Celebrity chefs Buddy Valastro and Carla Hall joined “Good Morning America” on Monday to serve up some sweet treats for Halloween.
Check out their fun and festive recipes using some popular Halloween candy below.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Halloween Parfaits
Hall created a layered dessert that uses a mix of multiple candies. The base is a Reese’s graham crust, topped with a layer of thinly sliced snickers, a dollop of chocolate peanut butter mousse, hot tamale whipped cream and finished with M&Ms and peanut decor.
Reese’s Graham Cracker Shortbread
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (or 4 full sheets broken up)
4 (.75 oz) Reese’s peanut butter cups, quartered
3 tbsps unsalted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large food processor, add crackers and peanut butter cups. Pulse 3-4 times. Add butter and salt. Process until smooth texture.
On an 18″ x 26″ baking sheet lined with parchment paper, pour cracker mixture out. Press to make an even layer about a ¼ inch thick. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Let cool. Break into smaller pieces to fit into parfait glasses.
Desired amount of snack size Snickers bars
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Slice the candy bars 1/4-inch thick from the short end. (2 – 4 pieces needed per parfait depending on the size of the glass.)
On a parchment paper lined sheet pan, place the cut pieces 2″ apart. Place in oven for 5 minutes or until the candy melts. (Not too long, otherwise the candy will be too hard/chewy to eat). Let cool.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse
1 cup Hershey’s Kisses, chopped
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (like Skippy or Jif)
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream, whipped to soft peak
In a glass bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler.
Immediately stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Allow to cool. Fold in whipped cream.
Set aside until ready to build parfaits.
Hot Tamale (cinnamon) Whipped Cream
1/2 box Hot Tamales candies
1 tbsp confectioners sugar
Combine the hot tamales and water in a small pot. Simmer until all the red coating is off the candies, then strain the liquid and discard the jelly centers. Let cool.
Pour the cold heavy cream into in a medium sized bowl. With a hand blender with the whisk attachment, mix on low until the cream is between soft and stiff peak. Fold in the Hot Tamale simple syrup.
Halloween Cookie Pizza
Buddy Valastro
The Cake Boss whipped up a sweet treat that’s great for serving a crowd and is open to creative interpretation with everything from frosting to toppings.
Total time: 60 minutesYield: 1 finished cookie pizza
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup unsweetened black cocoa powder
1 extra large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup M&M candies
12 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
12-ounce can white frosting
Red and yellow food coloring
20 Special Dark Hershey’s Kisses
12 pieces Brach’s Candy Corn
6 pieces Hot Tamales candy
1/4 cup white sprinkles
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream on low speed until mixture is uniform, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue to mix until uniform. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
In a separate bowl, sift all dry ingredients and whisk so that they are mixed.
Add dry ingredients to stand mixer bowl in 2 additions, scraping down bowl in between additions.
Add milk and mix until uniform.
Lastly, add 1 cup M&M candies and 12 mini Reese’s peanut butter cups.
Mix until peanut butter cups and M&M’s are combined.
Place parchment paper on sheet pan and turn the cookie dough onto the pan.
Shape dough into a large circle or rectangle pressing it down flat to the pan with your hands.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until the center of the cookie is fully baked.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan.
The baking time will vary depending on the oven.
Place cooled cookie “crust” upside down on a serving plate/tray to decorate.
Prepare orange frosting by placing canned frosting into a small mixing bowl and adding 2 drops of red and 2 drops of yellow food coloring. Mix until a nice bright orange forms.
Using a rubber spatula, spread the orange frosting onto the cookie crust leaving a 1 inch diameter around the sides.
Place unwrapped Hershey’s Kisses in a microwave safe bowl and melt in microwave until smooth.
Spoon melted kisses into a piping bag.
Place the 6 Hot Tamales candies on the “pizza” and pipe the melted chocolate over them forming a spider’s body and legs. Leave a bit of the red showing on the body.
Continue to decorate the cookie pizza with the Candy Corns and white sprinkles. Place the sprinkles in between all the spiders to look like their “web.”
Serve and enjoy!
