Busy Gourmet: Two ingredient muffins, Ghoulish cakeballs and monster teeth

As you know, I am a HUGE fan of simple recipes that taste fantastic. I can get them done in a small amount of time, with little mess, and the kids can participate. So, here is a spin on an old favorite, a new find, and a simple, healthy snack.....

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Ghoulish Cake Balls

Use this recipe with any cake and frosting flavor combo. You can do them in simple balls, or you can press them into silicone ice or candy molds sprayed with a little cooking spray.

1 cake box baked according to directions

(i used red velvet for these spooky creations)

1 tub premade frosting

(i used cream cheese)

2 packages candy coating

(i used white vanilla, but you can add food coloring or use chocolate coating)

Bake the cake according to directions and pull a couple min early to ensure the outside does not get too crisp. Allow to cool to warm. In a large bowl, crumble with your hands or a fork into EXTRA small crumbs. Remove foil lid from frosting and microwave for 10-15 seconds to make pourable, but not molten. Pour 3/4 to one full tub over crumbs and mix well. Melt candy coating according to directions. Form cake mixture into balls or press into and remove from silicone trays. Place shapes on wax paper. Dip into candy coating quickly and allow to dry on wax paper. (additional decorations such as sprinkles or choc chips can also be affixed while coating is still wet.) Once coating is dry, Add any additional decorations you like. (such as splatters of an alternate candy coating color or decorate with a hard drying frosting.) DONE.

I ran out of time, but next year, i will do these in red velvet cake, chocolate coating and white splatters to make them look like mummies.

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Two Ingredient Muffins

Resist the urge to add eggs or oil to this recipe: they WILL turn out. They will be more dense than a typical muffin, but will be incredibly moist. What a sneaky way to get kids to eat a veggie and they are full of fiber. They also lend well to yummy additions such as nuts, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and cream cheese frosting or filling.

1 box "super moist" yellow cake mix (18.5 oz)

1 can pumpkin pie filling (15 oz)

(OR 1 can plain pumpkin puree plus:

1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves)

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease or add paper muffin cups to a 12-count muffin tin. Mix ingredients until thoroughly moist. Divide evenly in cups. Bake 20 min or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into one of the muffins.

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Monster Teeth

SUPER FUN, SUPER EASY, Healthy snack

Sent these for Zach's snack day mid-month and they were a HIT. Partnered with a clear surgical glove full of popcorn and candy corn in the fingertips, these make a playful, healthy halloween snack.

Bag of almond slivers

any color apples

orange juice

Quarter your apples and remove the seeds/stems. On the peel side of the apple wedge, cut a smaller wedge out of the slice. Place apples in a bag with a small bit of orange juice and shake. Coat all exposed apple surfaces to prevent them from browning. Remove apples from bag and poke almond slivers into the inner part of the slice to make creepy teeth. You can use as many as you like on top and bottom to create whatever mouth you like from monster to vampire.