Cookbook author Annabel Karmel, a mother of three and grandmother of two, offers a range of Halloween recipes and meal ideas for families using her Annabel Karmel Kids Recipes app, which features over 1,500 ideas. Whether people are hosting a party or feeding children after trick or treating, the app provides various festive dishes alongside weaning tips and Christmas recipes.
Spooktacular Halloween Brownies
Makes: 20 Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 40 mins
Ingredients: 200g butter, cubed; 250g plain chocolate; 200g brown sugar; 3 eggs, beaten; 100g self-raising flour; 175g icing sugar; edible eyes; white writing icing pen.
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas mark 5, and line a 23cm square tin with non-stick baking paper.
- Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl over a pan of lightly boiling water until runny, stir in the sugar, slowly add the beaten eggs, mix well, and fold in the flour before pouring into the tin and leveling the top.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until firm, leave to cool on a wire rack, and slice into 20 squares.
- Put the icing sugar into a bowl, add enough boiling water to make a thick white icing, and whisk.
- Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle, pipe the icing over half of the brownies to make mummy bandages and add the eyes, then pipe thin spider webs over the remaining brownies using the writing icing pen.
Dracula Burgers
Serves: 4-6 Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 10 mins
Ingredients for the burgers: 1/2 red pepper, diced; 1 large onion, diced; 500g lean minced beef; 1 1/2tbsp fresh parsley; 1 1/2tbsp fresh thyme; 1tsp Marmite; 1tsp Worcestershire sauce; 3 slices bread; 1 apple, grated with juice squeezed out; 1 egg yolk.
To decorate: 4-6 buns; lettuce; slices of tomato; olives; tomato ketchup; fake teeth; cocktail sticks or thin straws; red pepper.
Method:
- Fry the red pepper and half the onion in 1tbsp vegetable oil for 5 minutes until softened.
- Put these in a food processor with all of the remaining burger ingredients, whizz until finely chopped, season, and shape into 4 large or 6 small patties.
- Heat a little oil in a frying pan, and fry the burgers for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through.
- Assemble the monster burgers with the salad and fake teeth, insert olives on two mini cocktail sticks or thin straws to make monster eyes into the top of the bun, cut out two red pepper triangles and add as horns using cocktail sticks, and remember to remove the cocktail sticks before serving to young children.
Spooky Spaghetti Meatballs
Serves: 4 Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 20 mins
Ingredients for the meatballs: 250g minced beef; 2 onions, finely chopped; 1/2 apple, peeled and grated; 50g fresh breadcrumbs; 25g parmesan, grated; 2tsp fresh thyme, chopped; few drops Worcestershire sauce.
Ingredients for the sauce: 2tbsp olive oil; 2 small onions, finely chopped; 3 large cloves garlic, crushed; 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes; 3tbsp tomato purée; generous pinch sugar; small bunch basil, chopped.
To serve: 250g spaghetti; mini mozzarella balls; pitted black olives, sliced.
Method:
- Put all of the meatball ingredients into a processor, whizz together until finely chopped, and shape the mixture into 16 balls.
- To make the tomato sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and fry for a few minutes, add the garlic and fry for 20 seconds, add the tomatoes, tomato purée, sugar, and basil, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Heat a little oil in a frying pan, add the meatballs, and fry until golden and cooked through.
- Cook the spaghetti in boiling water according to the packet instructions, drain, and mix with the tomato sauce.
- Place the tomato spaghetti in a bowl, arrange the meatballs on top, slice the mozzarella balls in half and place on top of the meatballs, and top with an olive slice to make eyeballs.
