the resulting paste back in the egg halves.
Once you’re done with the eggs, take some black olives (jumbos are the best for this purpose), then pit them, slice them, and use them to create spider shapes. For reference, you’ll need half a black olive for the body, then 8 long, thin slices to create the legs. You can also make the spider have 6 legs, we’re positive that nobody will even notice. Before you create the spiders, you can sprinkle some chili powder on your deviled eggs if you want to give your guests a spicy surprise.
However, you need to make sure that it’s alright to serve your guests spicy food. In fact, the best way to go about it would be making two batches: one with chili powder and one without it, and give your guests a heads-up about the contents of these yummy finger foods. We’re absolutely convinced that your peers will have a blast and your deviled eggs will probably be the talk of the evening, especially if you can pull off the spider decorations on top of them. Happy Halloween!
32. Bat Cheese Balls – Halloween Appetizer Ideas
If you’re running out of time to prepare for the Halloween party that you’re about to host and need to whip up a few batches of finger foods, then these bat cheese balls are definitely right up your alley. First of all, they’re incredibly easy to make (especially if you ever made regular cheese balls). Furthermore, they taste absolutely incredible and they make excellent finger food, so not only will you save a lot of time and money making these awesome treats by yourself, but they’ll also be a huge hit at your party, whether you’re hosting it or you’re attending one and don’t want to show up empty-handed.
So if you want to serve these adorable little make-believe critters as finger foods this Halloween, head to the kitchen and start working on those cheese balls. There are a lot of recipes online for cheese balls, but the easiest and most common one was simply boiling potatoes, as well as mashing and seasoning them, seasoning cheese cubes, then rolling up the mashed potatoes into balls while making sure that the cheese cubes are at their center. Once done, roll the balls into flour, let them rest for a while then deep fry them, and voila, you have made cheese balls.
Now we all know that this is Halloween, so we can’t afford cutting corners, not with all the guests coming, so you’ll have to do something about those cheese balls so that they look at least a bit spooky, right? This is the easiest part: check the example photo and try to replicate the cheese balls in there; just use olives and cream cheese for the eyes, and blue corn tortilla chips to craft the wings. Once you’re done making these mischievous cheese balls, neatly place them on a platter and serve them to your guests. We guarantee that they’ll be an absolute hit.
33. Green Booger Popcorn – Halloween Finger Foods
Before you say anything, we assure you that no boogers were harmed in making this culinary project. Joke aside, these green “booger” popcorn pieces are not at all what they sound like, but they’ll definitely make the talk of the evening if you bring them to a Halloween party, whether it’s the one you’re hosting or the one you’re simply attending as a guest. However, you’ll want to make sure to set them up in an appropriate decor, so that they fit well with the overall aesthetic of the house you’re having the party in.
For instance, if you check the photo above, you’ll see that the popcorn was strategically placed in a cauldron so that it gives a nice contrast. You know, given that the popcorn was painted green and everything. One of the perks of making popcorn and serving it to your guests as finger food (well not exactly, calling them snacks would be a better fit) is that you can make them extremely easily. The drawback is that you’ll probably have to spend some more time sweeping and vacuuming once your guests leave since we all know that popcorn can be really messy.
You just place a packet of popcorn kernels in a heavy-bottomed pot along with some oil and salt, cover the pot and heat it, and wait for the multitude of tiny explosions to come to an end. Once you’re done with making regular popcorn, you just need to use some food coloring to turn them green. Make sure to store them in a dry, cool place before your guests arrive at your party, otherwise, the white part will go stale and won’t be as crunchy (therefore not enjoyable). Here’s a hot tip: instead of using a cauldron, you could also use a zombie head or skeleton jar, to increase the level of spookiness at your party.
34. Bat Tortilla Chips – Halloween Finger Food Ideas
Bats are commonly used as Halloween decorations, and it makes sense considering that Hollywood kept portraying them as evil creatures of the night, and associated them with vampires. You know, when vampires need to get around fast, they just pull their cape over their heads, go poof, and whaddayaknow, all of a sudden they’re flyings bats. So yeah, much like with other real-life creatures (like spiders, worms, and centipedes) we get the appeal of using bats as Halloween decorations.
If you’re really getting into the Halloween spirit this year and want to turn your house into a spooky gathering place for your peers and have a party, you’re gonna want to stock up on decorations. However, decorations are simply not enough, as you’ll also have to “humor” your guests with a little bit of this and a little bit of that (drinks and stuff they can eat), and finger foods are currently the safest way to go about it. These bat tortilla chips are perfect for the occasion for two reasons: one, they’re easy to make, and two, they fit the setting perfectly.
If you never prepared tortilla chips before, then you’re about to have your mind blown away, seeing as they’re so easy to make, you’ll wonder what in the world took you so long to discover that you can make these awesome snacks on your own, from the comfort of your home. For this recipe, you’ll only need some tortillas, a bat-shaped cookie cutter, a rolling pin, baking sheets, a bunch of spices (both savory and sweet, we’re gonna do two different sets), and some dips (salsa is still a great choice).
Use the bat-shaped cookie cutter to cut out bats from the tortillas you’ve prepared. You can just lay out the tortillas, put the cookie cutter on top, and then use the rolling pin to cut the shapes easier. Now here’s where things get interesting: divide the tortilla chip bats into two equal stacks, since one of them will be savory, and the other one will be sweet. Pre-heat the oven at 350 F, then take one stack of bats, put it in an oven tray, over baking paper, and brush some olive oil on their top. Now sprinkle some salt and chili powder over them, and place them in the oven.
For the sweet ones, you’ll have to brush both sides with melted butter, then place them in the oven as they are. Bake the treats for 9-10 minutes or until golden and swap the tray positions halfway through, so both stacks come out evenly baked. As soon as you can handle the sweet bats (they cool down a little and they’re just warm), mix some sugar and cinnamon in a bag, then place a couple of bats in the bag and shake them gently so that they get covered. You can serve the sweet ones with chocolate sauce, while the savory ones can be served with salsa. Bon appetit!
35. Creepy Meringue Bones – Buffet Halloween Party Food
If you want to get in touch with your spooky side this Halloween, then we’ve got the perfect idea for finger food that you can provide your guests with: meringue bones. Now I know that they’re sweet and most party-goers often look for savory treats such as chips, peanuts, and such, but trust us, these meringue bones will fit your decor so well, you may even forget they’re not props. Seriously, avoid placing them randomly around the house, else you feel like biting into a prop bone or avoiding them all night out of fear that you might bite out of something else.
If you ever worked with meringue before, then you probably know what you should expect. It’s not exactly rocket science, but there are other snacks and treats that you could probably whip up in a shorter amount of time and with less effort. In other words, they’re not incredibly hard to make, they’re just a bit tricky. However, if you manage to pull this off and not dash to your local store to buy already-done meringue bones, you’ll definitely have the admiration of your friends, and your treats will be the talk of the evening.
Here’s what you need to do: beat two large egg whites and an eighth (⅛) cream of tartar in a small bowl on medium speed until some soft peaks are starting to form. Now start adding sugar to the mixture while you continue to beat it, but change the speed to high; the safest way to do it would be adding one tablespoon at a time, but you could play it either way you like. After a while, you should notice that some stiff peaks start to form, which is when you should transfer the whole thing into a piping bag (you know, the one used for icing).
Line some oven trays with parchment paper, then pipe the meringue mixture into bone shapes directly on the baking paper. If you don’t know how to make the shapes, just pipe a meringue line (you decide its length), and add two meringue round shapes (balls) at each end of the line. Check the example photo above for reference. We’re sure that once you get the hang of it, it’ll start being easier. After making the bones, bake the whole thing at 225 degrees until firm (should take approximately one hour and a half).
After they cool down, you can place them on a platter and blend them with the decor. For added points, you could find some strawberry syrup or something similar and create thin splatters to emulate blood. Your guests will absolutely love your creepy meringue bones, and they’ll also make great decorations. Happy Halloween!
15 More Halloween Finger Food Ideas
If you haven’t had enough, we have 15 more awesome finger food ideas for your next Halloween celebration.
36. Halloween Appetizers Witch Brooms
Have you and your kids always been big fans of salty snacks that are simple but delicious? Then combining simple ingredients so that those very delicious salt snacks look like something novelty and seasonal is nothing but a great idea, right? That’s what we thought when we saw these funny little witches brooms from Whimsical Cookery!
They show you how simple it is to cook some hot dogs, stick some pretzels upright into the center, and stand them on a plate so your kids can snack on their very own witch’s brooms at a whim.
37. Buffet Halloween Party Food – Hot Dog Roll Spiders
Do you love the hot dog theme here but you’d rather have them be a little more satisfying and more of a meal than the little pretzel snacks we showed you above? In that case, perhaps you’d prefer these delicious pastry-wrapped hot dog rolls from Recipe Shoebox instead!
They guide you through the necessary steps to make the hot dog rolls look like creepy crawlies using chips. We love the way they even went all out on the dipping sauce by marbling ketchup and sour cream together to look like a spider web!
38. Kid Food Ideas for Halloween – Oreo and M&M Spiders
Perhaps you’re a big fan of the idea of making spider shaped foods, but your kids prefer sweet snacks when they’re on the go a lot more than they like actual appetizers? In that case, we have a feeling both you and they will get a kick out of these spooky Oreo cookie snacks from Have You Eaten?
They show you how to stick dried noodles and M&Ms to miniature Oreos in order to make a sweet and salty snack that your kids won’t be able to resist! The miniature size is especially great because the kids can pop the little “bugs” into their mouths easily as they run from party game to party game.
39. Finger Foods for Halloween Party – Spooky Witch Fingers
Have you been scrolling through this list hoping to find a finger food idea that is a little more creepy and perhaps takes the concept of “finger food” a little more… literally? Then you’ll definitely get a kick out of these finger shaped almond cookies from Just A Pinch!
They’ve rolled the dough into a long and skinny shape, made a few creases where knuckles would sit on a finger, and created “nails” from almonds. If you’ve ever tried almond sugar cookies before, then you can already guess that these are just as delicious as they are creepy!
40. Easy Halloween Finger Food – Orange and Candy Pumpkins
Perhaps you’ve been scrolling through this list looking for a Halloween party finger food option that has at least a little bit of nutrition and vitamin content to it where others have a lot of sugar or salt, even if you still want to make it a delicious treat?
In that case, we think you’ll get a kick out of these funny little pumpkin oranges from Milk and Cuddles! They suggest peeling the oranges and cutting a length of sour green candy to fit in the center and look like the pumpkin’s stem.
41. Halloween Party Appetizers – Frankenstein Nachos and Guacamole
When you set your mind on the idea of making finger foods that you can easily serve at a party, did you actually picture something that could be shared rather than just enjoyed one by one? In that case, we absolutely think you should check out this Frankentstein themed guacamole platter from Taste of Home!
They show you how to mould your favourite guacamole dip into a squared off face shape and embellish it with sour cream, olives, and even some nacho chip hair. We’re particularly fond of the black olive “neck bolts” on either side!
42. Puking Pumpkin Guacamole Halloween Appetizer
Perhaps you’re a huge fan of the guacamole idea but you’d like something a little more novelty in the setup and a little less themed in the actual food elements than what we showed you above? Well, we do admit that we love a dramatic display, so we can’t say we blame you! That’s why we were such huge fans of this vomiting pumpkin idea from Amee’s Savory Dish.
Besides the fact that your kids will have extra fun helping you prepare for this snack because they’ll get to carve a pumpkin, this finger food idea has that particular unique factor where gross things appeal in to kids in a way that they might not to you. In our opinion, that makes it the perfect Halloween party snack!
43. Halloween Themed Appetizer – Vegetable Skeleton
Are you intent on the idea of making an awesomely Halloween-themed finger food dish that also has some nutritional value because you know your kids will be getting more than enough sugar at the end of the month when they Trick or Treat? Then perhaps a novelty vegetable platter is just the thing you’re looking for!
We love the way Woman’s Day got creative with healthy snacks instead of just cookies and pretzels, arranging carrots, celery, peppers, cauliflower, and so on to look not just like a skull but like a whole skeleton that people can pick away at over the course of the night. What’s spookier than that?
44. Kid Food Ideas for Halloween – Googly Eye Monster Donuts
Have you been looking for a finger food on our list that makes an entire handheld dessert, rather than serving a piece of cake or something else that needs to be cut up and eaten with cutlery? Then donuts are an awesome option that people of all ages will love!
We’re particularly fond of these creepy little eyeball stacked chocolate donuts from Community Table that use colored icing and sprinkles to look like something that might have crawled out of a toxic sludge-filled drainpipe.
45. Halloween Finger Food – Shrimp Cocktail Brain
Perhaps your party guests are a little bit older than the children’s demographic that a lot of our spooky finger food ideas have aimed at so far, so you’re willing to work with more adult foods like seafood? Then making a shrimp cocktail might be just the idea for you!
We love the way Martha Stewart arranged a sauce coated dome of shrimp that, with all the veins showing and the tails hidden under a lightly wrapped layer of gauze, looks a whole lot like a bared brain! Don’t let that stop your guests from digging in; they suggest a yummy homemade seafood dip for you to make to as well, to really top the dish off.
46. Worm Pie Halloween Appetizer
If we’re being honest with you, we’ve been eating worm pie recipes just like this one every since we were little kids. In fact, we remember making them around this time of year in preschool! Just because we’ve known about this idea for a long time doesn’t mean it’s not a total delicious idea for a kids’ Halloween party all these years later.
Worm pies might not actually be a finger food in the sense that you should probably use a spoon rather than your actual fingers to eat them, but the way iKat Bag in individual cups here still makes the cut for easy “grab food”, if you ask us. Check out how they made them from chocolate pudding, crumbled Oreo cookies, and gummy worms!
47. Halloween Appetizer: Eyeball Deviled Eggs
Deviled eggs might not be the very first thing you think of when it comes to “kids’ party foods”, but that doesn’t mean they won’t make an awesomely creepy snack that your kids and their friends won’t be interested in if you set them up right! We know that our kids are tempted to try almost anything that looks a little bit unconventional and has a theme, even if it’s something that they wouldn’t normally choose right away in a regular day meal.
That’s why we thought these creepy eyeball-deviled eggs from Bowgie were such a good idea! Make your regular favorite regular devilled egg recipe and transform them with halved black olive and a little bit of mild hot sauce.
48. Pumpkin Deviled Eggs Halloween Appetizer
Are your kids actually huge fans of devilled eggs any time of year but you’re not really sure they’d enjoy eating something that looks like a slimy eyeball the way we showed you above?
In that case, perhaps it’d be better to try an egg recipe that’s still definitely Halloween-themed but is perhaps a little less gross? Then we think maybe you’d prefer these awesome little pumpkin eggs featured on Tadka Pasta! they show you how to use paprika and green onions to make the simple transformation happen.
49. Bone-shaped Sandwiches Halloween Finger Food
Have you been scrolling through our list hoping to find something very simple that you can make in a flavour you already know your kids will like, but that will still serve as lunch so everyone’s fed on the day of the party and no one gets grumpy? In that case, finger sandwiches are probably the best option for you!
Make them in whatever kind you think everyone will like best- tuna salad, peanut butter and jelly, or Nutella are just some examples- and then follow Genius Kitchen’s lead and cut the crusts off in the shape of a bone to give things that totally spooky finish.
50. Mummy Hot Dog Halloween Appetizers
Have you actually been scrolling through our list hoping to find yet another pastry-wrapped hot dog idea, since you loved the basic idea as a snack but you weren’t sure about the Halloween theme ideas we showed you before?
In that case, here’s an alternative idea that gets you the taste you want but with a different design! Holicoffee shows you how to wrap the pastry around the sausage pieces in a way that looks like bandages so that the finished product looks like an army of edible mummies ready to be dipped in mustard and ketchup.
Final Words on the Best Halloween Finger Food
To wrap it up, finger foods have slowly become a staple item for most successful parties. As you can probably agree, if you’re about to attend a party (not a fancy one, mind you, but one where there’s actual dancing), you probably don’t want to be seated at a table and wait for the hosts and their helpers to run you through several courses of food. This is precisely the reason why finger foods have soared in popularity in the last few years, and that’s why no great party is without at least a few types of appetizers laying around in an open buffet kinda way.
If you went through our entire guide, you may have figured out that variety is key here, as no two persons share the exact same preferences when it comes to food and its subtle nuances in flavor. Therefore, although finger food is a must for every party, having just one type of appetizer might not be the best way to go about it, considering that some of your guests may like sweet things, while others might want savory, salty, or spicy stuff on their platters, so you’ll have to be prepared for every possible scenario.
Now here’s the thing: if things weren’t difficult enough, to begin with, Halloween just makes everything even harder, considering that simply having a bunch of appetizers, whether they’re assorted or not, is not enough anymore. No, if it’s Halloween, food has to match the aesthetic, so you’ll have to be crafty and creative and turn common finger foods such as sandwich bites into “Frankenstein Sandwich Bites” or simple meringue into “Ghost Meringue” or “Meringue Bones.”
However, if you run out of ideas, whether you’re attending a Halloween party this year and don’t want to show up empty-handed, or you’re hosting a Halloween rave at your place, we’ve got you covered. You know, as far as finger foods are concerned. Our guide holds no less than fifty (50) ideas for finger foods you could serve this Halloween, and we’re confident that we managed to cover a broad range of preferences, whether you’re into mini pumpkin pies, cupcakes, tortilla chips, or ham-wrapped mozzarella and olives.
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