All candy lovers rejoice when Halloween comes around. It’s the season of sweets, toothaches and pumpkin-flavored everything. Holiday baking is always fun, and Halloween lets you get creative with decorations. Here are three recipes to try and make your Halloween party this year even more festive.

Halloween candy basket cookies

Kitchen sink cookies are one of my favorite things to bake. True to their name, they contain “everything but the kitchen sink,” with mix-ins like potato chips, toffee and chocolate chips. These cookies have a Halloween twist, and I love how texturally interesting they are. The pretzels and M&Ms provide a crunch and the candy corn creates a chewy, caramel-like consistency. Feel free to add variation with the mix-ins — you could add Kit Kats, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey’s Kisses or any candy you’d like. If you go trick-or-treating on Halloween and end up with extra candy, try it out!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup semisweet chocolate chunks
• ½ cup candy corn
• ½ cup M&Ms 
• ¾ cup pretzels, broken into small pieces

Instructions:

1. Place the butter in a small pan and melt it over medium-low heat. Once melted, increase heat to medium high. Stir the butter constantly until you notice browning. Once browned, remove the pan from heat completely and pour into a heatproof bowl. Let the butter cool to room temperature.
2. Add the room temperature brown butter to a large mixing bowl with the brown sugar and granulated sugar and whisk until the mixture is fluffy and lighter in color. 
3. Add  eggs and vanilla extract and stir until combined.
4. Gradually add dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt) and mix until combined.
5. Add  mix-ins (chocolate chunks, candy corn, M&Ms and pretzel pieces) and stir until equally distributed throughout.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
7. While the bowl chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
8. Scoop the chilled dough into two tablespoon-sized portions and roll into balls. Place the cookie dough at least two inches apart on a prepared baking tray.
9. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
10. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes, then enjoy!

Spooky spiderweb brownies

If you’re looking for a way to elevate your desserts this spooky season, these spiderweb brownies are sure to be a crowd pleaser. They’re so easy to make — you can even use box mix in a pinch. The marshmallow topping elevates this simple recipe into an eye-catching treat. If you’re hosting a Halloween party this year, consider adding these to your dessert table.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks)
• 1 ¾ cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup marshmallows

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13 inch pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Combine the butter and ¼ cup chocolate chips in a large bowl and microwave in 15 second intervals until completely melted and smooth. 
3. Add  the sugar and whisk until completely combined, then add  the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.
4. Sift in cocoa powder, flour and salt. Add the remaining 1 ½ cups chocolate chips and fold the batter until combined. 
5. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. 
6. Allow brownies to cool completely.
7. In a bowl, microwave marshmallows in 10 second intervals until melted. With a rubber spatula or your fingers, pull and stretch the melted marshmallows over the brownies and press down to form long strings. Repeat the process until you have marshmallow spiderwebs!

Mini pumpkin cake

Forget pumpkin carving. This season, we’re making pumpkins from scratch. It’s not often that I bake with my mini Bundt cake pans, but these mini pumpkin cakes are the perfect occasion to bring them out. Sandwiching two cakes together will form a pumpkin-like shape, and you can use the cake as a blank canvas to frost any design onto them! Consider baking these  with a friend this fall.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin cake:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 ½  cups dark brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 ½  cups pumpkin puree
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
• ½ cup sour cream

Cream cheese frosting:

• ½ (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• Red and yellow food dye

Stem:

• You can use either a pretzel stick or a graham cracker!

Instructions:

Make the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two mini Bundt cake pans.
2. Mix the buttermilk and sour cream in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Sift flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, salt, baking soda and baking powder  in a medium bowl.
4. Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. 
5. Add  ⅓ of the flour mixture and stir until combined. Add ½ of the buttermilk mixture and stir until combined. Continue this process until all of the ingredients have been combined, ending with the dry ingredients.
6. Stir in the pumpkin puree.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pans, filling until ⅔ of the way full. Do not overfill.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
9. Allow cakes to cool completely.

Make the frosting

1. In a stand mixer, cream together softened butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about five minutes.
2. Mix in powdered sugar a cup at a time. Mix in vanilla and salt.
3. Add  dye one drop at a time until you reach your desired pumpkin color.

Assemble the cake

1. Level the cakes by cutting excess off the bottom.
2. Pipe cream cheese frosting onto the bottoms of the cakes and sandwich them together.
3. Pipe frosting onto the sides of the cake until completely covered. Using a spoon, smooth out the frosting, adding ridges if necessary to resemble the pumpkin shape. 
4. Add a stem using a graham cracker or a pretzel stick.